Permits, hours & minimum wage: what Pennsylvania law actually requires before your first shift, and the federal rule that can legally cut your pay to $4.25 an hour.
Three things decide what your first job in Pennsylvania can look like: Pennsylvania wants a work permit in your hand before your first shift, not after, the state keeps setting hour limits after you turn 16, where most of the country stops, and the minimum wage sits at the federal floor of $7.25. They come from three different rulebooks, and two of them change on your 16th birthday.
Where the jobs are: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh drive year-round hiring, the Poconos add resort work in both seasons, and Hersheypark is one of the state's largest single teen employers.
Yes, if you are under 18. Pennsylvania requires a work permit (an employment or age certificate) before you start work, issued by the school district where you live.
The exact form differs by state, but the sequence is almost always the same, and skipping a step is the usual reason a permit gets delayed:
Two rulebooks apply depending on your age. Under 16 the federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets limits that hold in every state. At 16 and 17 federal law sets none at all, so what Pennsylvania adds is the entire limit you are working under.
These are the federal limits, and they apply in Pennsylvania:
| Limit | Rule |
|---|---|
| Hours per school day | 3 maximum |
| Hours per school week | 18 maximum |
| Hours per non-school day | 8 maximum |
| Hours per non-school week | 40 maximum |
| Earliest start | 7:00 a.m. |
| Latest finish | 7:00 p.m. |
| Latest finish, June 1 to Labor Day | 9:00 p.m. |
Pennsylvania is one of the states that does set rules here:
| Limit | Rule |
|---|---|
| School weeks | 8 hours per day and 28 hours per week |
| School vacations | 10 hours per day and 48 hours per week |
| Time window | Not before 6:00 a.m. and not after midnight during a regular school week |
A regular school week means Monday to Friday while school is in session. Summer school counts: if you are enrolled, the 28-hour cap still applies.
Federal law requires no breaks at any age, so anything you get in Pennsylvania comes from state law rather than federal. Most states do require a break for workers under 18, commonly 30 minutes once you have worked four or five hours straight, and many of those same states require nothing at all for adults. Because the trigger point and the length both vary, confirm Pennsylvania's current rule with the state labor department before you assume a long shift comes with one.
Pennsylvania has no state minimum wage above the federal floor, so the rate is $7.25 an hour in 2026, the same as it has been since 2009.
| Situation | 2026 rate |
|---|---|
| Most employees | $7.25/hr (federal) |
| Under 20, first 90 consecutive days | $4.25/hr (federal youth wage) |
| Tipped employees | A lower cash wage plus tips, which must reach the full rate |
Work rules stop at the state line, and if you live near one it is worth knowing which side is easier to get hired on:
| State | Work permit | Min wage 2026 | Hours at 16 to 17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | Under 18 | $7.25 | State limits |
| New York | Under 18 | $16.00 | State limits |
| New Jersey | Under 18 | $15.92 | State limits |
| Ohio | Ages 14 to 17 | $11.00 | State limits |
| Maryland | Under 18 | $15.00 | State limits |
Federal law bars anyone under 18 from occupations classed as hazardous, and states add their own lists on top. In practice that is why teen jobs cluster in food service, retail, recreation and childcare. The restrictions cover things like operating most power-driven machinery, roofing, demolition, and work at significant heights, and they are stricter at 14 and 15 than at 16 and 17. Resort work is where this bites most often: lift operation, snow machinery and back-of-house kitchen equipment all sit on or near the restricted list, even when the resort is short-staffed. Before accepting anything involving machinery, ladders, or a commercial kitchen's slicers and mixers, check the current list with the Pennsylvania labor department.
Yes, if you are under 18. The certificate is issued by the school district where you live, and it has to be in place before your first shift rather than after you are hired.
Pennsylvania sets specific limits at 16 and 17: school weeks — 8 hours per day and 28 hours per week; school vacations — 10 hours per day and 48 hours per week; time window — Not before 6:00 a.m. and not after midnight during a regular school week.
Up to 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week, or 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week when school is out, between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and extending to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Those are the federal limits and they apply in Pennsylvania as they do everywhere. On top of the hours, a 15-year-old in Pennsylvania needs a work permit from the school district where you live.
$7.25 an hour. Pennsylvania has no state minimum wage above the federal floor. Separately, federal law allows a youth wage of $4.25 an hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days with an employer.
Federal law requires no breaks at any age, so anything you get in Pennsylvania comes from state law rather than federal. Most states do require a break for workers under 18, commonly 30 minutes once you have worked four or five hours straight, and many of those same states require nothing at all for adults. Because the trigger point and the length both vary, confirm Pennsylvania's current rule with the state labor department before you assume a long shift comes with one.
Fourteen for most non-farm jobs, which is the federal floor and applies in Pennsylvania as everywhere else. Below 14 the exceptions are narrow: babysitting, newspaper delivery, working for your parents in a non-hazardous business, and performing. If you are not 14 yet, babysitting is the realistic route, and the age and licensing rules for that in Pennsylvania are different from the employment rules on this page.