Skip to main content

Labor Law § 132 · Article 4. Employment of Minors

Employment of minor sixteen or seventeen years of age

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)

§ 132. Employment of minor sixteen or seventeen years of age. 1. No minor sixteen or seventeen years of age shall be employed in or in connection with any trade, business, or service when attendance upon instruction is required by the education law or in violation of the employment certificating provisions of the education law.

2. A minor sixteen or seventeen years of age may be employed if he presents an employment certificate or permit issued in accordance with the education law.

3. Exceptions:

a. When attendance upon instruction is not required by the education law, a minor sixteen or seventeen years of age may be employed without an employment certificate or permit in the following occupations:

(1) Work on a farm;

(2) Caddy service on a golf course;

(3) Service as a baby sitter staying with and at the home of a younger child or children with or without the presence at such home of such child's or children's parents or guardians;

(4) Casual employment consisting of yard work and household chores in and about a residence or the premises of a non-profit, non-commercial organization, not involving the use of power-driven machinery other than power-driven machinery ordinarily used in such yard work or household chores;

(5) Caddie service at a bridge tournament;

(6) Work for his parents or guardians at outdoor work not connected with or for any trade, business, or service.

b. Nothing in this section, or the hours of work requirements of this chapter, shall apply to a newspaper carrier in compliance with section thirty-two hundred twenty-eight of the education law.

c. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the employment of a minor sixteen or seventeen years of age during the school lunch period in a school cafeteria at the school which the minor attends if the minor presents an employment certificate issued in accordance with the education law.

d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the employment of a minor sixteen or seventeen years of age as a child model in compliance with section 35.05 of the arts and cultural affairs law.

e. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an employment certificate or permit shall not be required for a student sixteen years of age or over who is in attendance at a recognized institution of higher learning and who is employed by a non-profit college or university or by a college or university fraternity, sorority, student association or faculty association.

f. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the employment of a minor seventeen years of age as an election inspector or poll clerk pursuant to section 3-400 of the election law, or to require an employment certificate or permit therefor.

4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the employment of a minor sixteen or seventeen years of age in any occupation prohibited by section one hundred thirty-three of this chapter.

5. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the rendering of services for the public good by a minor of sixteen or seventeen years pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-eight-a or 353.6 of the family court act.

Source of truth

Edition
Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
Official file
https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LAB132
Text hash
sha256 d61cb51a86f78157319937268f439447f0ac50cf4730e144030dec88e5042bfb
Composed by
gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.