Hiring 16- and 17-year-old apprentices in South Dakota
What are the rules for hiring a 16- or 17-year-old apprentice in South Dakota?
The scenario: a 17-year-old who wants the trade
A 17-year-old applies to your electrical shop, wants the trade, and is willing to start now. South Dakota employers are subject to both state child labor laws and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and where they differ the stricter federal rule wins for a covered employer.
The state's own FAQ puts it in one line. Certain provisions of South Dakota law may be less restrictive than federal law, and an employer that follows only the less restrictive state provision will be in violation of federal law.
So the answer to this hire is federal first. The rules below come from the Department of Labor and Regulation's own Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, which is the state agency restating the federal standard.
Employers are subject to both state child labor laws and the federal FLSA, and a covered employer following only a less restrictive South Dakota provision is in violation of federal law. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
What a 16- or 17-year-old may do, unlimited
The default is broad. A 16- or 17-year-old may work any occupation and unlimited hours, so long as the occupation has not been deemed hazardous.
That is why the age of your applicant matters less than the work you would hand them. A front-of-shop or stockroom apprentice at 16 is a simple hire. A fourth-year wire-pulling apprentice at 17 is a rule question.
Hours are not the constraint at this age. The wage floor still applies: South Dakota's minimum wage is $11.85 per hour, effective January 1, 2026, and a minor apprentice is owed it like any other hire.
A 16- or 17-year-old may work any occupation and unlimited hours, so long as the occupation has not been deemed hazardous. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
$11.85 per hourSouth Dakota's minimum wage for non-tipped employees is $11.85 per hour, effective January 1, 2026. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, retrieved 2026-09-29
The hazardous work list, and where an apprentice meets it
Hazardous is a defined list, not a judgment call. The state's FAQ includes manufacturing or storing explosives and driving or working outside on motor vehicles among the occupations deemed hazardous for minors.
Electrical and plumbing work cross that list through the equipment and the sites, which is why the exception below matters to exactly the trades this site covers. A cosmetology or barbering shop does not meet the list the way a job site does, but those trades train in schools rather than by hire, as the cosmetology page covers.
The full set sits in the federal child labor regulations at 29 CFR Part 570, which the FAQ cites directly. Read the list against the actual work processes in your shop before the hire, not after.
Occupations deemed hazardous for minors include manufacturing or storing explosives and driving or working outside on motor vehicles. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
The federal child labor regulations for minors are at 29 CFR Part 570, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 212(c). — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
The youth apprenticeship exception, and its five conditions
A 16- or 17-year-old can lawfully touch some hazardous work inside a formal program. The limited exemption exists for a Youth Apprenticeship or Student-Learner Program which meets certain criteria, and it applies to a specific list: power-driven woodworking machines, power-driven metal-forming, punching and shearing machines, power-driven saws and shears, roofing operations, and trenching and excavation among them.
The youth apprenticeship is the one this site is about. It exists, in the FAQ's words, when the youth is employed under a written Registered Apprenticeship agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The conditions are strict, and all must hold. The youth must be employed in a craft recognized as an apprentice-able trade. The hazardous work must be incidental to the training. It must be intermittent and for short periods, less than 20 percent of the time. And it must be performed under the direct and close supervision of a journeyman.
The youth must also be registered with the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training of the U.S. Department of Labor, or with a state apprenticeship agency the Bureau recognizes. A bare state registration is not enough here, so the registration guide is a prerequisite page for this hire.
| Condition | What it means for staffing |
|---|---|
| Written Registered Apprenticeship agreement | The federal program layer, not just a state registration |
| Apprentice-able craft | The occupation must be a recognized apprenticeship trade |
| Hazardous work incidental to training | The task teaches, it does not just produce |
| Intermittent, under 20 percent of time | Schedule hazardous tasks as a minority of hours |
| Direct and close supervision by a journeyman | A journeyman, in the work, watching |
A youth apprenticeship exists when the youth is employed under a written Registered Apprenticeship agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
The limited hazardous-work exemption applies to a specific list, including power-driven woodworking and metal-forming machines, power-driven saws, roofing operations, and trenching and excavation. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
under 20 percentA 16- or 17-year-old in a youth apprenticeship may do hazardous work only when intermittent, under 20 percent of the time, and under the direct and close supervision of a journeyman. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
The youth in a youth apprenticeship must be registered by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training of the U.S. Department of Labor or by a state apprenticeship agency the Bureau recognizes. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
The youth apprenticeship criteria require that the youth is employed in a craft recognized as an apprentice-able trade and that the hazardous work is incidental to the training. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
The student-learner alternative
There is a second door, and it runs through a school. In a Student-Learner Program the youth is employed under a student learner agreement and enrolled in a course of study and training in a cooperative vocational training program.
For a high-school junior in a trades program, that is often the easier route, because the school already holds the agreement. For a shop that wants to train its own, the youth apprenticeship route is the one to register.
Both doors close at 18. The hazardous-work rules for minors apply under 18, so a hire on their eighteenth birthday stops needing either exception.
In a Student-Learner Program the youth is employed under a student learner agreement and enrolled in a course of study and training in a cooperative vocational training program. — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-29
The paperwork around this hire
A minor apprentice is still a new hire. All South Dakota employers report newly hired employees to the New Hire Reporting Center, within 20 days of the first day of work, using the name and Social Security number exactly as they appear on the card.
The trade credential still applies in parallel. An electrical apprentice registers with the State Electrical Commission for $20, and the hours count only while licensed, so file the registration before the first countable hour.
Keep the hour log against the 20 percent rule from day one. Log the hazardous tasks by date and duration, next to the journeyman present, so the ratio rule and the youth rule are shown in the same record. The hour-logging guide and the supervision page carry the adult rules this hire stacks on top of.
20 daysAll South Dakota employers are required to report newly hired employees to the New Hire Reporting Center, within 20 days of the first day of work. — South Dakota New Hire Reporting Center, retrieved 2026-09-29
$20SDCL 36-16-21 lets the State Electrical Commission set a biennial apprentice registration fee of not more than $20. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, SDCL 36-16-21, retrieved 2026-09-29
Questions
Can a 17-year-old work unlimited hours on non-hazardous tasks?
Yes. The federal rules allow a 16- or 17-year-old any occupation and unlimited hours so long as the occupation has not been deemed hazardous. The state minimum wage still applies to every hour.
Does a state apprentice registration satisfy the youth exception?
No. The hazardous-work exception for 16- and 17-year-olds requires a youth apprenticeship under a written Registered Apprenticeship agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, or a student learner agreement through a school program.
How much hazardous work can a youth apprentice do?
Intermittent, short-period work under 20 percent of the time, incidental to the training, under the direct and close supervision of a journeyman. The conditions stack, so one of them failing closes the exception.
What if my shop is not covered by the FLSA?
The state's FAQ warns that South Dakota provisions may be less restrictive and that following only them can still violate federal law for covered employers. Check coverage with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division before relying on a state-only reading.
Where do the full hazardous-occupation rules live?
The federal child labor regulations at 29 CFR Part 570, under 29 U.S.C. 212(c). The Department of Labor and Regulation's Federal Youth Labor Laws FAQ summarizes them and points to the Wage and Hour Division for the full text.