Questions:

• What laws must I follow when hiring new employees?
• When I hire someone, do I have to use a written employment contract?
• Do any special rules apply if I'm hiring a teenager?
• Can I take an applicant's disability into account when I'm hiring?
• Can I ask where an applicant was born or whether he or she is a U.S. citizen?
• I want to know whether applicants have ever been fired or stolen from a prior employer -- can I require them to take a lie detector test?
• What should I do before hiring my first employee?
• What first-day paperwork requirements do I need to handle with new employees?
• How far can I go in running background checks?
• What is a job description?
• Can I check an applicant's credit report?

Answer:

Do any special rules apply if I'm hiring a teenager?

Yes. Because most teenagers are in school and many don't yet have the physical capabilities and stamina of adults, federal and state laws restrict the types of jobs they can be hired to do and the hours they can be required to work. Most hazardous jobs -- those using heavy machinery or potentially dangerous chemicals, for example -- are off limits to teenagers, as are jobs that would require younger teens to work more than three hours on a school day. For more information, see Nolo's article Hiring Young Workers; you can find information on hiring minors for agriculture work in Nolo's article What Are Agricultural and Hazardous Agricultural Jobs?