The Indiana Department of Labor (IDOL) has launched a Teen Worker Summer Safety Campaign. The campaign, aimed at educating and informing Hoosier employers, teens and parents on occupational safety and health hazards and Indiana’s Child Labor laws, includes a series of informative bi-weekly press releases. Teen work permits and work hour restrictions are the first two topics covered in the series.

Indiana Child Labor laws regulate the employment of minors ages 17 and younger. These laws, enforced by the IDOL’s Bureau of Child Labor, establish specific requirements applicable to the employment of minors, including restrictions on the hours teenagers are permitted to work, types of establishments in which minors are prohibited from working and the types of jobs they are prohibited from performing.

Work permits

Indiana Child Labor laws require that prior to beginning employment, minors obtain a work permit. The work permit requirement applies to minors, including those who are:

• Enrolled in a public or private school;

• Home-school students;

• Out-of-State residents seeking employment in Indiana;

• No longer enrolled in school, and;

• Married.

Work permits are not required to employ teens that have graduated from high school or have received a General Education Development (GED) diploma.

A minor whose school attendance is not in good standing or whose academic performance does not meet the school corporation’s standard may be denied a work permit. Minors may have more than one active work permit; however, the total hours worked by the minor may not exceed the daily and weekly hour limits.

Work hours

On school days, 14 and 15 year-olds may not exceed three hours of work per day, may not work later than 7 p.m. (9 p.m., June 1 – Labor Day). They also may not work more than 18 hours per week and may not work between the hours of 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. on school days.

For 16 and 17 year-olds, Indiana law allows for extended work hours with written consent from a parent or legal guardian. For answers to Frequently Asked Questions, information on work hour restrictions and a copy of the “Teen Labor Laws” booklet, please visit the Bureau of Child Labor homepage at www.in.gov/dol/childlabor.htm.

For additional information or questions, contact Sean Keefer at (317) 232-2683 or email media@dol.in.gov.