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Our overview of teenage workers' rights covers hours and wages. This article covers the other half of federal child-labor law, which is about what work a young person may do at all. The Secretary of Labor has declared a set of occupations too dangerous for anyone under 18, and these are not defaults a family can waive — a parent's permission, a signed form, or a young person's own willingness does not create an exception.
The Hazardous Occupations Orders
The child-labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act set out 17 hazardous occupations orders identifying work barred to those under 18 in non-agricultural employment. They cover, among others, manufacturing or storing explosives; most coal mining; logging and sawmilling; roofing and work performed on or about a roof; excavation; wrecking and demolition; and operating many kinds of power-driven equipment, including power-driven meat-processing machines, bakery machines, paper-product machines, and woodworking, metal-forming, and hoisting equipment.
Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds may generally work unlimited hours in any occupation not on the hazardous list, which is why the list matters more than the hours rules for that age group.
Driving is the one that comes up most
Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2 covers driving a motor vehicle and working as an outside helper on one. Under 17, driving on public roads as part of a job is generally prohibited. Seventeen-year-olds may drive on public roads only under strictly limited conditions set out by the Department of Labor — including that the driving be during daylight hours, be occasional and incidental rather than the main part of the job, and not involve urgent time-sensitive deliveries, towing, or transporting other people for hire.
This is the rule most often broken without anyone realizing, because “can you run this over to the other store?” does not feel like a hazardous occupation. It is also the one where the consequences of an accident are most severe.
Narrow exemptions, and what to do about a violation
Limited exemptions exist for 16- and 17-year-old apprentices and student-learners in certain occupations, but they are conditional — typically requiring a registered programme or a written agreement involving the school, and close supervision. They are not a general workaround, and an employer invoking one should be able to produce the paperwork.
If you are asked to do something on the hazardous list, saying you are not allowed to do that job because you are under 18 is accurate and is a refusal an employer should accept. If it continues, the Wage and Hour Division handles child-labor complaints — our article on filing a workplace complaint covers how, including that a complaint can be made without the employer learning who filed it. State law sometimes prohibits more than federal law does, so both can apply.
请记住
- Federal law sets out 17 hazardous occupations orders barring specific work to anyone under 18 in non-farm jobs.
- A parent's permission or a signed form does not create an exception.
- Driving for work is heavily restricted: prohibited under 17, and only under strict conditions at 17.
- Apprentice and student-learner exemptions are narrow and conditional — an employer using one should have the paperwork.
资料来源
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