Minors 16-17: 9 hr/day, 48 hr/week, 6 day/week.
Workers 16-17 face less restrictive but still bounded rules under MGL c. 149 §§ 60-69. Hour caps: 9 hours per day, 48 hours per week, 6 days per week. Time-of-day windows: 6 AM to 10 PM on school nights, 6 AM to 11:30 PM on non-school nights and during summer (extending to midnight for restaurant and manufacturing roles in narrow circumstances). Employment certificate from school superintendent required before work begins. Full $15 state minimum wage applies — no youth subminimum.
16-17 Year Old Worker Workflow
Enforces hour caps per day, week, and 6-day-per-week limit. Validates time-of-day windows including school-night vs non-school-night distinction. Tracks employment certificate. Applies federal Hazardous Orders.
What those rules do for 16-17 year old workers.
The hero card configuration: Block on hour caps, Block on time windows, Flag on certificate.
When a 16-17 year old worker's daily scheduled hours approach 9 or weekly hours approach 48, additional shifts fail to publish. The 6-day-per-week limit also enforces: more than 6 consecutive days fails.
School nights (Sun-Thu during Sept-June): 6 AM-10 PM. Non-school nights and summer: 6 AM-11:30 PM. Restaurant/manufacturing extension to midnight applies in narrow circumstances. Out-of-window shifts fail to publish.
When a 16-17 year old worker is configured, the employment certificate from school superintendent must be on file. Without certificate, scheduling fails.
Deploy MA 16-17 worker rules in your Teambridge.
Tell us about your Massachusetts youth workforce. We'll spin up 16-17 worker compliance and 21 other Massachusetts policies in a sandbox tenant.
9 hr/day, 48 hr/week, 6 day/week, time windows, certificate.
MA 16-17 rules are less restrictive than 14-15 rules but the daily 9-hour cap, weekly 48-hour cap, and 6-day-per-week limit are stricter than federal FLSA (which has no hour caps for 16-17 year old workers).
Hour caps stricter than federal
Workers 16-17 face state hour caps that don't exist at the federal level: 9 hours per day, 48 hours per week, 6 days per week. Federal FLSA imposes no hour caps on 16-17 year old workers. Massachusetts is one of a handful of states with continuing hour caps for this age group. The 6-day rule means workers cannot be scheduled 7 days straight.
School-night vs non-school-night windows
School nights (typically Sunday-Thursday during the school year, Sept-June): 6 AM to 10 PM. Non-school nights (Fri/Sat during school year, all summer nights, school holidays/vacations): 6 AM to 11:30 PM. The distinction is automatic based on calendar — Friday and Saturday during school year are non-school nights regardless of next-day school schedule.
Teambridge enforces hour caps, time windows, and certificate requirements.
16-17 rules are less restrictive than 14-15 but still distinctive. The daily 9-hour cap and 6-day-per-week limit are the most common compliance gaps — federal FLSA has neither.
On file before scheduling.
Employment certificate from school superintendent must be on file before scheduling. Validates identity, age, parental consent, school enrollment.
Daily, weekly, 6-day.
Daily 9-hour, weekly 48-hour, and 6-day-per-week caps enforce at scheduling. Approaching limits surface as Avoid; exceeding limits blocks.
Calendar-aware.
Calendar drives the school-night vs non-school-night determination. School nights (typically Sun-Thu Sept-June) cap at 10 PM. Non-school nights cap at 11:30 PM. Restaurant/manufacturing extension to midnight applies in narrow specific cases.
Federal HO + state.
Job duties cross-check against federal Hazardous Orders (still apply through 17) and MA-specific minor prohibitions. Restricted task assignments surface for review or block depending on severity.
Still evaluating? Get a free Massachusetts compliance audit.
Send us your existing Massachusetts scheduling and pay configuration. Our compliance team returns a written audit within 5 business days — every Massachusetts-specific exposure ranked by risk and back-pay liability.