To get a California work permit for a minor, you complete an application called CDE Form B1-1 (“Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit”), get it signed by the minor, a parent or guardian, and the prospective employer, and submit it to the issuing authority at the minor’s school. If the school approves it, the school issues CDE Form B1-4, which is the actual permit the employer keeps on file.1Department of Industrial Relations. Permit to Employ and Work CDE Form B1-4 The two forms get confused often: B1-1 is the application you fill out, and B1-4 is the permit you receive.
Who Needs a Permit, and Who Doesn’t
Almost every minor under 18 who takes a job in California needs a B1-4. State law defines a minor as any person under 18 required to attend school and bars employers from hiring one without a permit on file.2California Legislative Information. California Education Code 49160 The requirement ends at 18, even if the student is still in high school.
Several situations fall outside the permit system:3California Department of Education. Frequently Asked Questions – Work Permits
- Minors who already hold a high school diploma, a GED certificate of equivalency, or who have passed the California High School Proficiency Examination.
- Minors employed by a parent or guardian in agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, or domestic labor on property the parent owns or operates.
- Self-employed minors running their own business.
- Minors employed directly by a state or local government agency.
- Odd jobs in private homes such as babysitting, lawn mowing, and leaf raking.
- Volunteers, non-paid students, and unpaid trainees.
One important boundary: minors working in the entertainment industry get a separate permit issued by the Labor Commissioner’s Office, not the school.4Labor Commissioner’s Office. Information on Minors and Employment The B1-1 process described here does not apply to acting, modeling, or similar work.
Step 1: Get Form B1-1
Pick up Form B1-1 at the minor’s school office, or download it from the California Department of Industrial Relations website.5Department of Industrial Relations. Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit CDE Form B1-1 The minor should not wait until a job offer to grab a copy, but the employer section cannot be completed until there is a specific employer willing to hire them.
Step 2: Fill Out the Three Sections
Form B1-1 has three parts, each completed by a different person.
The Minor’s Section
The minor fills in their full legal name, home address, home phone number, birth date, age, grade, Social Security number, and school information (name, address, phone). The minor signs at the bottom of their section.5Department of Industrial Relations. Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit CDE Form B1-1
The Employer’s Section
The prospective employer fills in the business name, business phone, supervisor’s name, and business address, and describes the type of work the minor will perform. The employer also signs a statement confirming the minor will be covered by workers’ compensation insurance. The form does not ask for the carrier’s name, only the employer’s confirmation that coverage exists.5Department of Industrial Relations. Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit CDE Form B1-1
The Parent or Guardian’s Section
A parent, legal guardian, foster parent, caregiver, or residential shelter services provider must sign the B1-1 to grant consent. The permit cannot be issued until that written request has been filed with the issuing authority.6California Legislative Information. California Education Code 49110
Step 3: Submit the Application to the School
Once all three signatures are on the form, submit it to the issuing authority at the minor’s school. California law authorizes several people to issue work permits:6California Legislative Information. California Education Code 49110
- The superintendent of the school district where the minor lives.
- The chief executive officer of the charter school the minor attends.
- A credentialed pupil personnel services specialist authorized in writing by the superintendent.
- A certificated work experience education teacher or coordinator authorized in writing by the superintendent.
- The principal of the minor’s public or private school, or an administrator the principal designates.
In most schools, the counselor’s office, registrar, or attendance office handles it. The issuing authority reviews the application to confirm the proposed job complies with state labor law and that the minor’s attendance and academic standing are satisfactory. If the official decides the job would harm the minor’s education or health, the permit can be denied.
Step 4: Receive the B1-4 Permit
When the application is approved, the school issues CDE Form B1-4. The permit lists the minor’s personal information, the specific business where the minor is authorized to work, and any limitations the issuing authority chooses to impose.1Department of Industrial Relations. Permit to Employ and Work CDE Form B1-4 The employer keeps the permit on file at the workplace.
The B1-4 is tied to a single employer. If the minor leaves that job for another, they need to start over with a new B1-1 and get a new B1-4 for the new employer.
Work Hour Limits Once You Have the Permit
Holding a permit does not mean a minor can work any schedule. California caps hours and times of day by age, and the rules shift when school is in session.
Ages 14 and 15
While school is in session, 14- and 15-year-olds can work no more than three hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week.7Department of Industrial Relations. Minors Summary Charts They cannot work during school hours. When school is out for the summer, the limits rise to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week.
Work is only allowed between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The evening cutoff extends to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.7Department of Industrial Relations. Minors Summary Charts
Ages 16 and 17
Older minors can generally work up to eight hours a day and 48 hours a week. On a school day where the student attends 240 minutes or more of instruction, the daily cap drops to four hours, with narrow exceptions for school-approved work experience, cooperative vocational education programs, and students holding a special permit under Education Code Section 49112(c).8California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1391
Clock restrictions run from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on any evening before a school day. On evenings before a non-school day, including weekends, holidays, and summer, work can continue until 12:30 a.m.8California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1391
Jobs Minors Cannot Do
Federal law closes off many jobs to 14- and 15-year-olds, including manufacturing, mining, construction, operating power-driven machinery, driving motor vehicles, roofing, warehousing, most cooking that involves open flames or deep fryers, work on ladders or scaffolds, building maintenance, and loading or unloading trucks.9U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Hazardous Occupations
For all minors under 18, the U.S. Department of Labor has declared 17 Hazardous Occupation Orders that bar work in specific dangerous fields. These include manufacturing or storing explosives, mining, logging and sawmill work, operating power-driven woodworking or metalworking machines, exposure to radioactive substances, roofing, excavation and demolition, and operating power-driven meat slicers or bakery machines.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations That last one catches many families off guard: a 17-year-old working at a deli cannot legally run the commercial meat slicer, even to slice cheese.
A limited student-learner exemption lets 16- and 17-year-olds in bona fide vocational training programs perform some otherwise restricted tasks when the hazardous work is incidental to training, intermittent and brief, and done under direct supervision of a qualified person. It requires a written agreement signed by the employer and the school coordinator, kept on file by both.
How a Permit Can Be Revoked
A B1-4 is not permanent. The issuing authority must revoke the permit when satisfied that the job is harming the minor’s health or education, that a condition of the permit is being violated, or that the minor is doing work that breaks the law. The Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Labor Commissioner can also cancel any work permit at any time if they find the conditions for issuing it did not exist.11California Legislative Information. California Education Code 49164
Dropping grades and poor attendance are the most common triggers. Individual school districts may set their own GPA or attendance standards for permit eligibility, and those standards can be stricter than state law. If a permit is revoked, the minor must stop working right away and cannot resume until a new permit is issued.