Ohio Minor Labor Laws

February 19th, 2006 Posted by Nicole

I know that every state has laws that protect its minors from certain labor opportunities, such as the number of hours and time that minors are allowed to work. Ohio is a state that protects the rights of minors under ORC Chapter 4109: Employment of Minors.

The law first defines what a minor is. I learned that a minor is any person that is under the age of 18 (not 16) who has not yet obtained a high school diploma or the equivalent of one. There are certain exemptions from this definition and those exemptions can be found in section 4109.06 of the law.

What I did not know is that if a place is frequented by minors and known to be a place where minors enjoy spending time, the place must have printed and clearly visible the abstract of the minor labor laws which is covered on the Ohio Complete Labor Law poster. If an establishment employs minors, it must maintain a complete list of the minors’ name, age, date of birth and occupation.

I also didn’t know that the Ohio Board of Education must authorize the minor to be employed in a particular job.

Not all minors can obtain jobs. They have to be at least 14 years old in order to obtain a work permit and that work permit needs to be changed when a minor changes jobs. The permit also has to be returned to the state if the employee leaves his or her employment and all unpaid wages must be returned. However, during the summer months, if a minor is aged 16 or 17, he or she does not have to obtain a work permit as long as the employer is aware of the age along with the parental consent from the minor’s parent.

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