How to Get a Worker’s Permit in Hawaii as a Minor

To get a worker’s permit in Hawaii as a minor, apply through the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Wage Standards Division: 14- and 15-year-olds file an Employment Certificate (Form CL-1), and 16- and 17-year-olds file a Certificate of Age (Form CL-3). There is no fee for either one. Every worker under 18 in Hawaii needs one of these certificates before starting a paid job.

Which Certificate You Need

Your age at the time of hire determines the form.

If you are 14 or 15, you need Form CL-1, the Employment Certificate. This one is tied to a specific employer, so you need a job lined up before you apply. The labor department reviews the position and can refuse to issue the certificate if it decides the work would harm your health, safety, or well-being.¹ If you change jobs, you start a new CL-1.

If you are 16 or 17, you need Form CL-3, the Certificate of Age. It mainly serves as proof that you have reached 16, which protects the employer from accidentally violating age-based labor restrictions. Because it belongs to you rather than to a specific employer, you can carry the same CL-3 from one job to the next.²

Proof of Age You Can Use

Both forms require you to submit an acceptable proof-of-age document. Hawaii accepts:

Birth certificate
Hawaii driver’s license or learner’s permit
State of Hawaii ID card
Military ID
Immigration record, such as a passport, visa, or alien card
Hospital record
School record (not a school ID card)
Court record
Baptismal certificate

A Social Security card is not accepted.³

How to Apply for the CL-1 (Ages 14–15)

Line up the job first. The CL-1 needs signatures from both the employer and a parent or legal guardian, so nothing moves until an employer has offered you the position.

Pick up the form at a DLIR Child Labor Office or download it from the department’s website. Fill it out, get both signatures, and return it with an approved proof-of-age document to a DLIR office in person or by mail. There is no filing fee, and turnaround is generally quick when the paperwork is complete and the proof-of-age document is on the approved list.³

How to Apply for the CL-3 (Ages 16–17)

The CL-3 process is lighter. Complete the form and pair it with an approved proof-of-age document. Both go to the employer at the time of hire; the certificate is only valid when the proof-of-age document is presented with it.³

When a Certificate Isn’t Required

Hawaii Revised Statutes § 390-5 exempts several kinds of work from the child labor chapter entirely:

Work for your own parent or legal guardian
Distributing or selling newspapers
Domestic work in a private home
Golf caddying
Certain religious, charitable, or nonprofit roles designated exempt by the director

Even in an exempt job, you still cannot work during required school hours, in a state-declared hazardous occupation, or in anything connected to adult entertainment.⁴

Hour Limits Once You Start Working

Ages 14 and 15

Scheduling rules for the youngest workers are strict. During the school year, you can work no more than 3 hours on a school day and no more than 18 hours in a school week. On non-school days the daily cap rises to 8 hours, and during weeks when school is not in session the weekly cap is 40 hours.

The permitted time window shifts with the school calendar. On a school day and the evening before a school day, work must fall between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. On non-school days and the evening before a non-school day, the window is 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. You cannot work more than six consecutive days, and your employer must give you at least a 30-minute rest or meal break after five consecutive hours of work.

Ages 16 and 17

There are no daily or weekly hour caps at this age. The main scheduling rule is that you cannot work during hours you are legally required to be in school.²

Jobs You Cannot Take Under 18

Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 12-25, Subchapter 4 lists the occupations closed to anyone under 18. Categories that catch teens and employers off guard include:

Power-driven woodworking machines
Elevators and hoisting equipment, including forklifts and freight elevators
Work involving radioactive substances or ionizing radiation
Driving a motor vehicle as part of the job, or working as an outside helper on one
Power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machinery
Roofing, demolition, and excavation
Mining, logging, and sawmill work
Slaughtering, meat packing, and rendering

Any job connected to adult entertainment is also off-limits, regardless of the specific duties.²⁵

What Your Employer Has to Do

Once you are hired, the paperwork stays with the employer. For a 14- or 15-year-old worker, the employer keeps the original Employment Certificate at the workplace. For a 16- or 17-year-old, the employer records and keeps the Certificate of Age number on file.²

When your job ends, the employer must return your Employment Certificate to the Department of Labor immediately, with the termination date written on it.¹ Federal law also requires employers to keep records for every employee under 19, including date of birth, daily start and stop times, hours worked, and occupation. When state and federal rules differ, the employer must follow whichever is more protective of the minor.⁶

1
Justia. Hawaii Code 390-3 – Certificates of Employment and Age
2
Justia. Hawaii Code 390-2 – Employment of Minors Under Eighteen Years of Age
3
State of Hawaii Wage Standards Division. Child Labor
4
Justia. Hawaii Code 390-5 – Exceptions
5
Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 12-25 – Child Labor
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment Law Guide – Child Labor Protections (Nonagricultural Work)