Who Needs a Work Permit in California: Hours and Job Limits

A California work permit for minors is required before any Californian under 18 who hasn’t finished high school starts a paid job. The permit is issued by the minor’s school, tied to one specific employer, and must be in hand on the first day of work, not after. Getting one takes a job offer, a single form signed by the minor, a parent, and the employer, and the school’s approval.

Who Needs a Permit and Who Doesn’t

Nearly every minor under 18 needs a work permit before starting paid employment in California.¹ The general minimum age for non-entertainment work is 14. The permit covers one job with one employer, so a teen who switches employers has to apply all over again. Permits issued during the school year expire five days after the next school year begins and have to be renewed.

A short list of situations falls outside the requirement. A minor who has graduated from a four-year high school, passed the California High School Proficiency Examination, or earned a GED is exempt even if still under 18.² Informal, self-directed work is also exempt: babysitting, mowing neighbors’ lawns, and newspaper delivery. Casual work in a family-owned business and agricultural work done for a parent on family-owned or family-controlled land don’t need a permit either.¹

Keep in mind that the school decides whether to issue a permit. Districts can deny one to any student still subject to compulsory education and can attach their own conditions, such as a minimum GPA.²

How to Get a California Work Permit

The process starts after the minor has a job offer. A work permit can’t be issued in the abstract. The application names a specific employer, a specific job, and specific proposed hours.

Get CDE Form B1-1. The “Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for Work Permit” is available at the school office and on the websites of the California Department of Education and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.³
Fill it out in three parts. The minor completes personal and school information. The employer adds the business name, address, job description, and proposed hours. A parent or guardian signs to give consent. A parent’s written request has to be on file before any permit can issue.¹⁴
Return the form to the school. If the school approves, it issues the official “Permit to Employ and Work” (CDE Form B1-4). That is the document the employer keeps on file.¹

The school can reduce the hours the permit allows or add occupational restrictions on top of state law. It cannot extend hours beyond the statutory maximum or waive any legal restriction.²

Summer Jobs and Breaks

When school is closed for summer or an extended break, the school office usually can’t process a permit. During those stretches, the application goes to the superintendent of the school district where the minor lives. Processing takes a few business days, so start before summer begins if the job starts right after classes end.

Homeschooled Students

The principal of a private school, including a home school, can issue work permits to students enrolled there. The principal has to self-certify a working knowledge of child labor laws and permit rules. One restriction: a principal cannot issue a permit to his or her own child.²

How Many Hours a Minor Can Work

California caps work hours by age and by whether school is in session. These are state maximums. A school can set tighter limits on any individual permit.

Ages 14 and 15

Up to 3 hours on a school day, and only outside school hours
Up to 8 hours on a non-school day
No more than 18 hours in a school week
Up to 40 hours in a non-school week

These younger workers have the tightest clock-hour window. Work has to fall between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. most of the year, with the evening cutoff moving to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.⁵

Ages 16 and 17

Up to 4 hours on a school day
Up to 8 hours on a non-school day
Up to 48 hours in a week

The window is wider: 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on most days. On evenings before a non-school day, the cutoff extends to 12:30 a.m. Students in a Work Experience Education program can also work until 12:30 a.m. on any day with permission.⁶⁵

Every working minor has to be covered by Workers’ Compensation insurance regardless of age or hours.

Jobs That Are Off-Limits

California bars minors from occupations treated as dangerous to their health or safety. The list is longer for younger teens.

Minors under 16 can’t work in construction, manufacturing, in or near power-driven machinery, on boats, near aircraft propellers, or delivering goods from motor vehicles. They also can’t work in areas primarily designed for on-site alcohol consumption.⁵

For 16- and 17-year-olds the list is shorter but still covers higher-risk tasks. They can’t use pits, racks, or lifting equipment at gas stations, inflate tires mounted on rims with removable retaining rings, or work in areas primarily designed for on-site alcohol consumption.⁵

Federal hazardous occupation orders layer more prohibitions on top of California’s rules. They ban every minor under 18 from jobs involving explosives, coal mining, roofing, trenching and excavation, operating power-driven woodworking or metalworking machines, and exposure to radioactive substances, among others. Limited apprenticeship exemptions exist in some categories but need federal approval.

When a Permit Can Be Pulled

A work permit is not permanent. The person who issued it, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or the Labor Commissioner can cancel the permit at any time if the legal conditions for issuing it were never met or have stopped being met.⁷

Revocation is required whenever the job is impairing the minor’s health or education, any condition of the permit is being violated, or the minor is doing work that breaks a labor law.⁷ In practice, slipping grades and chronic absences can cost a teen their permit. Many districts set their own academic thresholds, and a 2.0 GPA floor is common. A student who falls below that risks losing the permit.²

Entertainment Work Uses a Different Permit

Film, television, theater, music recording, advertising, and photographic modeling run on a separate system. Minors as young as 15 days old can work in entertainment, but both the minor and the employer need permits issued by the Labor Commissioner’s Office rather than the school.⁸ These permits are required even when the entertainment is noncommercial.¹ Anyone providing services to child performers must also hold a separate Child Performer Services permit from the Labor Commissioner’s Office.

Adults Don’t Need a State Work Permit

Adults in California never need a state-issued work permit. When an adult uses the phrase “work permit,” they’re almost always talking about a federal immigration document. The most common is the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766), a card issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that proves a non-citizen is authorized to work for a set period.⁹ Lawful permanent residents already have the right to work and use the Green Card itself as proof. Every employer, regardless of the worker’s status, has to verify work authorization by completing Form I-9.¹⁰

1
Labor Commissioner’s Office. Information on Minors and Employment
2
California Department of Education. Frequently Asked Questions: Work Permits
3
California Department of Education. CDE Form B1-1 – Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit – Certificate of Age
4
California Legislative Information. California Code, Education Code EDC 49110
5
State of California Department of Industrial Relations. Child Labor Law Summary Chart
6
California Legislative Information. California Code, Labor Code LAB 1391
7
California Legislative Information. California Code, Education Code EDC 49164
8
Labor Commissioner’s Office. Entertainment Work Permit for Minors
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization Document
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization