Pennsylvania Child Labor Law

During my research into child labor laws across the States, I found that Pennsylvania divides the labor law into two parts: one for children aged 14&15 and one for children aged 16&17.

When it comes to children of the younger age, they may only work a maximum of 4 hours on school days and 8 hours on any other day. Total, they may work 18 hours during the 5-day school week as long as the job does not interfere with their school attendance. They may fit in additional 8 hours on both Saturday and Sunday as well. However, during their summer vacations, the younger students may work up to 8 hours a day for up to 44 hours a week, which is more than some other states allow.

In terms of night work for the younger students, they are not allowed to work after 7pm or before 7am, which is more restrictive than in many other states. These hours apply unless the student is on summer vacation, in which case the student can work until 10pm. However, if a minor is over the age of 11, he or she may be allowed to distribute or sell newspapers, magazines and other publications between the hours of 6am and 8pm. If a minor also is employed on a farm, he or she may work until 10pm if the employment is in hatching, raising and harvesting of poultry.

If a student is aged 16 or 17, then he or she can work for a maximum of 28 hours a day per school week as long as he or she is enrolled in a regular day school. Additionally, the student can work up to 8 hours on Saturday or Sunday. This number of hours cannot exceed 8 per day. Like the younger students, these older students need to work only 8 hours per day for up to 44 hours per week during summer vacations.

The Pennsylvania Complete Labor Law poster is available reflecting all the most up to date child labor laws. It also contains the recent federal law changes.