Work Permits (excerpted from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry website)
Child Work Permits Are Required
In Virginia, every teenager 14 or 15 years of public age must have an employment certificate (work permit) to work at a job. The only exceptions to this requirement are listed below.
Exceptions: Jobs For Which Work Permits Are Not required
1. On farms, in gardens, and in orchards that are operated by a parent or guardian.
2. Work around the home for parents.
3. Volunteer work.
4. Non-manufacturing jobs where a parent owns the business
5. Page or clerk for either the House of Delegates or Senate of Virginia
6. Occasional work around someone else’s for home, such as yard work
7. Work performed for state or local government
Who Issues Work Permits
Although most high schools will issue work permits, at Swanson, Mrs. Jankowski has taken the Department of Labor training and is qualified to issue work permits..
How to Obtain a Work Permit
Students need to see Mrs. Jankowski for two forms that are needed before a work permit can be issued…
(1) Intention to Employ: This form is filled out by the employer and then returned to Mrs. Jankowski. The employer must state clearly the kind of work the teenager will be performing, the number of days per week, the number of hours per day, and the amount of time given for lunch periods.
(2) Permission for Employment: This form is filled out by the parent. The form should be signed by the parent in the presence of the Issuing Officer (Mrs. Jankowski) or witnessed by a notary . Please call in advance to arrange for Mrs. Jankowski to witness your signature.
Who Keeps the Work Permit
1. Three copies of the work permit are issued. Work permits are site specific.
(1) The teenager takes the first copy to the employer. The employer must keep that copy at the work place. If the teenager changes jobs, a new work permit must be issued for the new job.
(2) The second copy is kept on file at the school.
(3) The third copy, along with the Intention to Employ and Parent’s Permission forms, is sent to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry by the Issuing Officer at each school.
Minimum Age - With certain limited exceptions, children under the age of fourteen are not permitted to work. Therefore, children under fourteen are not issued work permits.
2. Hours of Work
Teenagers sixteen and seventeen years of age have no restrictions on their hours of work.
Teenagers fourteen and fifteen years of age engaged in non-agricultural work may not work:
- During school hours unless they are enrolled in a school work-training program
- More than forty hours in any one week when school is not in session
- More than eighteen hours in any one week when school is in session.
- More than eight hours in any one day week when school is not in session.
- More than three hours in any one day when school is in session.
-Before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m., except that from June 1 through Labor Day, the teenager may work until 9 p.m. Five hours of continuous work without a 30 minute rest or meal period
Teenagers fourteen and fifteen years of age engaged in agricultural work may not work:
- During school hours unless they are employed by their parents on farms, gardens or orchards owned by their parents
- Five hours of continuous work without a 30-minute break.
Online Sources of Occupational Information
