A 14-year-old can work in Maryland in a fairly wide range of non-hazardous jobs, mostly in retail, food service, offices, and light errand or yard work, but only after getting a state work permit tied to a specific employer. Both Maryland law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act set the limits, and where they disagree the stricter rule wins. That combination controls what the job can be, when it can happen, and how much it has to pay.
Jobs a 14-Year-Old Can Take
Federal law lists the occupations open to 14- and 15-year-olds in non-agricultural work, and the list covers more than most families expect:
- Retail work: cashiering, stocking shelves, price marking, packing, and selling merchandise
- Food service: reheating food, washing dishes, cleaning equipment, and limited cooking
- Office and clerical: filing, answering phones, data entry, and running standard office machines
- Creative and instructional work: computer programming, tutoring, teaching, singing, acting, or playing an instrument
- Errands and delivery on foot, by bicycle, or by public transportation
- Dispensing gas and hand-washing or hand-polishing vehicles
- Yard and cleanup work: raking, using hand-held clippers, and shoveling
- Produce handling: cleaning, wrapping, labeling, weighing, pricing, and stocking fruits and vegetables in areas separate from a freezer or meat cooler
Food service is where families most often misread the rules. A 14-year-old can cook on electric or gas grills that have no open flame and can use deep fryers that automatically raise and lower the basket. Baking is off limits, and so is any work with power-driven slicers, commercial fryers without the auto-basket feature, or grills with open flames.
Jobs a 14-Year-Old Cannot Take
Maryland law and federal law each maintain their own lists of forbidden work, and both apply to a 14-year-old working in the state.
Under Maryland law, a minor under 16 cannot work in or around construction sites; manufacturing, mechanical, or processing jobs; workrooms where goods are made; scaffolding; airports, brickyards, or lumberyards; work involving acids, dyes, gases, lye, or paint; occupations that produce dust in harmful quantities; or power-driven machinery, with narrow exceptions for office machines and school-based vocational training.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 3-213 The same statute bars minors of any age from working around blast furnaces, distilleries, railroads, or electrical wire installation and repair.
Federal law adds 17 Hazardous Occupation Orders that apply to everyone under 18. For a 14-year-old, the practical result is a ban on anything involving explosives, mining, power-driven bakery or paper-products machines, balers and compactors, metalworking, woodworking, or meat-processing machines, driving or riding as an outside helper on a motor vehicle, and roofing or any work performed on or around a roof.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations If a job involves heavy machinery, chemicals, heights, or driving, a 14-year-old cannot do it.
How Many Hours a 14-Year-Old Can Work
Hour limits are where the two systems collide. Maryland sets one cap, federal law sets another, and the tighter one controls. For 14- and 15-year-olds, federal law is tighter on almost every point.
When School Is in Session
- No more than 3 hours on a school day
- No more than 18 hours in a school week
- Work only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Maryland’s own law would allow 4 hours on a school day, 23 hours in a school week, and work until 8:00 p.m., but the stricter federal caps override those numbers.4Maryland Department of Labor. Employment of Minors Work Permit5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 3-211
When School Is Not in Session
- Up to 8 hours a day
- Up to 40 hours a week
- Work between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., with the evening cutoff extended to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day
Maryland’s statute would extend the 9:00 p.m. window starting on Memorial Day, but federal law doesn’t allow it until June 1, so June 1 is the effective start date.4Maryland Department of Labor. Employment of Minors Work Permit Winter and spring breaks get the 8-hour daily and 40-hour weekly limits, but the cutoff stays at 7:00 p.m. because those breaks fall outside the summer window.
Breaks
Every minor under 18 in Maryland is entitled to a 30-minute break for each 5 consecutive hours worked, and the employer cannot waive it even if the minor agrees.6Maryland Department of Labor. Breaks, Benefits and Days Off
Getting the Work Permit
Every minor under 18 needs a Maryland work permit, and permits aren’t issued to anyone under 14. The permit is tied to a specific employer, so a job offer has to come first.4Maryland Department of Labor. Employment of Minors Work Permit
Applications go through the Maryland Department of Labor’s online portal. The application has to include proof of the minor’s age, a description of the work, and parental approval.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 3-206 The minor prints the permit after submitting, and three signatures make it valid: the minor’s, the parent or guardian’s, and the employer’s.4Maryland Department of Labor. Employment of Minors Work Permit
Permits don’t transfer. Change jobs, and the minor needs a new one for the new employer. The employer is required to keep the permit on file for three years.8Maryland Department of Labor. Minor Fact Sheet
What a 14-Year-Old Has To Be Paid
Maryland’s minimum wage is $15.00 per hour, and employees under 18 must be paid at least 85% of that figure, which comes to $12.75 per hour.9Maryland Department of Labor. Maryland Minimum Wage and Overtime Law Employers can pay more. They cannot pay less.
Federal law allows a youth minimum of $4.25 per hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job, but Maryland’s higher rate controls because state law is more protective.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32 Youth Minimum Wage Fair Labor Standards Act A 14-year-old in Maryland gets at least $12.75 per hour from the first shift.
For tipped jobs, Maryland requires a direct wage of at least $3.63 per hour, with tips bringing the total to the applicable minimum wage. If tips fall short, the employer makes up the difference, and for a worker under 18 the combined total cannot drop below $12.75 per hour.9Maryland Department of Labor. Maryland Minimum Wage and Overtime Law
Work That Doesn’t Require a Permit
Some activities aren’t counted as “employment” under Maryland law, which means no permit is required and the hour and occupation rules don’t apply. The activity still has to happen outside school hours and cannot involve manufacturing, mining, or hazardous work. The list includes:
- Farm work performed on a farm
- Domestic work in or around a home, including babysitting
- Working in a business owned by a parent or guardian
- Caddying on a golf course
- Instructing on a sailboat
- Delivering newspapers to consumers
- Making evergreen wreaths in or around a home
- Serving as a counselor, assistant counselor, or instructor at a youth camp certified under the Maryland Youth Camp Act
- Unpaid volunteer work for a charitable or nonprofit organization with written parental consent
The family-business exception is the one most people use. If a parent runs a sole proprietorship or a family partnership, their 14-year-old can work there without a permit, as long as the work itself isn’t on either prohibited list.