Minimum Age for different types of Employment
Maine law states at what age minors may work in specific industries. Minimum ages under Federal law are different. Contact the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division at 780-3344 (Portland) or 945-0330 (Bangor) for details.
Minors Who are 16 or 17: May work in non-hazardous jobs in manufacturing establishments, bakeries, laundries, dry cleaning establishments and garages. They may also work in hotels; motels; commercial places of amusement, including skating rinks, circuses, arcades, bowling alleys and pool halls; and in all of the industries allowed for younger minors.
Minors Who are 15: May work in non-hazardous jobs in dining rooms, kitchens, lobbies and offices of hotels and motels, but they are prohibited from performing room service, making deliveries to the hotel rooms or entering the hallways to those rooms.
Minors Who are 14: May work in non-hazardous jobs in restaurants (if not on the premises of a hotel/motel), in sporting and overnight camps, stores, filling stations, ice cream stands and laundromats. They also may work at outside occupations on the grounds of a hotel or motel, but not if the minor must stay away from home overnight.
Minors Who are Under 14: There is no minimum age under Maine law to work in non-hazardous jobs in children's camps, hospitals, nursing homes, municipalities, domestic work in or about a private home or in the planting, cultivating or harvesting of field crops in agriculture. (Federal law does not allow minors under 14 to work in businesses under their jurisdiction.)
Minors of any age may work for their parents in non-hazardous jobs in non-mechanical and non-manufacturing settings in retail or service industries (excluding hotels and motels) if they are supervised directly by one or both parents. Work permit requirements, hours of work, and prohibited occupations apply to minors even if they work for their parents.
Federal laws may not allow parental exceptions. Contact the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division at 780-3344 (Portland) or 945-0330 (Bangor) for details.