There are many rules and regulations in place in Washington State to help protect workers of all ages. These regulations will differ depending on the workers’ age and whether they are working in an agricultural or a non-agricultural job.

Click below for more information on:

• Prohibited Jobs
• Work Hours
• Meal and Rest Breaks
• Wages
• Workers' Compensation
• Special Variances
• Parent/School Authorization Forms
  

Labor laws are in place to protect teenagers from doing dangerous work. Because of the possible hazards, some jobs in Washington State are restricted based on age.

A special note about restricted jobs and educational programs:

*Under certain conditions, a teenager can carry out some of these hazardous duties. In these cases, they must be a student that is participating in an approved vocational education program, diversified career experience program or work experience program through their school district or when involved in a registered apprenticeship program.

A few examples of prohibited jobs or tasks for teens include:

• Driving a vehicle or forklift
• Operating or cleaning meat slicers
• Using power-driven woodworking equipment such as saws or drills
• Working more than 10 feet above ground or floor level
• Selling candy, flowers, etc. to passing motorists on public roads
• Roofing

For more detailed information on prohibited or restricted jobs in Washington, see: http://www.lni.wa.gov/scs/workstandards/teenworker.htm

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Work Hours

There are rules that limit the number of hours teens can work. These limits include:

• The number of hours they can work in a day
• How early or late they can work
• The total number of hours they can work in a week

The number of hours teens can work varies, based on the time of year (non-school time is considered to be from June 1 through Labor Day), their age, and whether or not they are working in agriculture.

For more detailed information on work hours for teens in Washington State, see: http://www.lni.wa.gov/scs/workstandards/teenworker.htm

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Teens are permitted to take meal breaks and rest breaks depending on how many hours they work and their age. Meal breaks must be uninterrupted and separate from rest breaks.

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The amount a teen worker is paid depends on the worker’s age and the type of work he or she is doing. The minimum wage in Washington State increases on January 1st each year. An employer may pay a 14 or 15 year-old employee less than the minimum wage, but cannot pay less than 85% of the minimum wage. If your teen receives tips, under state law, the tips cannot be counted towards the minimum wage.

If teens work over 40 hours a week they are entitled to overtime pay. Overtime pay is equal to one and a half times their regular rate of pay.

For more information on the current minimum wage in Washington State or overtime, see: http://www.lni.wa.gov/scs/workstandards/minwage.htm

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Anyone who is injured on the job requiring more than first aid is entitled to file an injury claim to cover the costs of medical care. If the injury results in lost work time of more than 3 days, wage replacement is provided.

For more information about workers' compensation in Washington State, see: http://www.lni.wa.gov/ipub/213-023-000.htm

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In some cases a 16 or 17 year-old student may have “good cause” for needing to work more hours per week than is normally allowed. In order to do this, a special variance form must be completed.

For more detailed information on the variance process in Washington State, go to: http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/TeenWorkers/Hours/Variances/default.asp

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In Washington State the responsibility for getting a minor work permit falls to the employer. As part of the work permit process, the employer must keep a copy of the Parent/School Authorization form on file.

In order for your student to work during the school year, a Parent/School Authorization form must first be signed by the parent or guardian, and the authorized teacher at your school. It is the responsibility of the employer to provide the form.

The employer needs to include the following information on the form:

The location of the workplace

A description of the students job duties

The earliest and latest hours they will be working

The total number of hours they will work per week

Because these forms expire on September 30th of each year, the employer will need to provide a new form that needs authorized signatures each year.


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