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Working Under Eighteen

Iowa Code § 92.7 — under sixteen, no more than eight hours a day or forty a week

  • No one under fourteen may be employed in any work activity.
  • At fourteen, a person may work in retail, food service and gas stations, office work, cashiering, bagging, cleanup and kitchen work, among the listed activities.
  • No one under eighteen may work in the listed hazardous activities, such as explosives, logging, power woodworking machines, mining and meat packing.
  • Iowa Code § 92.3
  • Iowa Code § 92.5
  • Iowa Code § 92.8
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  • Under sixteen, work falls between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., extended to 11:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.
  • Not more than eight hours a day or forty a week, with a 30 minute break in a day of five hours or more.
  • While school is in session, the hours worked outside school may not exceed six in a day or twenty-eight in a week.
Sources for this section (4)
  1. Iowa Code § 92.3 — Under fourteen — work activities not permitted
  2. Iowa Code § 92.5 — Fourteen — permitted work activities
  3. Iowa Code § 92.7 — Under sixteen — hours permitted
  4. Iowa Code § 92.8 — Under eighteen — prohibited work activities

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Iowa attorney.

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