MN minor employment: strict caps, work permit required.
Minnesota's minor employment rules under Minn. Stat. § 181A govern when, where, and how long workers under 18 can work. The rules are tiered: 14-15-year-olds face the strictest restrictions, 16-17-year-olds have moderate restrictions, and 18+ face no minor-specific limits. Employment certificates are required for minors under 16 in many roles. St. Paul has a separate minor wage subminimum (85% of the small-employer rate, currently $12.75 as of July 2025). On top of state and city rules, the federal Hazardous Occupations Orders prohibit minor work in dangerous activities.
Minor Employment Configuration
Routes minors by age tier (14-15, 16-17). Validates daily/weekly hour caps and time-of-day windows. Tracks employment certificate where required. Applies St. Paul minor wage where applicable.
What those rules do at scheduling and at clock-in.
The hero card configuration: Block on age-tier and HOO violations, Flag on St. Paul minor wage.
Each age tier has strict daily and weekly hour caps plus time-of-day windows. Schedule attempts outside the applicable window fail to save. The system enforces the correct tier rules per worker.
Federal Hazardous Occupations Orders (HOO) prohibit minor work in: mining, manufacturing of explosives, motor vehicle driving as part of work, roofing, excavation, demolition, and similar dangerous activities. Schedule attempts in HOO categories fail to save.
Workers ages 14-17 in their first 90 days at a St. Paul employer may be paid 85% of the small-employer rate. Effective July 1, 2025, this is $12.75/hr. The minor rate adjusts each July 1 alongside other St. Paul tier adjustments.
Deploy Minnesota minor employment in your Teambridge.
Tell us about your Minnesota workforce. We'll spin up age-tier scheduling templates, employment certificate tracking, federal HOO list enforcement, St. Paul minor wage routing, and 21 other Minnesota policies in a sandbox tenant.
Tier-based caps + employment certificate + federal HOO + St. Paul minor wage.
Minnesota's minor rules are stricter than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act for 14-15-year-olds and roughly track FLSA for 16-17. The state break mandate for minors (per Minn. Stat. § 177.253-254) was clarified in the 2026 break update to apply universally.
14-15 year olds — strictest tier
Workers age 14-15 face the strictest restrictions: maximum 3 hours per school day, 8 hours per non-school day, 18 hours per school week, 40 hours per non-school week. Time-of-day window: 7 AM to 9 PM during the school year (extended to 9 PM is already MN's standard, unlike NJ's 7 PM during school year). Cannot work during school hours. Cannot work in hazardous occupations under federal HOO list. Manufacturing and most construction-adjacent work prohibited.
16-17 year olds — moderate restrictions
Workers age 16-17 have more flexibility: maximum 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week (school weeks may be limited further by school district policy). Time-of-day window: typically 5 AM to 11 PM on school nights, with greater flexibility on non-school nights. Some additional flexibility for emergency work or specific industries. Federal Hazardous Occupations Orders still apply.
Teambridge enforces minor employment rules across age tiers, certificates, and HOO list.
The age-tier-driven scheduling rules plus federal HOO plus St. Paul minor wage combine to make MN minor employment one of the more configuration-heavy compliance areas.
14-15 / 16-17 / 18+ assigned.
When a minor is hired, the age tier is captured. Each tier triggers a different scheduling template with applicable caps and time-of-day windows.
Work permit on file for under-16.
Schedule attempts for workers under 16 require an employment certificate on file. The certificate is matched to the employer and tracked through the school year.
Hazardous occupation match → block.
Each minor's role is checked against the federal Hazardous Occupations Orders list. Roles in HOO categories (mining, roofing, excavation, etc.) trigger Block.
85% rate applied for first 90 days.
Minor workers in St. Paul during their first 90 days earn 85% of the small-employer rate ($12.75 effective July 2025). After 90 days, standard tier rate applies.
Still evaluating? Get a free Minnesota compliance audit.
Send us your existing Minnesota scheduling and pay configuration. Our compliance team returns a written audit within 5 business days — every Minnesota-specific exposure ranked by risk and back-pay liability.