To hire someone under 18 for non-agricultural work during the school year in Washington, complete the Parent/School Authorization Form (F700-002-000) before the minor’s first shift, collect four signatures — minor, parent or legal guardian, school official, and employer — and keep the original at the worksite. The form is issued by the Department of Labor & Industries and is available at lni.wa.gov/forms-publications/F700-002-000.pdf.1Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Parent/School Authorization F700-002-000
When You Need This Form
Any Washington employer hiring a minor for non-agricultural work while school is in session must have a completed F700-002-000 on file before that minor starts work. A separate employer means a separate form: if a 16-year-old works at a coffee shop and picks up a second job at a retail store, each employer completes its own authorization.2Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. How to Hire Minors
Two boundaries to know. During summer break, employers use the Parent Authorization for Summer Work (F700-168-000) instead, which drops the school signature. Agricultural jobs follow a different set of rules and forms under Washington law.
Get the Minor Work Permit Endorsement First
Before any minor can be hired, the business license must carry a Minor Work Permit endorsement for each location where minors will work. The endorsement itself is free. Apply through the Department of Revenue’s business licensing portal or by mailing a Business License Application to the Business Licensing Service in Olympia. You need an Industrial Insurance endorsement on the license already. Hiring anyone under 14 (uncommon outside entertainment) requires additional documentation to L&I before approval.3Washington Department of Revenue. Minor Work Permit
The endorsement is renewed annually with the business license. That renewal is separate from renewing the authorization form.
Filling Out the Form Section by Section
The form has four working parts: employer information, job duties, the weekly schedule, and signatures.
Employer Information
Enter the business name, phone number, the physical address where the minor will work, and your nine-digit Washington Unified Business Identifier (UBI). The UBI appears on your business license. If you don’t have one, the licensing step above isn’t complete and you can’t legally hire a minor yet.4Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Parent/School Authorization Form F700-002-000
Job Duties
List the specific tasks the minor will do. Be concrete: “cashier, stocking shelves, cleaning dining area” reads better than “general tasks.” L&I uses the duty description to check whether any listed work violates prohibited-duty rules for the minor’s age. Vague descriptions invite scrutiny during inspections, and listing a task the minor’s age group can’t legally do is grounds for citation.
Weekly Schedule
The form has a grid for start and end times each day of the week. The hours you enter must stay within the legal limits for the minor’s age. Entering hours that exceed those limits is grounds for the school official to refuse to sign or for L&I to cite you later.1Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Parent/School Authorization F700-002-000
The Four Signatures
Four people sign a completed form:
- The minor, acknowledging the duties and schedule.
- A parent or legal guardian, consenting to the work described.
- A school official (typically a principal, counselor, or designated administrator), certifying that the schedule fits school attendance requirements.
- An employer representative, confirming the information is accurate and that the business will follow Washington’s youth employment rules.
The practical routing: the employer fills out the top sections, gives the form to the minor to take home for the parent signature, then to school for the school official, and the minor returns the completed form to the employer, who signs last and keeps the original on site.5Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Parent/School Authorization F700-002-000
Hour Limits the Schedule Must Fit
The schedule you enter has to stay within Washington’s caps for the minor’s age. During the school year, workers under 16 can work up to 3 hours on a school day that precedes another school day, up to 8 hours on other days, no more than 16 hours a week, and no more than 6 days a week. Workers aged 16 and 17 can work up to 4 hours on a school day that precedes another school day, up to 8 hours on other days, no more than 20 hours a week, and no more than 6 days a week.6Washington State Legislature. WAC 296-125-027 – Hours of Work for Minors
The phrase “school day preceding another school day” matters when you fill in the grid. A Friday before a non-school Saturday does not precede another school day, so the 8-hour limit applies rather than the 3- or 4-hour cap.
Vacation periods loosen these limits, but the school-year form is not the right document for those weeks. Use F700-168-000 during summer break.
Duties You Cannot List
The duties section can’t include tasks Washington or federal law prohibits for the minor’s age. Prohibited-duty violations carry at least $1,000 per violation, so it’s worth checking the list before you write.
For 14- and 15-year-olds, Washington bars a broad range of work, including all manufacturing operations and commercial processing such as canning, freezing, and laundering; all on-site work in construction, transportation, and warehousing (related office work is allowed if the minor stays off the job site); cooking, baking, and operating power-driven food slicers, grinders, choppers, or bakery mixers; maintenance and repair in retail, food service, and gas station settings; window washing and other work above ground or floor level; operating, setting up, cleaning, or repairing any power-driven machinery; and loading or unloading trucks, railroad cars, or conveyors.7Washington State Legislature. WAC 296-125-033 – Employment of Minors Under Age 16
Workers aged 16 and 17 have more options but remain banned from federally designated hazardous occupations. Those include operating forklifts and other hoisting equipment, running power-driven woodworking machines and meat slicers, working in mining or logging, and handling explosives or radioactive materials. Restaurants are a common trip-up: a 17-year-old can cook on a grill but cannot operate a commercial meat slicer or deli cutter, even for cheese or vegetables.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
When Washington and federal rules cover the same task, the stricter rule applies.
Where to Keep It, and When to Redo It
Do not mail the completed form to L&I. Keep it at the minor’s physical work location, or at a central office if you maintain records that way, but it must be readily accessible for inspection.9Washington State Legislature. WAC 296-125-0275 – Minor Employment Records
Retain the form for at least three years after the minor’s last day of work, along with any variances you obtained. Inspectors can ask to see these records during site visits; not having them is itself a citable violation.
Every authorization expires September 30 each year, regardless of when the minor started, and must be renewed by that date. A new form is also required whenever the minor’s work schedule changes. Both triggers mean running the signature routing again: minor, parent, school official, and employer.1Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Parent/School Authorization F700-002-000
What It Costs to Get It Wrong
The penalties most tied to this form:
- $100 to $1,000 per violation for failing to obtain a minor work permit, failing to obtain a parent/school authorization, or failing to maintain records.
- $150 to $1,000 per violation for exceeding legal work-hour limits.
- $300 to $1,000 per violation for failing to provide required meal or rest breaks.
- At least $1,000 per violation for assigning a minor to prohibited tasks, with a $2,000 minimum for repeat offenders.
For serious or repeated violations, L&I can add up to $5,000 per day the violation continues.10Washington State Legislature. RCW 49.12.390 – Child Labor Laws Violations Civil Penalties
The most common finding L&I makes is also the easiest to prevent: no form on file. That $100-to-$1,000 fine compounds quickly when you employ several minors, and completing the paperwork before the first shift costs nothing.