New Hampshire Child Labor Laws: Ages, Hours, Hazardous Jobs

New Hampshire child labor laws, set out in RSA Chapter 276-A, control when a minor can work, how many hours, in what kinds of jobs, and what paperwork the employer needs on file first. Children under 12 generally cannot be employed at all. Workers aged 12 through 15 need a Youth Employment Certificate and face tight hour caps built around the school day. Workers aged 16 and 17 get more freedom but still need written parental permission and are still barred from hazardous work. The New Hampshire Department of Labor enforces the rules and can fine employers between $100 and $2,500 per violation.

Minimum Working Age

No child under 12 may be employed in New Hampshire. The exceptions are narrow: working for a parent, grandparent, or guardian; casual work that is infrequent, brief, or produces very little income; and door-to-door newspaper delivery. Farm labor is handled separately and can involve younger workers.¹

From age 12 on, a minor can hold a job, but anyone under 16 has to have an employment certificate on file before starting. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds skip the certificate but still need signed parental permission, and the hazardous-job and hour rules keep applying until the day they turn 18.

Paperwork Before the First Shift

Youth Employment Certificate for Workers Under 16

Every employer hiring a worker under 16 must have a completed Youth Employment Certificate on file within three business days of the minor’s first day of work. The certificate needs a parent or legal guardian’s signature and proof of two things: the minor’s age and adequate health.² A birth certificate, passport, or state-issued ID usually covers the age piece.

Either the school principal (or a designee) or a parent or legal guardian can issue the certificate, but only after confirming the student is performing at a satisfactory academic level. If the school issues it, the superintendent coordinates with the Department of Labor; if a parent issues it, that responsibility sits with the parent.²

Employers keep the certificate on file for the whole time the minor works there. A missing certificate carries a minimum $100 civil penalty.²

A certificate is not permanent. If grades slip after it is issued, the principal or the parent can revoke it, and whoever revokes it has 48 hours to notify the other parties and the Department of Labor. Once revoked, the employer must end the employment or wait for a new certificate.²

Parental Permission for 16- and 17-Year-Olds

Workers aged 16 and 17 are not required to get a certificate, but the employer still needs signed parental permission before they can begin.³ The parental permission form is available through the Department of Labor website and local school offices.

Hour Limits for Workers Under 16

Hour caps for workers under 16 are built around the school calendar and apply no matter what the job is:¹

School days: no more than 3 hours of work per day.
School weeks: no more than 23 hours total.
Non-school days: up to 8 hours per day.
Vacation weeks: up to 48 hours per week.
Daily window: between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., year-round.

The 9:00 p.m. cutoff does not move in summer. A 14-year-old working a restaurant job in July still has to clock out at 9:00 p.m.

Hour Limits for Workers Aged 16 and 17

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds who are enrolled in school get more hours, but the caps still shift with the school schedule:

Full school week (5 days of school): no more than 35 hours of work and no more than 6 consecutive days.¹
School vacations, including summer: no more than 48 hours per week and no more than 6 consecutive days. Summer vacation runs from June 1 through Labor Day for this rule.

RSA 276-A:11 adds daily caps that cover every minor regardless of school status. In a manufacturing setting, no minor can work more than 10 hours in a day or 48 hours in a week. In most other jobs, the ceiling is 10 hours and 15 minutes per day or 54 hours per week. Where these overlap with the school-week caps, the stricter number wins.

There is also a late-shift rule. Any minor who works past 8:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m. more than two nights in a week is limited to 8-hour shifts for that work week.³

Meal Breaks

New Hampshire’s general wage law (RSA 275:30-A) requires a 30-minute meal break after five consecutive hours of work, and that rule applies to minors the same as adults. The break does not have to be paid, but the employee has to be completely relieved of duties.

Jobs Minors Cannot Do

New Hampshire bans all minors from hazardous occupations, with limited exceptions for approved apprenticeship or vocational training programs.¹ The restrictions tighten for younger workers.

Under 16

State law specifically bars workers under 16 from manufacturing, construction, mining, quarrying, and logging.¹ These categories are broad. A 14-year-old cannot work at a construction site even in a non-labor role like answering phones if the location itself falls within a dangerous area of those industries.

Under 18 — Federal Hazardous Occupation Orders

New Hampshire incorporates federal child labor regulations into its own administrative rules, so the 17 federal Hazardous Occupation Orders apply here too.⁴ Under those federal rules, no one under 18 may work in jobs that include:

Manufacturing or storing explosives.
Driving a motor vehicle as part of the job or working as a delivery helper, with a narrow exception for 17-year-olds driving cars and small trucks during daylight under specific conditions.
Coal mining, metal mining, quarrying, and sand and gravel operations.
Logging, forest firefighting, timber management, and sawmilling.
Power-driven woodworking machines (including chain saws), metal-forming and shearing machines, meat-processing machines, and commercial bakery machines like dough mixers.
Any work with radioactive substances or ionizing radiation.
All roofing work and any task performed on or near a roof, including gutter installation, HVAC servicing, and ground-level roofing labor.
Forklifts, cranes, backhoes, scissor lifts, and similar powered lifting equipment.
Building demolition and excavation.

Federal prohibitions set the floor.⁵ Where the state rule is stricter, the state rule applies; where the federal rule is stricter, the federal rule applies. Employers follow whichever gives the minor more protection.⁶

How Much a Minor Must Be Paid

New Hampshire does not set its own minimum wage. State law ties it to the federal rate, which is $7.25 per hour.⁷ A minor is entitled to at least $7.25 per hour for every hour worked, with one exception.

Federal law lets employers pay workers under 20 a reduced “youth minimum wage” of $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job, as long as the minor’s work does not displace other employees. After 90 days, or when the worker turns 20, whichever comes first, the full $7.25 rate kicks in.⁸

For tipped positions, an employer can apply a tip credit and pay a direct cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour, but only if tips bring total hourly pay to at least $7.25. If tips fall short, the employer makes up the difference, and the tip credit arrangement has to be explained to the employee first.⁹

Employer Penalties

The Commissioner of Labor can assess civil penalties from $100 to $2,500 per violation of New Hampshire’s youth employment laws.¹ Each violation counts separately. An employer who skips certificates for three minors is looking at three penalties, not one. A missing certificate alone carries a $100 minimum under RSA 276-A:5.²

These are civil penalties, assessed by the Department of Labor directly without a criminal prosecution. They add up for repeat offenders or for employers with multiple undocumented young workers. The Department runs unannounced inspections, and inspectors typically open by asking to see the employment certificate or parental permission paperwork. Keeping that paperwork readily available is the simplest way to avoid fines.

1
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 276-A:4 – Prohibitions
2
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 276-A:5 – Certificate
3
State of New Hampshire Department of Labor. Youth Employment FAQs
4
State of New Hampshire Department of Labor. Youth Employment
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Nonagricultural Occupations
6
U.S. Department of Labor. The Employment of Youth in Roofing Occupations and On Roofs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
7
State of New Hampshire Department of Labor. Minimum Wage
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Youth Minimum Wage – eLaws – Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act