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A 15-year-old in Pueblo gets hired to bus tables at a diner on Northern Avenue. Nobody asks her for a work permit, because Colorado does not have one. What Colorado does have is the Colorado Youth Employment Opportunity Act, a state law that sets hour limits and job limits for everyone under 18, and a state minimum wage that adjusts every year. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the national child-labor law, sits underneath all of it. When both laws apply, the stricter one wins.
No work permit, but an age certificate if the boss asks
Colorado does not require a work permit for anyone. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment says so directly in its guidance sheet INFO #22, Employment of Minors in Colorado. An employer may, but does not have to, ask a minor for an age certificate, which is a document from the school district or county where the teen lives that confirms the birth date. The employer keeps it during the job and gives it back when the job ends.
There is one exception that looks like a permit. A 14- or 15-year-old cannot work during school hours unless the school issues a school release permit, which lasts up to 30 days and needs a parent's approval and the employer's confirmation that the job is not hazardous. If the employer is large enough to be covered by federal law, the FLSA adds its own rule: school-hours work at 14 or 15 is only allowed through a federally approved work-experience or career-exploration program.
Hours: the state cap and the federal cap
Colorado's rule for every minor, 14 through 17, is simple: no more than 40 hours in a week and no more than 8 hours in any 24-hour period. That is stricter than federal law, which stops counting hours at 16. So a 17-year-old at a King Soopers in Fort Collins cannot be scheduled for a 10-hour Saturday, even though the FLSA would allow it.
Under 16, the two laws split. Colorado's own limit says no work between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. before a school day (babysitting is excepted), and no more than 6 hours on a school day unless the next day is not a school day. If the employer is covered by the FLSA, the federal limits are tighter and take over: no work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day), at most 3 hours on a school day, and at most 18 hours in a school week. INFO #22 explains which businesses are covered; small ones with under 500,000 dollars in yearly revenue often are not.
In 1941, in United States v. Darby, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Congress has the power to set these federal child-labor and wage rules for goods that cross state lines. It overruled Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), which had said the opposite.
Pay: the minimum wage and the 85 percent option
Colorado's minimum wage adjusts for inflation each January. For 2026 the state labor department lists it as 15.16 dollars an hour, far above the federal 7.25. The catch for teens: state law lets an employer pay most minors 85 percent of that figure, which works out to about 12.89 dollars in 2026. Only 'non-emancipated' minors can be paid the lower rate. An emancipated minor, meaning a teen who supports themselves or is married and living away from parents, is owed the full minimum.
Two details matter. The 85 percent rate is an option the employer has to actually choose; if it pays less than 85 percent, it owes the full minimum wage, not the reduced one. And Denver's own minimum wage is higher than the state's, and Denver allows the reduction only for city-certified youth employment program jobs.
Where to check and how to complain
The agency is the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics inside the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, at 303-318-8441. Its Youth Law page has a Youth Law Complaint Form, in English and Spanish, that you can submit online, by email to cdle_labor_standards@state.co.us, by fax, or by mail. Use that form for hours, night work, or hazardous-job problems. For unpaid wages or missed breaks, the Division uses a separate Labor Standards Complaint Form; if both happened, file both. The Division can order the employer to stop and can award money to the teen.
Before you file, read INFO #22 on the Division's Labor Law Guidance page. It lists the jobs a 14-year-old can and cannot do and the current wage figures, and it is updated when the numbers change. A minor, a parent, or a school official can also ask the Division for an exemption from some hour limits using the Youth Exemption Request Form.
Sonje sa
- Colorado has no work permit. An employer may ask for an age certificate from your school district or county, but does not have to.
- Everyone under 18 in Colorado is capped at 40 hours a week and 8 hours a day, which is stricter than federal law for 16- and 17-year-olds.
- Under 16, federal limits (3 hours on a school day, 18 in a school week, done by 7 p.m.) apply at covered employers; Colorado's own 6-hour and 9:30 p.m. rules apply at the rest.
- Employers may pay most minors 85 percent of Colorado's minimum wage. Anything below that means the full minimum is owed; complain to the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics.
Sous
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