Massachusetts restaurant HR & payroll answers
General information about Massachusetts and federal rules, checked against the official sources linked under each answer on September 24, 2026. It is not legal or tax advice.
No. Massachusetts bars work under 14 except in very limited cases, and federal law does not allow under-14s in food service.
Sources: Mass.gov: Working under 18 · U.S. DOL Fact Sheet #2A: Child labor in restaurants · Checked
Every worker under 18 needs one. The teen gets the job offer, the employer completes the Promise of Employment section of the application, a doctor completes a health certificate for anyone 15 or younger, a parent signs, and the teen takes it to the school superintendent's office.
The employer keeps the permit on file, with a copy at each location, until the teen turns 18 or leaves, and returns it to the school within two days if they leave earlier. A new job needs a new permit, but a new school year does not.
Sources: Mass.gov: Apply for a youth work permit · M.G.L. c.149 §86 · Checked
Only outside school hours and between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., or until 9 p.m. from July 1 to Labor Day. During the school year, no more than 3 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a weekend day or holiday and 18 hours a week; when school is out, 8 hours a day and 40 a week. Never more than six days a week.
All of a 14- or 15-year-old's work periods in a day must fall within nine consecutive hours. Massachusetts starts the summer schedule on July 1, later than the federal June 1.
Sources: Mass.gov: Work hours restrictions for minors · U.S. DOL Fact Sheet #2A: Child labor in restaurants · M.G.L. c.149 §65 · Checked
Between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on nights before a school day (10:15 p.m. if the restaurant stops serving at 10). On nights not before a school day, restaurants can keep them until midnight. The limits are 9 hours a day, 48 hours a week and six days a week, all year.
Federal law does not limit hours at this age, but the Massachusetts limits apply. Their work periods in a day must fall within 12 consecutive hours.
Sources: M.G.L. c.149 §66 · Mass.gov: Work hours restrictions for minors · M.G.L. c.149 §67 · Checked
Yes. After 8 p.m., any worker under 18 must be under the direct and immediate supervision of an adult supervisor who is in the workplace and reasonably accessible.
On a late close this means a manager, not a senior teen, has to be on site.
Source: M.G.L. c.149 §66 · Checked
No one under 18 may operate, clean or repair power-driven meat slicers, grinders or choppers or power-driven bakery machines, drive, or handle, serve or sell alcohol. Under 16 also may not cook except on grills with no open flame, run fryers, rotisseries or pressure cookers, bake, handle hot oil above 100°F, or work in freezers or meat coolers.
Federal rules allow 14- and 15-year-olds to use fryers with automatic baskets, but the Attorney General's Massachusetts list bans fryolators for under-16s, so keep them off fryers entirely. Cashier work, table service, busing, dishwashing and toasters are generally fine.
Sources: Mass.gov: Prohibited jobs for minors · U.S. DOL Fact Sheet #2A: Child labor in restaurants · Checked
They may not handle, serve or sell alcohol. State law also bars minors from working "in that part of" an establishment where liquor is sold, and we found no official guidance on how that applies to hosts or bussers in a dining room with a bar.
Ask the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division (617-727-3465) or the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission before scheduling minors near a bar.
Sources: Mass.gov: Prohibited jobs for minors · M.G.L. c.149 §62 · Checked
No. Massachusetts bars anyone under 18 from driving vehicles on the job, apart from narrow golf-cart and auto-repair exceptions. Federal law separately bars minors from time-sensitive deliveries such as pizza.
Sources: M.G.L. c.149 §62 · U.S. DOL Fact Sheet #2A: Child labor in restaurants · Checked
Yes, they earn sick time like any other employee. The one difference: you can ask a worker under 18 for documentation after three unforeseeable, undocumented absences in three months, rather than four.
The rest of the sick time rules are on the sick time and leave page.
Source: 940 CMR 33.00: Earned sick time · Checked
It would not be enforceable. Massachusetts law makes noncompetes unenforceable against workers 18 or younger.
Source: M.G.L. c.149 §24L (noncompetes) · Checked
In Massachusetts, a criminal fine of $500 to $5,000 or up to a month in jail, or Attorney General civil citations of up to $250, $500 and then $2,500 for each minor. Federal civil penalties run up to $16,035 per violation, and more when a minor is seriously injured.
Sources: M.G.L. c.149 §78 · M.G.L. c.149 §78A · U.S. DOL: Civil money penalty amounts (2026) · Checked
Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel. These answers describe the rules; they don’t decide how they apply to your restaurant. Headcount, entity structure and the exact facts of a shift can change the answer, so confirm anything that affects pay with the agency, an employment attorney or your tax adviser.
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Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel.