Working for your family's business: what the exemptions cover

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA, the federal law on minimum wage and child labor) sets the national child labor rules. In Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), the U.S. Supreme Court said Congress could not ban goods made with child labor from crossing state lines. In United States v. Darby (1941), the Court upheld the FLSA and overruled Hammer, holding that Congress can set labor standards for work connected to trade between states.

That is why the exemptions below come from Congress. Your state can add stricter rules on top, and when both apply, the stricter one is the one to follow.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Fact Sheet 43 says children of any age are generally allowed to work for businesses entirely owned by their parents. So the 13-year-old at the taqueria register is within the federal rule, even though a 13-year-old generally cannot work at a restaurant owned by someone else.

There are two limits. Those under 16 may not work in mining or manufacturing, even for a parent. And no one under 18 may work in a job the Secretary of Labor has declared hazardous. A cabinet shop is manufacturing, and power saws are on the hazardous list, so the 15-year-old cousin is outside the exemption.

Fact Sheet 43 is specific here. One hazardous order bans most power-driven woodworking machines, including sanders and nailing machines. Another bans running circular saws, band saws, and chain saws, and it also bans working as a helper on them. So even holding boards for his dad at the saw is off limits until he turns 18. Sweeping the shop floor or answering the phone is a different question, and the manufacturing limit for under-16s still applies.

Notice the word 'entirely.' A shop owned by an aunt, or co-owned by a parent and a business partner, does not match those words. Ask the Department of Labor before assuming the exemption covers it.