• Ohio employment laws for minorsteenager image by Andrzej Solnica from Fotolia.com
  
  The Ohio Department of Commerce provides oversight for the state's employment laws for minors. Handling situations such as work condition complaints and violations of the law are focus areas for the department. Through its work with area schools, businesses and other hiring organizations, the department disseminates educational information around minor employment laws.
  
  

Age and Wage Requirements

• Youth between 14 and 17 years of age must obtain a working permit before they start to work in Ohio.
  Employers must agree with minor employees on the wages that they will receive for each hour, day and week that they work.
  
  

Work Hours

• Minor employees must receive a 30 minute (or longer) break after working five straight hours. Employers are required to keep a list of all minor employees who have worked for them in a particular location. The list must be posted in an area at work where all other minor employees can see it. Records of the days and hours that minor employees have worked must be maintained by employers for a minimum of two years.
  
  Youth younger than 16 years old cannot work during school hours. They can only work between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. when school is not in session. They cannot work more than three hours a day on a school day or more than 18 hours during a school week. When school is not in session, youth younger than 16 years are not permitted to work more than eight hours in one day or more than 40 hours in a single week. Youth between the ages of 16 and 17 years cannot work before 7 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on a school day.
  
  

Occupation Types

• Manufacturing, mining, public messenger, public utilities, construction and boiler repair jobs are types of work that minors younger than 16 years of age are not permitted to do in Ohio. Minors as old as 17 years must not operate dangerous equipment such as power-driven woodworking machines or power-driven paper product machines. They also cannot handle hazardous materials or work in dangerous areas such as railroads or meat chopping and packing facilities.