How Old Do You Have to Be to Work in Hawaii: Permits, Hours, Pay

In Hawaii, you have to be at least 14 to work most jobs, and anyone under 18 needs a state-issued work permit before starting. A handful of narrow exceptions let children under 14 work in entertainment or coffee harvesting, but for the standard retail, food service, and office jobs teens typically take, 14 is the floor.¹

What Each Age Can Do

Hawaii law sorts young workers into three groups, and the rules change at each line.

Under 14. Only two kinds of work are allowed. One is theatrical employment, covering performers, models, musicians, and similar roles in film, television, radio, or stage productions. The other is coffee harvesting, and only after the state labor director has held a public hearing and determined that adult workers aren’t available in sufficient numbers.¹ The work can’t conflict with school hours, and the employer still has to hold a valid Certificate of Employment.²

14 and 15. This is where most teens start. A 14- or 15-year-old can take non-hazardous jobs once the employer has a Certificate of Employment on file, with capped hours during the school year.¹

16 and 17. Older teens still need paperwork — a Certificate of Age — but Hawaii doesn’t limit their hours beyond one rule: they can’t work during times they’re legally required to be in school.² Federal law also doesn’t cap hours for workers 16 and older in non-agricultural jobs.³

The Work Permit Every Minor Needs

No one under 18 can work in Hawaii without a child labor certificate. Which one depends on age.²

Certificate of Employment (ages 14–15)

The application has to be signed by the employer and by a parent or legal guardian, and the minor needs to show an acceptable proof-of-age document. The paperwork goes to the nearest DLIR Child Labor Office in person or by mail. If the proposed hours check out and the work isn’t hazardous, the department issues a temporary authorization slip and mails the Certificate of Employment to the employer, who keeps it on file as long as the minor works there.⁴

Certificate of Age (ages 16–17)

This one is simpler. A 16- or 17-year-old can apply online through the DLIR website, or in person, by mail, or by fax using the minor’s name, the last four digits of their Social Security number, home address, and phone number. Once issued, the minor presents the certificate with proof of age when hired; the employer records the certificate number and returns both documents to the minor rather than keeping them on file.⁴

Hours and Breaks for 14- and 15-Year-Olds

During a school week, a 14- or 15-year-old can work no more than 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours total for the week. Shifts must fall between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.¹

When school is out on an authorized break, the limits open up: 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week, with the allowable window stretching from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.¹ The 6:00 a.m. start matters for jobs like opening-shift food service.

Hawaii also requires employers to give 14- and 15-year-olds a 30-minute rest or meal period after five consecutive hours of work. This is the only mandatory break anywhere in Hawaii labor law; adults and older teens have no equivalent state entitlement.⁵

Jobs No One Under 18 Can Do

Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 12, Chapter 25 lists occupations closed to anyone under 18. They cluster around heavy equipment and serious physical hazards:⁶

Driving on public roads for work, or serving as an outside helper, including at mines, quarries, logging or sawmill sites, and certain excavations
Operating power-driven woodworking machines, including feeding or off-bearing from circular saws
Working with radioactive substances or in areas with ionizing radiation above set limits
Operating elevators, cranes, derricks, or hoists, or riding freight elevators without an assigned operator
Running metal-forming, punching, or shearing machines, including rolling mills, power presses, and bending or hammering equipment
Working in slaughtering or meat-packing, including power-driven meat saws, grinders, or knives
Operating bakery machines such as dough mixers, bread dividers, and dough brakes

For 14- and 15-year-olds, the DLIR also won’t approve a Certificate of Employment for any work the department considers hazardous for that younger age group, and the overall range of permissible jobs is narrower.²

The Narrow Driving Exception at 17

Federal rules let a 17-year-old drive on public roads for work only under tight conditions: daylight hours, a vehicle under 6,000 pounds, a valid license, a state-approved driver education course, and no moving violations. Even then the driving must stay occasional and incidental, no more than one-third of a workday or 20 percent of weekly work time. Pizza delivery, route sales, time-sensitive bank deposits, passenger shuttling, towing, driving outside a 30-mile workplace radius, and carrying more than three passengers are all off-limits regardless.⁷

What Minors Get Paid

Hawaii has no lower youth wage. Every worker in the state, teenagers included, earns at least $16.00 per hour as of January 1, 2026, with a scheduled increase to $18.00 per hour on January 1, 2028.⁸

Tipped jobs follow the same tip-credit rules as adult workers. If a minor regularly earns more than $20 per month in tips, the employer can apply a tip credit of up to $1.25 per hour during 2026 and 2027, dropping the direct cash wage as low as $14.75 per hour — but only if tips bring the hourly total to at least $23.00. If they don’t, the employer makes up the difference.⁹

1
Justia. Hawaii Revised Statutes 390-2 – Employment of Minors Under Eighteen Years of Age
2
State of Hawaii Wage Standards Division. Child Labor
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
4
Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Procedures for Obtaining a Child Labor Certificate
5
State of Hawaii Wage Standards Division. Breaks – Meal and Rest
6
Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 25 – Child Labor
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 34 – Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2 – Youth Employment Provision and Driving Automobiles and Trucks Under the FLSA
8
State of Hawaii Wage Standards Division. Minimum Wage and Overtime
9
Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Tip Credit Notice