A first job in North Dakota: the age certificate, the 3-hour school day, and $7.25

North Dakota's minimum age for most jobs is 14. Under 14, a young person can generally work only in farm labor, domestic service (work around a private home), or under the direct supervision of a parent, guardian, or grandparent.

At 14 and 15, you need an Employment and Age Certificate for each new job. The teen, a parent, and the employer each fill in part of it. The department says the original must be sent to the department, and the certificate is not valid until the department receives it. Starting a different job means a new certificate.

At 16 and 17, North Dakota's youth employment law has no hours limits and no certificate. Federal law still bars anyone under 18 from hazardous jobs, such as roofing, most driving, and most work with power-driven machines.

From Labor Day through May 31, a 14- or 15-year-old can work only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. From June 1 through Labor Day, the window stretches to 9 p.m.

The caps are 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week. On a non-school day the cap is 8 hours, and in a non-school week it is 40. North Dakota counts a week (Sunday through Saturday) as a school week if school is required on any part of four or more days. So a short Thanksgiving week with three school days is a non-school week.

Some jobs are off limits at this age no matter the hours: cooking, construction, driving, door-to-door sales, and work with power-driven machinery or chemicals. One detail trips people up. State law allows 14- and 15-year-olds to mow lawns, but federal law forbids it except in domestic work, and the stricter federal rule controls.

North Dakota's basic minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal rate. Tipped workers, such as servers, can be paid a direct wage of $4.86 an hour, but only if tips bring them up to at least the full minimum for every hour worked. The employer has to tell you in advance and keep written records. The department's pages we read do not list a separate teen wage under state law; if an employer offers you less than $7.25, ask the department.

The federal floor exists because of United States v. Darby (1941). In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress can use its power over interstate commerce to set wages, hours, and child labor rules. It also overruled Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), which had said Congress could not ban goods made with child labor.