At 14, you can work in Pennsylvania in retail stores, restaurants, offices, and a handful of outdoor and creative jobs, as long as you first get a state work permit and stick to the hour limits for your age. The Pennsylvania Child Labor Act, codified at 43 P.S. §§ 40.1–40.14, sets 14 as the minimum age for most non-hazardous employment.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Child Labor Act – Browse – Unofficial Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes Federal rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act apply too, and where the federal rule is stricter, that one controls.2U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17A – Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Jobs You Can Take at 14
Federal regulations spell out a specific list of occupations open to 14- and 15-year-olds, and those apply in Pennsylvania alongside the state’s own rules. The permitted work covers most of the entry-level jobs teenagers typically look for:3eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
- Retail and sales work, including cashiering, bagging and carrying out orders, stocking shelves, price tagging, and window trimming.
- Food service, including serving, busing tables, dishwashing, and limited cooking on electric or gas grills without open flames. Deep fryers are allowed only if they have automatic basket-lowering devices.
- Office work such as filing, data entry, answering phones, and operating standard office machines.
- Creative and intellectual work, including tutoring, computer programming, writing software, drawing, and performing music.
- Outdoor work like errand and delivery jobs on foot or by bicycle, groundskeeping without power-driven mowers or trimmers, and caddying at golf courses.
- Cleanup work such as vacuuming, floor waxing, and general maintenance that doesn’t involve power-driven equipment beyond vacuums and waxers.
Two Pennsylvania carve-outs are worth knowing. Newspaper delivery has its own rules: minors aged 11 through 15 who work as carriers need an employment certificate and can only work between 5:00 AM and 8:00 PM.4Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Newspaper Carriers A carrier who works independently of the publisher doesn’t need the certificate at all. Pennsylvania also exempts sports-attendant work at professional sporting events, like setting up equipment, retrieving balls during play, and running errands for coaches or trainers; the normal hour restrictions don’t apply during those events.5New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 43 PS Labor – 40.6 Sports-Attendant Services
Jobs That Are Off-Limits
Both state and federal law bar minors from a long list of dangerous work. Federal law uses 17 Hazardous Occupation Orders that keep anyone under 18 out of the most dangerous industries, and because a 14-year-old can’t do anything already banned for 16- and 17-year-olds, these restrictions apply in full.6eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 Subpart E – Occupations Particularly Hazardous for the Employment of Minors Between 16 and 18 Years of Age The banned categories include:
- Manufacturing or storing explosives
- Driving motor vehicles or serving as an outside helper on a vehicle
- Coal mining and other mining operations
- Logging, sawmill work, and forest firefighting
- Operating power-driven woodworking, metalworking, or meat-processing machines
- Roofing, demolition, and excavation work
- Work involving radioactive substances or ionizing radiation
- Operating power-driven bakery machines, balers, or compactors
Under Pennsylvania law, minors also cannot work in any establishment whose primary purpose is serving or manufacturing alcoholic beverages. Construction sites and manufacturing plants are out for the same safety reasons. If a job involves heavy equipment, dangerous materials, or an adult-only environment, a 14-year-old can’t take it.
How to Get Your Work Permit
Every 14- or 15-year-old in Pennsylvania needs a work permit before starting a job. The process runs through your local school district.
Documents You Need
Pick up an application from your school district’s issuing officer. It asks for your full name, date and place of birth, home address, and a parent or legal guardian’s signature.7New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 43 PS Labor – 40.9 Work Permit If a parent can’t sign, you can instead make a sworn statement before a notary attesting to the accuracy of your application.
You also need proof of age. Pennsylvania law lists acceptable documents in order of preference: a certified copy of your birth certificate first, then a baptismal certificate showing your date of birth, then a passport. If your proof of age is an official government record already on file in Pennsylvania, the issuing officer can note its location rather than make you file a copy.
The Appointment
You’ll meet with the issuing officer in person. The officer reviews and files your paperwork, verifies your age, and has you sign the permit on the spot. That signature step is required by statute and can’t be done remotely.
The finished permit is a wallet-sized card listing your name, date and place of birth, physical description, and any work restrictions. Give a copy to your employer before your first shift so they can keep it on file. The permit belongs to you rather than any one employer, so if you switch jobs you don’t need to start over.
Hours You Can Work
Pennsylvania and federal law set nearly identical hour caps for 14- and 15-year-olds, so the limits below apply either way.8U.S. Department of Labor. Non-Agricultural Jobs – 14-15
During the School Year
When school is in session, you can work up to three hours on a school day and up to 18 hours in a school week (Monday through Friday). Shifts can’t start before 7:00 AM or run past 7:00 PM.9New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 43 PS Labor – 40.3 Time Limitations on Employment of Minors On non-school days like Saturdays, you can work up to eight hours.
During Summer and School Vacations
When school is out, the daily cap rises to eight hours and the weekly cap to 40 hours. The evening cutoff extends to 9:00 PM during vacation periods. The 7:00 AM start time stays the same year-round.
One wrinkle: under federal law, the extended 9:00 PM cutoff applies only from June 1 through Labor Day. Pennsylvania’s law is slightly more generous and allows 9:00 PM during any school vacation, but because the stricter rule controls, the summer window is the one you can count on. For shorter breaks like winter or spring vacation, confirm with your employer whether the 7:00 PM cutoff still applies.
Meal Breaks
Pennsylvania requires employers to give every minor worker a 30-minute meal break on or before five consecutive hours of work.10Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Child Labor Act – Department of Labor and Industry This isn’t optional. A four-hour shift won’t trigger it, but any shift approaching five hours or longer does, and letting a 14-year-old work five straight hours without a break violates the Child Labor Act.
What You’ll Earn
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal floor.11U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws That’s the baseline for most entry-level teen jobs in retail and food service.
Federal law allows a lower “youth minimum wage” of $4.25 per hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days with a new employer.12U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. Fact Sheet 32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act Most employers don’t use it, but it’s legal, so read your offer carefully. Those 90 days run on the calendar, not just the days you actually work, so the window closes faster than you might expect.
If Your Employer Breaks the Rules
If you’re being scheduled outside legal hours, placed in a prohibited role, or denied required meal breaks, you or your parent can file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. You don’t need a lawyer, and the complaint process is confidential. Pennsylvania treats child labor violations as summary offenses with escalating fines, and the Department can impose administrative penalties on top of that.13New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 43 PS Labor – 40.11 Penalties Federal investigators can act separately under the FLSA, so a single scheduling complaint can prompt a broader audit of the workplace.