Teen jobs in New Jersey: working papers, hours, and the $15.92 wage

New Jersey requires an employment certificate, usually called 'working papers', for minors who work for pay. A minor is anyone under 18. According to the state's Child Labor Law poster, you apply in person to the issuing officer of the school district where you live. The employer fills in its part, including the job duties, the hours, and the pay, and a parent signs too.

There is one short exception. During school vacation, teens 15 and older do not need a certificate for the first 14 days of a job in food service, a restaurant, retail, or a seasonal amusement. After day 14, the papers are required.

For 14- and 15-year-olds, the state and federal limits mostly match. While school is in session, you can work up to 3 hours a day and 18 hours a week. When school is out, the limit is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, and New Jersey adds a cap of 6 days a week. Work must stay between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. From the last day of your school year until Labor Day, you can work until 9 p.m. if a parent gives written permission.

For 16- and 17-year-olds the difference is big. Federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, sets no hour limits at all at that age. New Jersey does: 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, 6 days a week, and no work before 6 a.m. or after 11 p.m. In summer vacation, the poster allows up to 10 hours a day and 50 hours a week.

Congress's power to set these federal rules was settled in United States v. Darby (1941). The Supreme Court upheld the federal wage and hour law and overruled Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), the earlier case that had said Congress could not block goods made with child labor.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and federal law lets employers pay workers under 20 a youth wage of $4.25 for their first 90 days. New Jersey's rate is much higher. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development set it at $15.92 an hour for most workers starting January 1, 2026, and $15.23 for small employers and seasonal jobs. The rate is adjusted every January.

New Jersey's poster notes that minimum wage reaches workers under 18 through special wage orders for minors, so a few kinds of jobs are handled differently. If your pay looks low, ask the state before you assume it is legal.