How to Complete and Submit the Ohio Minor Work Permit Application

To get an Ohio minor work permit, download the Application for Minor Work Permit from the Ohio Department of Commerce, have the student, a parent, the employer, and a licensed physician each complete their section, and then bring the finished form and proof of age in person to the student’s school district office. The district reviews it and issues an Age and Schooling Certificate, which is the document you hand to your employer before your first shift.¹

Who Needs a Permit

Ohio Revised Code 4109.02 requires every minor of compulsory school age to present an age and schooling certificate to an employer before starting work.² In practice that means anyone 14 through 17 who hasn’t graduated from high school. One important point people miss: a separate permit is required for each job. Two summer employers means two applications.³

A handful of situations are exempt under ORC 4109.06 and don’t require the application at all: delivering newspapers, working for a parent in a non-prohibited occupation, agricultural work on a farm run by a parent, grandparent, or guardian, lawn mowing and snow shoveling, approved career-technical or college credit plus programs with a pre-apprenticeship component, unpaid school or church performances (and professional stage, film, radio, or television work under Department of Commerce rules), and minors who already hold a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.⁴ If none of those describe your situation, you need the permit.

What to Gather Before You Start

Collect all of this before opening the form. The most common cause of delay is a half-completed application waiting on a missing piece.

Proof of age: a birth certificate, Ohio driver’s license, temporary license, state ID, or passport. The school keeps a photocopy on file.⁵
Employer details: the business’s federal Tax Identification Number, name and address, your specific job duties, and your proposed work schedule with daily start and end times and total weekly hours.⁵
A physician’s certificate stating you’re physically able to perform the described work. If you have a school sports physical on file dated within the past year, many Ohio districts will accept a copy of it instead of a fresh exam.⁶
A parent or legal guardian’s written consent, tied to the specific employer named on the form.

Filling Out Each Section

The Application for Minor Work Permit is a PDF on the Ohio Department of Commerce website, and most school district offices keep blank copies as well.¹ Three different people fill in three different sections.

Student and Parent

The student writes in full legal name, home address, date of birth, and school. A parent or legal guardian signs to consent to employment at the specific business named on that form. The consent is not general; it applies only to the employer listed.

Pledge of Employer

Take the partially completed form to the prospective employer. The hiring manager or owner supplies the company’s TIN, business address, a precise description of duties, and the proposed daily and weekly hours. Precision matters here. The issuing officer at the school will compare the schedule against Ohio’s legal limits for the student’s age, and vague entries like “various duties” or “flexible hours” tend to bounce the application back.

Physician’s Certificate

A licensed physician examines the student and signs the form, and the certificate must be signed and stamped by the physician’s office.⁵ Before scheduling a visit, ask the school district whether a current sports physical on file will do. Many will accept one less than a year old.⁶

Turning It In

When all four sections are complete, the student must bring the finished application to the school district office in person. Mailing it, or sending someone else to drop it off, is not permitted.⁵ Bring the proof-of-age document and a photocopy at the same time.

The superintendent, chief administrative officer, or a designated issuing officer reviews the paperwork, verifies age against the identity document, and confirms the proposed schedule complies with Ohio’s hour restrictions.⁷ If everything is in order, the school generates the Age and Schooling Certificate. The application stays on file at the school until the student turns 18; the certificate goes to the employer before the first shift.⁸

There is no state-mandated fee. Processing time varies by district, but most schools issue the certificate within a few business days when the paperwork is complete.

Hour Limits the Schedule Has to Fit

The schedule the employer writes down has to fall inside Ohio’s legal limits for the student’s age, or the issuing officer will reject the application. Checking these numbers before the employer fills in that section saves a round trip.

Ages 14 and 15

Ohio Revised Code 4109.07 sets strict limits for workers under 16:⁹

No work before 7:00 a.m.
No work after 7:00 p.m. during the school year, or after 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through September 1 and during school holidays of five or more days.
Maximum 3 hours per school day and 18 hours per school week.
Maximum 8 hours per non-school day and 40 hours per non-school week.
No work during school hours unless the job is part of an approved vocational or work-study program.

Ages 16 and 17

Rules loosen for 16- and 17-year-olds who are still in school, but two limits remain:⁹

On school days, no work before 7:00 a.m., or 6:00 a.m. if the student wasn’t working past 8:00 p.m. the night before.
No work after 11:00 p.m. on any night before a school day.

Ohio sets no daily or weekly hour cap for this age group outside school-session days.

Rest Break

Every working minor, regardless of age, is entitled to at least a 30-minute rest break after five consecutive hours of work, and the break doesn’t count toward hours worked.⁹

Duties the Employer Can’t Put on the Form

Some occupations are off-limits even with a valid permit. Ohio’s Director of Commerce adopts hazardous-occupation rules that mirror and in places expand the federal list under the Fair Labor Standards Act.¹⁰ If prohibited duties appear in the employer’s job description, the school will reject the application.

For all workers under 18, prohibited work includes operating forklifts and other power-driven hoisting equipment, roofing, excavation, demolition, mining, logging, slaughtering and meatpacking, manufacturing explosives or chemicals, and operating power-driven woodworking, metalworking, or bakery machines. Workers under 16 face further restrictions that in practice limit them to retail, food service (no cooking or baking), office work, and light outdoor jobs.

What the Employer Has to Do After Hiring

Once a minor starts work, ORC 4109.08 requires the employer to keep a posted list of all minors working at the establishment where minor employees can easily see it, and to post an abstract of Ohio’s minor labor laws either in the workplace or on an internal website accessible to employees.¹¹ When the minor’s employment ends, the employer must notify the issuing school within five days so the district’s records reflect that the permit is no longer active.⁷

1
Ohio Department of Commerce. Minor Work Permit Application
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 4109.02 – Age and Schooling Certificate for Minor of Compulsory School Age
3
Ohio Department of Commerce. What Ohio Teens Should Know About Minor Work Permits
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 4109.06 – Exemptions
5
Hamilton City Schools. Work Permits
6
Dayton Public Schools. Work Permit Information
7
Warren County Career Center. Ohio Minor Work Permit Application Form
8
Washington Local Schools. Work Permits – Whitmer High School
9
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 4109.07 – Restrictions on Hours of Employment
10
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 4109 – Employment of Minors
11
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 4109.08 – Employer Requirements