Child Labor Laws

Kentucky Child Labor Law 

Source: the KY Education and Labor Cabinet

Working Hours

The following working hours restrictions apply to all minors 14 to 17 years of age who are enrolled in school, dropped out of school or participating in a homeschool program. These restrictions do not apply to minors who have graduated. Minors are also prohibited from performing duties that are considered hazardous. Please see 803 KAR 1:100​ for a list of these duties.

Ages 14 and 15

1. May work three (3) hours per day on a school day, eight (8) hours a day on a non-school day, and up to eighteen (18) hours total in a week when school is in session.
2. May work eight (8) hours per day, forty (40) hours per week when school is not in session for the entire school week.
3. May work between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
4. Between June 1 and Labor Day, the minor may work as late as 9:00 p.m.
5. Minors under sixteen (16) years of age may not be employed during regular school hours.

Ages 16 and 17

1. May work six (6) hours a day on a school day; eight (8) hours a day on a non-school day up to thirty (30) hours total in a school week. If minors want to work more than (30) hours, please see the Certificate of Satisfactory Academic Standing Form and the Parent/Guardian Statement of Consent Form.
2. May work between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. preceding a school day and between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. preceding a non-school day during a school week.
3. No working hours restrictions apply in weeks when school is not in session.

Prohibited Jobs

The following prohibited jobs apply to all minors 14 to 17 years of age who are enrolled in school or participating in a home school program. Limited exemptions for minors 16 and 17 years of age are provided for apprentices and student-learners under specified standards. These jobs are marked with an *.

1. Manufacturing or storing explosives.
2. Driving a motor vehicle and being an outside helper on a motor vehicle.
3. Coal mining.
4. Logging and sawmilling.
5. Power-driven wood-working machines.*
6. Exposure to radioactive substances and to ionizing radiations.
7. Power-driven hoisting equipment.
8. Power-driven metal-forming, punching and shearing machines.*
9. Mining, other than coal mining.
10. Slaughtering, meat packing or processing (including power-driven meat slicing machines).
11. Power-driven bakery machines.
12. Power-driven paper-products machines.*
13. Manufacturing brick, tile and related products.
14. Power-driven circular saws, band saws and guillotine shears.*
15. Wrecking, demolition and ship-breaking operations.
16. Roofing operations.*
17. Excavation operations.*
18. In, about or in connection with any establishments where alcoholic liquors are distilled, rectified, compounded, brewed, manufactured, bottled, sold for consumption or dispensed unless permitted by the rules and regulations of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (except they may be employed in places where the sale of alcoholic beverages by the package is merely incidental to the main business actually conducted).
19. Pool or billiard room.

Lunches and Breaks

Minors under the age of eighteen (18) are required to take a thirty (30) minute documented lunch break for each five (5) hours of continuous work. No period of less than thirty (30) minutes will be considered sufficient.

Employer Requirements

Proof of Age
Employers are required to maintain proof of age on file for each minor under eighteen (18) years of age. A copy of a birth certificate, a driver's license, or school identification is acceptable.

Recordkeeping and Posting Requirements
Employers are required to maintain the names, ages, addresses, the time of the beginning and ending of each work shift, and each meal period. Employers are responsible for posting the child labor poster including prohibited duties. Posters may be obtained by selecting the link from the posters section on this page.