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A 15-year-old in Petworth gets hired at a bakery on Georgia Avenue for weekend mornings. Before the first shift, the bakery has to have a piece of paper on file: a work or vacation permit. That is District law, not a bakery rule. DC's child labor law is written by the DC Council (Congress can review DC laws, but the everyday rules here come from the Council and District agencies). It sits on top of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and where the two disagree, the stricter one wins.
The permit: who needs it and who keeps it
The DC Code, in its chapter on employment of minors, says no one under 18 may work in a gainful occupation unless the employer obtains and keeps on file a work or vacation permit. The law names the Board of Education as the office that issues it, and in practice the permit comes through the school system. A vacation permit covers summer and school-break work. The employer, not the teen, is the one who must have the permit ready to show an inspector.
There are a few exceptions written into the same law: agricultural work, housework, delivering newspapers, and irregular or casual work at the employer's own home that is not part of the employer's business. Babysitting for a neighbor in Brookland fits that last one. A cashier job at a store on H Street does not.
The employer's part of the application is a signed statement listing the exact job, the hours per day, and the days per week. Ask your school counselor or front office for the permit form; the school is where DC sends you.
Hours: the DC clock and the federal clock
DC law sets one set of limits for everyone under 18: no more than 8 hours a day, 48 hours a week, or 6 days in a row. A 16- or 17-year-old may not work before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. Anyone under 16 may not work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when the evening cutoff moves to 9 p.m.
For 14- and 15-year-olds, the federal FLSA is stricter, and the DC Department of Employment Services says on its own site that an employer who follows only the looser DC rule is breaking federal law. Federal limits for that age group are 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day, and 40 hours in a non-school week. So the 15-year-old at the Petworth bakery can work 8 hours on a Saturday but only 3 hours on a Tuesday, no matter what the DC statute alone would allow.
The legal history behind that federal floor is short. In Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), the Supreme Court struck down Congress's first national child labor law, saying it went beyond Congress's power over interstate commerce. In United States v. Darby (1941), the Court reversed course and upheld the FLSA, which is why the federal hour limits above apply in DC today.
Pay: no youth rate in the District
The DC minimum wage is $17.95 an hour through June 30, 2026, and $18.40 an hour starting July 1, 2026. The Department of Employment Services notice says the rate applies to all workers regardless of the size of the employer, and it lists no lower rate for teens. The federal minimum wage is $7.25; in DC, that number is only a floor far below the real one.
Tipped jobs are different. A server or busser can be paid a base of $10.30 an hour from July 1, 2026, but if tips averaged over the week do not bring the total up to the full minimum wage, the employer has to pay the difference. The rate goes up each year with the local consumer price index, so check the current poster before you assume.
Where to check and who to call
The office that enforces DC wage and child labor rules is the Office of Wage-Hour inside the Department of Employment Services, at 400 Virginia Avenue SW. Its phone number is (202) 671-1880 and its email is owh.ask@dc.gov. It takes wage claims and posts the current minimum wage notice in six languages, including Spanish and Amharic.
If you think an employer is breaking the rules, write down the dates and hours first. Then a parent, a teacher, or you can call that number. Two things worth knowing: an employer must post a notice of the minor-hours rules where you work and keep a time record of when you start and stop, so the proof usually exists already. And if the problem is a federal one, like a 14-year-old on a 6-hour school-day shift, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division also takes complaints.
Tandaan ito
- Under 18 in DC, you need a work or vacation permit, issued through the school system and kept on file by your employer.
- DC caps everyone under 18 at 8 hours a day and 48 a week; 16- and 17-year-olds stop at 10 p.m., under-16s at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. in summer).
- For 14- and 15-year-olds the federal limit of 3 hours on a school day and 18 in a school week is stricter than DC law, so it controls.
- The DC minimum wage is $18.40 from July 1, 2026, with no youth rate; the Office of Wage-Hour, (202) 671-1880, takes complaints.
Mga pinagmulan
- D.C. Law Library: § 32-207, Work or vacation permit, procurement by employer (bubukas sa bagong tab)
- D.C. Law Library: § 32-202, Employment of minors under 18 years of age; hours of employment (bubukas sa bagong tab)
- DC Department of Employment Services: Office of Wage-Hour Compliance (bubukas sa bagong tab)
- Cornell LII: Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918) (bubukas sa bagong tab)
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