Louisiana Minor Work Permit: Eligibility, Hour Limits, and How to Apply

In Louisiana, a minor work permit is called an Employment Certificate, and any worker aged 14 through 17 generally needs one before starting a job. The certificate ties a specific minor to a specific employer and a specific job, so it has to be reissued whenever the work changes. The rules come from Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23, Sections 151 through 234, and the process involves the minor, a parent or guardian, the prospective employer, and an authorized issuing officer at a school or workforce office.

Who Needs a Certificate

No one under 14 may be employed in any gainful occupation in Louisiana at all.¹ From 14 up through 17, the certificate is required, and employers must keep one on file for every minor they hire.²

A few kinds of work fall outside the requirement. Louisiana RS 23:151 exempts agricultural work and domestic services in private homes, so farm jobs and babysitting for a neighbor don’t need state paperwork.³ Approved federally funded youth training programs and performing-arts work (theater, modeling, film, television, music) are also exempt from the standard certificate filing.² Everything else needs a certificate.

What You Need Before You Apply

The application is a shared document. The employer fills in one section, a parent or guardian signs another, and the minor brings proof of age. The issuing officer will not review anything until all three parts are complete.

Proof of Age

One document from the following list is enough under Louisiana RS 23:184:⁴

A birth certificate, short-form birth certification card, or signed statement from the recorder of births
A baptismal certificate showing date of birth and place of baptism
A bible record of the birth made at the time it happened
A passport or certificate of arrival in the United States dated at least two years before the application
A life insurance policy on the minor dated at least two years before the application
A school record or school ID showing the minor’s age
A current valid Louisiana driver’s license or state-issued ID with the minor’s date of birth
A signed affidavit from a parent or guardian, used only when none of the above can be obtained

The Employer’s Section

The prospective employer completes their portion first. The form asks for the business name, the physical address where the work will be performed, a phone number, the industry, and the specific tasks the minor will do.⁵ The task description matters because the issuing officer uses it to check the job against the prohibited-occupations list and the hour rules.

Parental Consent

A parent or legal guardian signs the consent statement on the same form and provides a phone number in case the issuing officer needs to follow up.⁵ Without that signature, the application goes no further.

How to Get the Certificate Issued

Step 1. Download the Application to Employ Minors Under Age 18 from the Louisiana Workforce Commission website or pick one up at a school board office.⁶
Step 2. Give the blank form to your prospective employer to complete their section.
Step 3. Have a parent or legal guardian sign the consent section.
Step 4. Bring the completed form and one proof-of-age document to an Authorized Issuing Officer. That’s usually at a high school, a school board office, or a local American Job Center.⁷
Step 5. The issuing officer reviews the file for compliance with RS 23:151–234 and, if everything checks out, issues the Employment Certificate.
Step 6. Deliver the original certificate to your employer, who keeps it on file at the worksite.

The certificate applies only to the job it names. Change employers or take on a substantially different role, and you go through the process again with new employer information.

Homeschooled students use the same procedure. They can apply at any school board office, any high school that issues certificates, or at a workforce office, and don’t need to be enrolled at the specific school where they apply.⁸

Hour Limits the Certificate Allows

The certificate authorizes work only within Louisiana’s age-based hour rules. These differ sharply between the two age groups.

Ages 14 and 15

When school is in session, 14- and 15-year-olds may 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 limit is 8 hours, and non-school weeks cap at 40 hours. Work cannot start before 7:00 a.m. or run past 7:00 p.m., except between June 1 and Labor Day, when the evening cutoff extends to 9:00 p.m.⁹

Ages 16 and 17

Louisiana sets no daily or weekly hour cap for 16- and 17-year-olds, but they must get an eight-hour rest break between shifts. Nighttime restrictions before a school day depend on age: 16-year-olds who have not graduated cannot work between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., and 17-year-olds who have not graduated cannot work between midnight and 5:00 a.m.⁹ Once a minor graduates high school, the nighttime rules stop applying regardless of age.

Jobs the Certificate Cannot Cover

Some occupations are off-limits to minors no matter what a parent signs or an employer requests. Louisiana RS 23:161 bars minors from mining and quarry work; manufacturing, using, or transporting explosives; iron and steel plants, smelters, foundries, forging shops, and hot rolling mills; operating power-driven metal or woodworking machines; sawmills and logging; oiling, cleaning, or wiping machinery or applying belts to pulleys; stone cutting and polishing; operating passenger or freight elevators and hoisting machines; spray painting and work involving lead, dangerous dyes, or hazardous chemicals; and any establishment where selling alcohol is the main business, with a narrow exception for musicians under contract and supervised by a parent.¹⁰ Minors can still work at restaurants and other businesses that hold a liquor license, provided they don’t sell, mix, or serve alcoholic drinks.

Driving has its own rule. Minors 16 or younger cannot drive a motor vehicle on a public road for work at all. Minors 17 and older may drive for work only if it takes up no more than one-third of their daily work time and no more than 20 percent of their weekly work time.¹⁰

Federal law adds another layer. The Fair Labor Standards Act’s Hazardous Occupations Orders under 29 CFR Part 570 bar workers under 18 from roofing, excavation, demolition, wrecking, operating bakery machines, slaughtering, and several other categories.¹¹ Where federal and state lists both apply, the stricter rule controls.¹² If either list prohibits the task, the minor can’t do it, and no certificate will authorize it.

What the Employer Must Do After the Certificate Is Issued

Once the certificate is in hand, the employer must keep the original at the worksite along with other employment records required by law, and it must be accessible to any enforcement officer at any time.²

The penalties for skipping the process are real. A violation of the child labor provisions of Title 23 carries a criminal fine of $100 to $500, imprisonment of 30 days to six months, or both, plus a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation and up to $7,500 in litigation expenses awardable to the prevailing party.¹³ Each minor employed without a valid certificate is a separate violation, and a missing certificate is one of the easiest violations for a state labor inspector to prove.

1
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 RS 23-162 – Minors Under Fourteen
2
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 RS 23-182 – Employers to Keep Records
3
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 RS 23-151 – Application of Provisions
4
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 RS 23-184 – Requirements for Issuance
5
Louisiana Division of Administration. Application to Employ Minors Under Age 18
6
Louisiana Workforce Commission. Employment for Minors
7
Louisiana Workforce Commission. Application to Employ Minors Under Age 18
8
Louisiana Workforce Commission. FAQs About Youth Employment Programs for an Employer
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Louisiana Workforce Commission. Louisiana Minor Labor Law Placard
10
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 RS 23-161 – Minors Prohibited Employments
11
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations
13
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 RS 23-231 – Specific Violations