Anyone in the workforce before the age of 18 is considered a child, once they reach the age of 18, they are considered an adult under Texas child labor laws.

Child labor laws are enacted to protect the health, well-being, and safety of the child. As you will see throughout the course, there are both federal, and state laws governing most labor practices. The first enacted child labor law in the United States was The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Before this time, previous laws regarding child labor where introduced, but were either not adopted, or where ruled unconstitutional.

In Texas, it is illegal to employ anyone under the age of 14 except for very specific circumstances. “Texas Workforce Commission or its designee may inspect a place of business during work hours to collect information about the employment of children if there is good reason to believe a child is or has been employed within the last two years. Knowingly or intentionally hindering an investigation is illegal.”(twc.texas.gov)Certain work that may be available to adolescents include:

Certain exceptions to general child labor laws include:

  • A parent or guardian own and operate a business
  • Not engaged in hazardous casual employment (work must be unscheduled and nonrecurring)
  • newspaper delivery
  • A school-supervised work-study program
  • Employment in agriculture when a child is not legally supposed to be attending school.

State and federal law hold businesses to certain standards regarding the employment of children such as:

  • Can’t work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week when school is not in session and no more than 3 hours a day and 18 hours a day when school is not in session. (Federal Law).
  • Can only work between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m during the school year, extending to 7 p.m. between June 1st and Labor Day.

If you believe that your place of employment if conducting illegal business practices regarding child labor laws, please contact TWC at 800-832-9243.

If we can’t begin to agree on fundamentals, such as the elimination of the most abusive forms of child labor, then we really are not ready to march forward into the future. – Alexis Herman