What Age Can You Work in NC: Hour Limits, Banned Jobs, Permits

In North Carolina, you can start working at 14 for most non-farm jobs. Children aged 12 and 13 are limited to delivering newspapers, and only outside school hours. At 16, most hour limits fall away, and at 18 nearly all youth employment restrictions end. What age you can work in NC also depends on the type of job: some occupations stay off-limits until 18 no matter what, and driving on the job carries its own set of rules.

Ages 12 and 13: Newspaper Delivery Only

No employer in North Carolina can hire anyone 13 or younger, with one narrow exception. Twelve- and 13-year-olds may deliver newspapers directly to consumers, outside of school hours, for no more than three hours per day.¹ Paper carriers in this age range do not need a youth employment certificate.

That is the entire list. No retail, no food service, no office work, no family business jobs at these ages.

Ages 14 and 15: Limited Jobs and Tight Hours

At 14, workers can take jobs in retail stores, food service, and offices. State law limits 14- and 15-year-olds to occupations the U.S. Department of Labor allows under the Fair Labor Standards Act.¹ Typical permitted tasks include cashiering, stocking shelves, bagging groceries, and limited food preparation.

The list of prohibited work at these ages is long. Workers 14 and 15 cannot:

Work in construction, manufacturing, warehousing, mining, or public utilities
Operate power-driven equipment other than office machines
Work from ladders or scaffolds
Perform any baking
Work in freezers or meat coolers

Cooking is allowed in narrow circumstances: 14- and 15-year-olds can cook on electric or gas grills that have no open flame, and can use deep fryers only if the fryer has an automatic basket-lowering mechanism.²

Hour Limits During the School Year

When 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. All work must fall outside school hours and inside a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. window.³

Hour Limits When School Is Out

In the summer, the caps rise to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, and the evening cutoff extends to 9 p.m.

Students in a recognized high school apprenticeship or a work-experience and career-exploration program under the FLSA can work up to 23 hours per week during the school year, and some of those hours may occur during the school day.¹

Ages 16 and 17: Hours Open Up, School-Night Rule Applies

North Carolina places no daily or weekly hour cap on workers 16 and 17. The one scheduling rule that remains is a nighttime restriction. Any student enrolled in 12th grade or lower cannot work between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on a night before a school day.³

An employer can waive the school-night rule, but only with written permission from both the parent or guardian and the student’s school principal (or the principal’s designee).¹ Parent permission alone is not enough, and this requirement is often overlooked.

Jobs Anyone Under 18 Is Banned From

Some occupations stay closed until 18 regardless of age. North Carolina bans anyone under 18 from any job the U.S. Department of Labor has classified as hazardous, and from any occupation the state Commissioner of Labor finds harmful to a minor’s health or well-being.¹ The federal list includes:

Work at facilities that manufacture or store explosives
Nearly all logging, forestry, and sawmill jobs
Operating power-driven woodworking machines, including chain saws and nailing machines
Running power-driven punching, shearing, or metal-forming machinery
Any job involving radioactive substances or ionizing radiation
Work on or about a roof, and excavation operations

The full federal list covers 17 hazardous occupation categories.² These bans apply even when the minor works for a parent’s business.

Driving on the Job at 17

Driving for work is one of the hazardous occupations, so it is generally off-limits under 18. A limited exception lets 17-year-olds drive on the job when every one of these conditions is met:⁴

Driving happens during daylight only
The worker has a valid state license for the vehicle, completed a state-approved driver education course, and has no moving violations at hire
The vehicle is 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or less and has seat belts for driver and passengers
Driving takes up no more than one-third of the workday and 20 percent of the workweek
Trips stay within a 30-mile radius of the workplace, with no more than two trips per day

Even when all those conditions are met, 17-year-olds cannot make route deliveries, deliver time-sensitive items like food or bank deposits, tow vehicles, or transport more than three passengers. Pizza delivery is out.

Required Break for Workers Under 16

North Carolina requires employers to give workers under 16 a break of at least 30 minutes after five consecutive hours of work.¹ Anything shorter than 30 minutes does not count as an interruption of the work period. The worker must be fully relieved of duties during the break for the time to be unpaid.⁵

There is no mandatory break requirement for workers 16 and older. If an employer offers a break shorter than 30 minutes, that break must be paid.

Getting a Youth Employment Certificate

Almost every minor under 18 needs a youth employment certificate before the first day of work. The certificate goes through the N.C. Department of Labor’s online system and involves the worker, a parent or guardian, and the employer.⁶

The steps run in order:

The minor registers online and receives a Youth Employment Identification Number
Once a job is offered, the minor gives that number to the employer
The employer enters the number on the Department of Labor site and provides the business name, location, job duties, and equipment the minor will use
The system emails the minor to sign electronically, then the parent or guardian, then sends the completed certificate to the employer⁷

All three electronic signatures must be in place before the minor starts work. The employer must keep the certificate for three years after the minor turns 18 or leaves the job, whichever comes first. There is no fee.

Family, Farm, and Newspaper Exemptions

A few situations fall outside the standard rules, and it’s worth knowing where the youth employment statute does and doesn’t reach.

Minors working for a parent, guardian, or someone acting in that role are exempt from most youth employment rules, but they still need a certificate, and the hazardous occupations ban still applies.¹ Owning the business does not let a parent put a 15-year-old on a forklift.

Farm work follows a separate set of federal rules with different age thresholds and hour limits — North Carolina’s statute governs non-farm employment. Casual domestic tasks like babysitting or yard work at a private home also fall outside these child labor rules.² And workers under 18 delivering newspapers to consumers outside of school hours do not need a youth employment certificate.

Young people employed as models or performers in film, television, theater, or radio productions are exempt from the age, hour, and occupation restrictions, though they still need a certificate before starting work.¹

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 95-25.5 – Youth Employment
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Nonagricultural Occupations
3
N.C. Department of Labor. Work Hour Limitations for Youths
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #34: Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2 – Youth Employment Provision and Driving Automobiles and Trucks Under the FLSA
5
N.C. Department of Labor. What to Know About Breaks
6
N.C. Department of Labor. Youth Employment Certificate
7
N.C. Department of Labor. Youth Employment Identification