What Age Can You Start Working in Texas: Hours, Jobs, and Pay

In Texas, you can start working at 14 for most regular jobs, with a few narrow exceptions that let younger children work in a family business, deliver newspapers from age 11, or perform in film and theater with state approval. The rules get looser at 16, when hour limits and curfews disappear, and looser again at 18, when the ban on hazardous occupations ends. Both Texas Labor Code Chapter 51 and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act apply, and where they conflict, the stricter rule wins.

Working Under Age 14

Employing a child under 14 in Texas is a criminal offense unless one of the specific statutory exceptions applies.¹ Three exceptions exist, and each one is narrower than it sounds.

A child of any age can work in a business owned or operated by a parent or legal custodian, but the job has to be nonhazardous and the child has to work under that parent’s or custodian’s direct supervision. All three conditions apply together. Federal law still bars anyone under 18 from hazardous work and anyone under 16 from mining or manufacturing, regardless of who owns the business.²

Children 11 and older can deliver newspapers to consumers. Federal law sets no age floor for newspaper delivery, but the stricter Texas rule controls inside the state.²

The Texas Workforce Commission can also authorize children under 14 to work in film, theater, radio, or television productions. The employer must apply for that authorization before the child starts work.³

What 14 and 15-Year-Olds Can Do

At 14, most doors open, but not all of them. Federal regulations list the specific occupations 14 and 15-year-olds may hold, and anything not on the list is prohibited.⁴ The permitted work includes:

Office and clerical work such as filing, data entry, and answering phones.
Retail and food service tasks like cashiering, bagging, stocking, and taking orders.
Limited cooking on electric or gas grills without an open flame, and on deep fryers with automatic basket-lowering devices. Standard restaurant cooking equipment like broilers and pressurized fryers stays off-limits.
Kitchen prep, dishwashing, and using microwaves that only warm food.
Creative and intellectual work: tutoring, computer programming, writing software, performing music, drawing.
Errands and light delivery on foot, by bicycle, or by public transportation.
Cleanup and grounds maintenance, but not with power-driven mowers, trimmers, or edgers.

Fifteen-year-olds who hold a current Red Cross lifeguard certification (or equivalent) can work as lifeguards at traditional pools and water parks. Fourteen-year-olds cannot, even with certification.⁵

Hour Limits

Texas state law caps 14 and 15-year-olds at 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week.⁶ The federal FLSA is tighter during the school year: no more than 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week. During school breaks and summer, federal law allows up to 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.⁷ Because the federal caps are lower during school weeks, those are the ones that govern in practice for most employers.

Time of Day

Federal law prohibits work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. during the school year. Between June 1 and Labor Day, the evening cutoff extends to 9 p.m.⁶ Texas state rules are looser (as early as 5 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m. on nights before a school day), but the narrower federal window controls for most Texas employers covered by the FLSA. Both state and federal law also ban work during school hours.⁷

What Changes at 16

At 16, the hour caps and time-of-day restrictions disappear. Neither state nor federal law limits how many hours a 16 or 17-year-old can work, and there is no curfew.⁶ A 16-year-old can legally work a midnight shift or a 50-hour week. The only real constraint left is the federal ban on hazardous occupations, which stays in place until 18.

The Driving Carve-Out for 17-Year-Olds

Driving on public roads for work is one of those hazardous occupations, but 17-year-olds can do it if every one of these federal conditions is met:⁸

Daylight hours only.
A valid Texas driver’s license for that type of vehicle.
Completion of a state-approved driver education course, with no moving violations on record.
A vehicle no heavier than 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, with seat belts.
Driving that is occasional and incidental to other duties, meaning no more than one-third of any workday or 20 percent of the workweek.

Even when all those conditions are satisfied, 17-year-olds cannot tow vehicles, make route deliveries or route sales, handle time-sensitive deliveries like pizza or bank deposits, carry more than three passengers, or drive beyond 30 miles from the workplace.⁸ Sending a 17-year-old to deliver food to customers violates federal law, even if every other box is checked.

Jobs You Can’t Do Until 18

Federal regulations bar anyone under 18 from a set of occupations considered too dangerous, regardless of experience or parental consent.⁹ The prohibited work includes:

Operating power-driven machinery like circular saws, band saws, chain saws, meat slicers, and bakery dough mixers.
Driving motor vehicles on public roads for work, outside the narrow 17-year-old exception.
Roofing, excavation, and demolition.
Working in or around facilities that manufacture or store explosives.
Mining, including open-pit mines and quarries.
Logging and sawmill operations.

Farm and Ranch Work Runs on Different Rules

Texas exempts agricultural work from most state child labor rules, so the federal FLSA agricultural standards govern. Those standards are more lenient, and the age thresholds drop:¹⁰

At 16 and up, no restrictions apply. Any farm job at any time, including hazardous work.
At 14 and 15, nonhazardous farm jobs outside school hours.
At 12 and 13, farm work with parental consent, or on the same farm where a parent is employed, outside school hours.
Under 12, work on a parent’s farm, or on other small farms exempt from FLSA minimum wage rules with parental consent and outside school hours.

Hazardous agricultural work like operating tractors or handling certain chemicals is limited to workers 16 and older. A parent can employ their own child of any age on the family farm in hazardous work without violating federal law.¹⁰

Pay

Texas follows the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and it applies to minors the same as adults.¹¹ Federal law does allow a youth minimum wage of $4.25 per hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job.¹² Not every employer uses it. After 90 days, or once the worker turns 20, the full $7.25 rate kicks in.

Work Permits and Age Certificates

Texas does not require minors to obtain a work permit before starting a job.¹³ If an employer asks a teen between 14 and 17 to prove their age, the Texas Workforce Commission will issue a Certificate of Age on request, but most employers just verify age through a driver’s license or birth certificate at hire.¹⁴

Penalties for Employers Who Break the Rules

A Texas child labor investigator can impose an administrative fine of up to $10,000 per violation, weighted by the seriousness of the offense, the employer’s history, and the effort made to fix the problem.¹⁵ Employing a child under 14 outside a recognized exception is also a criminal offense under the Texas Labor Code.¹ Federal FLSA penalties add another layer of exposure for any covered employer.

Every Texas business that hires minors is subject to Chapter 51, and any business covered by the FLSA has to comply with the federal rules on top of that.⁶ Small size doesn’t create an exemption.

1
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 51.011 – Minimum Age
2
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 51.003 – General Exemptions
3
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 51.012 – Performer Exemption
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act
5
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.34 – Occupations That May Be Performed by Minors 14 and 15 Years of Age
6
Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Child Labor Law
7
Texas Workforce Commission. Summary of the Texas Child Labor Law
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #34: Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2 – Driving Automobiles and Trucks
9
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 213 – Exemptions
11
Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Minimum Wage Law
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #32: Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
13
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate
14
Texas Workforce Commission. Certificate of Age
15
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 51.033 – Administrative Penalty