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A 15-year-old in Lubbock gets hired to bag groceries on Friday nights and Saturdays. The manager asks if she can close at 11 p.m. on a Thursday. In Texas, two sets of rules answer that question: the state's child labor law, run by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the national law on wages and hours. Every employer in Texas must follow the state law. Employers covered by the FLSA must follow the federal law too, and where the two differ, the stricter rule is the one that protects you.
Hours for 14- and 15-year-olds
Texas law says a 14- or 15-year-old can work no more than 8 hours in a day and 48 hours in a week. You cannot start before 5 a.m. You cannot work after 10 p.m. on a night before a school day, and that includes summer school. On a night before a non-school day, you cannot work past midnight.
The federal FLSA is tighter. It says no work during school hours, no more than 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week, and no more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week when school is out. During the school year you can work only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. From June 1 through Labor Day, the evening limit moves to 9 p.m.
So the Lubbock grocery bagger, at a large chain covered by the FLSA, should not be closing at 11 p.m. on a Thursday. Under state law alone, 10 p.m. would already be the limit.
If a 14- or 15-year-old must work to support themselves or their family, TWC can approve a hardship waiver of these hour limits. The process is in TWC Rule 817.22.
Ages 16 and 17, and jobs that are off limits
TWC says a 16- or 17-year-old in Texas has no limits on the number of hours or the times of day they work. School attendance rules and a city's curfew can still apply.
What stays limited is the kind of work. Nobody under 18 can do hazardous jobs, a list that includes roofing, driving on public roads for work in most cases, and running power-driven meat slicers or bakery machines. At 14 and 15 the list is longer: no cooking over an open flame, no work in freezers or meat coolers, and no loading trucks. Most work under age 14 is illegal in Texas, with exceptions such as newspaper delivery at 11 or older and child actors with TWC authorization.
Federal power to set these limits was settled in United States v. Darby (1941). The Supreme Court said Congress can set wage and hour rules for goods sold across state lines, and it overruled Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), which had said Congress could not block goods made with child labor.
Pay, and where to report a problem
Texas uses the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. An employer may pay a young worker a lower wage of $4.25 an hour, but only during the first 90 days on the job. After that, $7.25 is the floor. Teens are also entitled to overtime pay.
The TWC child labor page does not list a work permit among its rules for teen jobs. It does offer a form called the Application for Certificate of Age, and a Child Labor Complaint form.
If your hours or your job duties look wrong, call the TWC Wage and Hour Department at 800-832-9243. You can also write to 101 E 15th St., Room 514, Austin, TX 78778. A parent or another trusted adult can make the call with you. Texas can fine an employer up to $10,000 for each violation.
Lembre-se disto
- In Texas, 14- and 15-year-olds cannot work after 10 p.m. before a school day, and FLSA-covered jobs stop at 7 p.m. during the school year.
- At 16 and 17, Texas sets no hour limits, but hazardous jobs are still banned until 18.
- The minimum wage in Texas is $7.25 an hour; a $4.25 youth wage is allowed only for the first 90 days.
- Report problems to the TWC Wage and Hour Department at 800-832-9243.
Fontes
- Texas Workforce Commission: Texas Child Labor Law (abre em uma nova aba)
- Texas Workforce Commission: Texas Guidebook for Employers, Child Labor (abre em uma nova aba)
- Texas Workforce Commission: Texas Minimum Wage Law (abre em uma nova aba)
- Legal Information Institute: United States v. Darby, 312 U.S. 100 (1941) (abre em uma nova aba)
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