Working as a teen in Missouri: the school-signed certificate, the 7 p.m. rule, and $15

The Missouri Division of Labor Standards publishes two versions of the form. During the school year you use the 'Certificate to Employ a Child 14 or 15 Years of Age During School Term.' In summer you use the version for the non-school term. You and a parent or guardian fill out Section A. The employer fills out Section B, which says it understands the limits on hours and job types. Then an authorized school representative, called the 'issuing authority,' completes Section C.

The school official can ask for your grades from your principal and a note from a doctor saying you are healthy enough to work. That official can also refuse or cancel the certificate if the job does not seem to be in your best interest. Under 14, Missouri generally does not allow work at all, except in entertainment or casual jobs. For those over 12, casual jobs include babysitting, newspaper delivery, and yard work with a parent's consent, and they need no certificate.

From Labor Day to June 1, while school is in session, you can work only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. That means no more than 3 hours on a school day and no more than 8 hours on a weekend or break day. From June 1 to Labor Day, the evening limit moves to 9 p.m., with a cap of 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. In both seasons the limit is 6 days a week. There is one narrow exception: at a regional fair between June 1 and Labor Day, you may sometimes work until 10:30 p.m.

Some jobs are off limits under 16 no matter the hours. The state list includes door-to-door sales (except for a school, church, scouts, or other charity) and work in a place that sells alcohol unless at least half its sales come from other goods.

At 16, Missouri's child labor law stops applying. Federal child labor law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), still covers most employers. The division says plainly that an employer who follows a weaker Missouri rule instead of a stricter federal one is breaking federal law.

Missouri's minimum wage is $15.00 an hour for 2026, up from $13.75 in 2025. The state labor department says most employers must pay youth at least that rate, and it lists no lower rate for teens. Tipped workers, like servers, must get at least $7.50 an hour from the employer, and if tips do not bring the total to $15.00, the employer pays the difference. One exception matters: a retail or service business with less than $500,000 a year in gross income does not have to pay the state rate.

In Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal child labor law. In United States v. Darby (1941), the Court upheld the FLSA and said Hammer was a mistake that should be overruled. That is why a federal floor exists under every state's rules today.