Quick Answer: According to the NJ Department of Labor, minors aged 14-15 can work up to 18 hours weekly during school (40 in summer), while 16-17 year-olds can work 40 hours weekly (50 in summer). These limits impact scheduling for teenage hosts, cashiers, and servers.
What's the Difference Between Hiring 14-15 Year Olds vs. 16-17 Year Olds in New Jersey?
The age difference between your teenage hires affects nearly every scheduling decision you'll make. Most critically, 14–15 year-olds face a 7 PM curfew during the school year, while 16–17 year-olds can work until 11 PM on school nights.
The key distinction: 14–15-year-olds face dramatically stricter limits. During school days, they can only work 3 hours and 18 hours total per week. Your 16–17-year-olds get 8 hours daily and 40 hours weekly during school sessions.
Summer opens up more flexibility. Your 14–15-year-old bussers can work 8 hours daily and 40 hours weekly from the Labor Day period. Meanwhile, 16–17-year-olds can handle 10-hour shifts and 50-hour weeks during the summer.
Both age groups share one critical restriction: 6 consecutive days of work per week maximum. Build that mandatory day off into your shift schedule from the start.
What Are the Time-of-Day and Equipment Restrictions for Minors?
Curfew violations catch a lot of restaurant and retail owners off guard—and they're one of the most common mistakes when scheduling teenage team members.
For 14–15-year-olds during the school year, the work curfew is 7 PM. This means your teenage host cannot work the dinner rush on school nights. During summer vacation, the curfew extends to 9 PM with written parental permission.
For 16–17-year-olds, standard curfew is 11 PM on school nights and midnight on non-school nights. Restaurant owners get an advantage here: NJ child labor law allows 16–17 year-olds to work until 3 AM in restaurants on non-school nights only, with written parental permission.
All minors under 18 are prohibited from operating hazardous equipment. According to DOL Fact Sheet 43, critical prohibitions include deli slicers, commercial mixers, meat equipment, forklifts, cardboard balers, and motor vehicles on public roads.
Do Minors Need Working Papers and What Are the Consequences?
Short answer: yes—and this isn't optional. Every minor under 18 needs an employment certificate before their first shift. New Jersey has no exceptions, even for family businesses.
The process happens through My Working Papers. You'll register as an employer first, provide your business information and working hours, then receive your unique 8-digit code to give to the minor. The minor uses your code to create their account while their caregiver verifies their age with proof of identity documentation such as a birth certificate, driver's license, or passport.
Don't let a teenager start work while "waiting for paperwork." Under recent 2024 legislation (A4822), employing minors without required employment certificates is now a third-degree crime, not just an administrative fine. You must obtain the certificate before the minor begins work and keep records for at least one year after entry.
How Does Homebase Help with Managing Minor Work Hour Compliance?
Tracking curfews, daily limits, weekly maximums, and consecutive-day restrictions for multiple teenage team members gets complicated fast. One scheduling mistake can result in multiple violations under New Jersey's child labor laws.
Homebase scheduling helps you build compliant schedules with automatic alerts that flag potential violations before you post shifts. Our time clock captures accurate hours worked so you can avoid curfew breaches and excessive hour limits.
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Sources and Methodology
At Homebase, we rely on up-to-date, authoritative sources to ensure every Question Center article provides accurate guidance for small business owners. We start with primary federal materials from the IRS and Department of Labor, verify details using official agency publications, and use reputable industry resources only to supplement—never replace—official law.
For this piece, we referenced NJ Department of Labor youth employment guidance, N.J.S.A. 34:2-21.3 statutory requirements, NJ Assembly Bill A4822 (2024 penalty updates), U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet 43 (child labor in non-agricultural occupations), and DOL Fact Sheet 34 (child labor requirements for motor vehicle operations).