Generation Z: What It Means for Employers

What it means in practice

Where the definition comes from. In a January 2019 piece, Pew Research Center said it would use 1996 as the last birth year for Millennials (born 1981 to 1996) and that anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation, which it calls Generation Z. Pew has not fixed a formal end year on the pages reviewed here, but its 2019 Gen Z report notes an earlier Pew analysis of those ages 6 to 21 in 2018, which corresponds to births from about 1997 to 2012. The generation before it is Millennials, which itself followed Generation X and the Baby Boomers.

A research label, not a legal category. Pew itself cautions that generational categories are not scientifically defined, that the lines between generations are "not precise, definitive or universally agreed on," and that "generational labels can lead to stereotypes and oversimplification." It says a typical generation spans 15 to 18 years. No federal employment rule reviewed for this entry uses the term Generation Z; the law uses age, so this entry covers age-based rules and official data, not generational traits.

How old Gen Z is in 2026. A person born in 1997 turns 29 in 2026 and a person born in 2012 turns 14, so the group runs from 13 to 29 during the year. That places the youngest members below the general federal minimum age for non-farm work, a large group under 18 subject to child labor rules, everyone under 20 within reach of the youth minimum wage, and everyone under 19 inside a payroll recordkeeping rule. It also means no Gen Z worker is protected by the federal age discrimination law, which starts at 40.

What the labor data show. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports by age group, not by generation. In its 2025 annual averages from the Current Population Survey (Table 3, employment status by age, sex and race), labor force participation was 36.2 percent for ages 16 to 19 and 71.4 percent for ages 20 to 24, against 62.4 percent for everyone 16 and older. Unemployment rates were 14.0 percent for ages 16 to 19 and 8.3 percent for ages 20 to 24, against 4.3 percent overall. BLS notes that 2025 estimates are 11-month averages that exclude October, because data were not collected during the federal government shutdown, so they are not strictly comparable with other years.

Summer hiring. The BLS release Employment and Unemployment Among Youth - Summer 2026 (August 20, 2026) says employment of 16- to 24-year-olds rose by 1.8 million from April to July 2026, to 21.3 million. The July 2026 participation rate was 59.1 percent (59.5 percent a year earlier) and the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent (10.8 percent in July 2025). Leisure and hospitality employed 25 percent of working youth (5.3 million), retail trade 18 percent and education and health services 14 percent. BLS notes that July is typically the summertime peak and the data are not seasonally adjusted.

The federal minimum ages. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets a general non-farm minimum age of 16 and an 18-year minimum for hazardous occupations (29 CFR 570.2). Fact Sheet #43 summarizes: under 14 generally may not work in covered non-farm jobs (delivering newspapers to consumers and acting are exempt); 14 and 15 may work limited hours in certain jobs; 16 and 17 may work unlimited hours in any job not declared hazardous; and at 18 the youth rules no longer apply. Children may generally work for a business entirely owned by their parents, except that those under 16 may not work in mining or manufacturing and no one under 18 may do hazardous work.

Hours for 14- and 15-year-olds. The limits in 29 CFR 570.35 are: outside school hours only; no more than 3 hours on a school day, including Fridays; 18 hours in a week when school is in session; 8 hours on a non-school day; 40 hours in a week when school is not in session; and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., extended to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. The "week" is the employer's fixed workweek, school hours follow the local public school district, and summer school counts as outside school hours. The Work Experience and Career Exploration Program allows some school-hour work, up to 3 hours on a school day and 23 hours in a school week (Fact Sheet #43). Tracking them depends on accurate hours worked records.

Jobs 14- and 15-year-olds may and may not do. The regulations list permitted work, including office and clerical work, intellectual or artistic work such as tutoring or writing software, and cooking with electric or gas grills that do not involve an open flame (29 CFR 570.34). Fact Sheet #43 adds cashiering, bagging groceries and stocking shelves, and lists as generally prohibited most work in transportation, construction, warehousing and manufacturing, work in freezers and meat coolers, operating power-driven machinery other than office machines, baking, door-to-door sales, and work from ladders or scaffolds.

Hazardous occupations for 16- and 17-year-olds. Seventeen Hazardous Occupations Orders bar minors under 18 from work including driving motor vehicles (with a narrow exception for 17-year-olds), operating forklifts and other power-driven hoisting equipment, power-driven meat-processing machines, balers and compactors, certain power saws, roofing, demolition and trenching more than four feet deep (Fact Sheet #43). Apprentices and student-learners at least 16 are exempt from HOs 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 17, but only under a written agreement signed by the employer and the school, with hazardous work incidental to training and closely supervised (29 CFR 570.50).

Farm work. Agriculture has separate, looser rules. Under Fact Sheet #40, youths 16 and older may work in any farm job at any time; 14- and 15-year-olds may work outside school hours in jobs not declared hazardous. Hazardous farm tasks for those under 16 include operating a tractor over 20 PTO horsepower. These limits do not apply on a farm owned or operated by the youth's parent.

Proof of age and work permits. Fact Sheet #43 states that federal law does not require "working papers" or work permits, although many states do. The regulations offer a different protection: an employer that keeps on file an unexpired federal or state certificate of age showing the minor is above the minimum age for the job is protected from an unwitting violation, and the regulation says a certificate should always be obtained when a minor claims to be only 1 or 2 years over the minimum age (29 CFR 570.5). Separately, payroll records for employees covered by the minimum wage must show date of birth if the employee is under 19 (29 CFR 516.2).

Where states differ. The DOL YouthRules employer page says that where a state child labor law is more restrictive than federal law, the state law applies, and where it is less restrictive, federal law applies. Two examples from official state pages: the New York State Department of Labor says workers aged 14 to 17 need working papers issued by school officials, that the employer must keep them on file and return them at the end of the job, and that a digital process is planned for 2027. The California Labor Commissioner says all minors under 18 employed in California must have a permit to work, with limited exceptions, and that the employer must hold a valid Permit to Employ and Work before the minor starts. Other states differ; the DOL keeps a list of state labor offices.

Pay rules for young workers. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, effective July 24, 2009, and the DOL notes that some state laws provide greater protections and employers must comply with both. Fact Sheet #32 describes the youth minimum wage authorized by section 6(g) of the FLSA: employees under 20 may be paid not less than $4.25 an hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days with an employer, counted as calendar days rather than days worked. Pay must then rise to at least the applicable minimum wage, or sooner on the 20th birthday; employers may not displace other employees (including by cutting their hours, wages or benefits); and a higher state or local minimum wage applies if it has no exception for workers under 20. Two certificate programs also exist: full-time students in retail, service or agricultural work may be paid not less than 85 percent of the minimum wage under a DOL certificate, for no more than 8 hours a day and 20 hours a week while school is in session (29 CFR 519.6), and student-learners in bona fide vocational training programs, at least 16 years old, may be paid not less than 75 percent under a certificate (29 CFR 520.300 and 520.506).

Internships. Fact Sheet #71 explains that courts use the "primary beneficiary test" to decide whether an intern or student at a for-profit employer is in fact an employee owed minimum wage and overtime. Its seven factors include whether both sides understand there is no expectation of pay, ties to a formal education program, and whether the intern's work complements rather than displaces paid employees. The test is flexible and no single factor is determinative. A footnote says unpaid volunteer internships at public sector and non-profit charitable organizations are generally permissible.

First-job onboarding. For many Gen Z workers the job is a first job, but the paperwork is the same as for any new hire: a Form W-4 for federal income tax withholding and a Form I-9 for employment eligibility, as part of onboarding. Age-specific items add to it: date of birth for employees under 19, any state work permit, and job and hours limits. The DOL lists seven child labor best practices, including training supervisors, giving child labor publications to workers under 18, posting hours limits and labeling equipment minors may not use.

Example: a school-week schedule. A 15-year-old works 3 hours after school Monday through Thursday (12 hours) during a week when school is in session. Under 29 CFR 570.35, a Saturday shift may add no more than 6 hours, because the weekly cap is 18, even though the daily cap on a non-school day is 8. In a week in July, the same worker could work 8 hours a day for 5 days (40 hours) and finish as late as 9 p.m.

Example: the youth wage window. A 17-year-old starts work on June 2 in a state with no minimum wage above the federal rate. Counting June 2 as day 1, 90 consecutive calendar days run through August 30 (29 days in June, 31 in July and 30 in August). Under Fact Sheet #32, the youth rate of not less than $4.25 can apply through August 30 even if the worker takes days off, and from August 31 pay must be at least $7.25. Where a higher state minimum wage has no under-20 exception, the youth rate does not apply.

Age discrimination. The EEOC states that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act forbids discrimination against people 40 or older and does not protect workers under 40, though some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination.

What is at stake. The DOL civil money penalty table lists maximums of $16,035 per employee for a child labor violation, $72,876 for a violation that causes the death or serious injury of a minor, and $145,752 where such a violation is willful or repeated, effective on or after January 16, 2026, unchanged from 2025 (29 CFR 570.140 and 579.1). Confirm specifics with the Department of Labor, your state labor department or a qualified professional.

FAQ: Do federal rules limit hours for 16- and 17-year-olds? No. Fact Sheet #43 says federal rules do not limit hours or times of day for workers 16 and older, though many states do.

FAQ: Can a 14-year-old work during school hours? Generally no, except under programs such as the Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (Fact Sheet #43 and 29 CFR 570.35).

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