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Work & Unemployment

No one under 18 may be used to promote alcohol or tobacco

Last reviewed: August 24, 2026 — VerifiedDepartamento del Trabajo

In short

Act 204 of August 7, 1998 prohibits employing, contracting or using minors under eighteen (18) years of age to work in, participate in or engage in advertising, promotion, marketing, advertisement and any other activities aimed at promoting the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco-related products. In addition, every natural or legal person wishing to employ, contract or use persons for those activities must require one of three documents proving age: a certified copy of the birth certificate or a transcript certified by the Demographic Registry; a passport issued by the United States Department of State; or any other documentary proof of age issued and certified by a Court. Anyone who employs, contracts, uses, procures to employ or use, or allows a minor under eighteen to work or be used in those activities commits a misdemeanor, punished with imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months or a fine of no less than one thousand (1,000) dollars and no more than three thousand (3,000) dollars, or both penalties at the Court’s discretion. The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources, in coordination with the Secretary of Justice, adopts the measures necessary for compliance.

External link

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What is it?

It is the express prohibition that was missing. The law’s statement of motives says so: the child labor framework was silent on expressly banning the employment of minors in activities promoting the consumption and sale of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, and although it could be inferred from the general rules, the ambiguity was being exploited at concerts, beach festivals, supermarkets, department stores and gas stations. This law closes that door by name.

Who can do it?

The prohibition protects every person under eighteen (18). The duty falls on every natural or legal person who employs, contracts or uses persons for activities aimed at promoting the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco-related products.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

This procedure has no cost.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: “Using” is prohibited just as much as contracting

    The prohibition article uses three verbs: employ, contract or use. No contract or pay is needed. A minor handing out samples, holding a sign, working the brand’s kiosk or appearing in the ad falls within the text if the activity is aimed at promoting the sale and consumption of those products.

  2. Step 2: The age-document list is closed

    The law names three: certified copy of the birth certificate or transcript certified by the Demographic Registry; passport issued by the United States Department of State; or any other documentary proof of age issued and certified by a Court. Note what is missing: a driver’s license is not on that list. The duty to require the document falls on whoever employs, contracts or uses, and applies to every person to be used in those activities, not only those who look underage.

  3. Step 3: The penalty also reaches whoever “allows”

    The penalties article is deliberately broad: any natural or legal person who employs, contracts, uses, procures to employ or use, or allows a minor under eighteen to work or be used in those activities commits a misdemeanor. That is, the venue or the organizer who allows it is reached, not only the brand that hired.

  4. Step 4: The sanction

    A misdemeanor, punished with imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months or a fine of no less than one thousand (1,000.00) dollars and no more than three thousand (3,000.00) dollars, or both penalties at the Court’s discretion. The thousand-dollar floor is what stands out: the law sets a minimum, not just a ceiling.

  5. Step 5: Whose job it is to enforce it

    The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources, in coordination with the Secretary of Justice, shall adopt the measures necessary for faithful compliance with this law’s provisions. That is the coordination the law names; the complaint goes to those two agencies.

Where to do it

The Department of Labor and Human Resources, in coordination with Justice, is who the law charges with enforcement. If the issue is minor employment generally — permits, hours, occupations — that is the minor work permit guide. If the issue is selling the product to the minor rather than using them in the promotion, those are the tobacco-sale-to-minors and e-cigarette guides.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

What the law does not define and what we did not read. The law does not define “tobacco-related products” or “alcoholic beverages,” and we will not invent a definition. The statement of motives describes the prior framework — Act 230 of 1942 on minor employment, Act 112 of 1985 on artistic activities and Regulation 3479 of 1987, which bars employing minors where alcohol is sold as the establishment’s main activity, in places declared dangerous, in obscene shows and in scenes of an obscene nature — but we did not read any of those three sources, so we report them as what they are: background the law itself narrates, not requirements we are verifying. Nor did we read any regulation adopted under Article 4, so we describe no complaint procedure, forms or deadlines. And this law sets no age for consuming or buying those products: it bans using minors to promote them.

Common mistakes

  • Believing a contract is needed: the law bans employing, contracting or using.
  • Accepting a driver’s license as proof of age: it is not on the closed three-document list.
  • Thinking only the brand answers: the law reaches whoever procures or allows the minor to be used.
  • Confusing this law with the purchase age: here what is regulated is who promotes, not who consumes.
  • Assuming a minor may appear if they do not mention the product: the ban is on activity aimed at promoting sale and consumption.
  • Believing the fine is token: it shall be no less than one thousand dollars and no more than three thousand.

Frequently asked questions

Can a 17-year-old hand out beer samples if unpaid?

No. The prohibition is to employ, contract or use minors under eighteen to work in, participate in or engage in those activities. “Using” requires no pay or contract.

What age document must the hirer request?

One of these three: certified copy of the birth certificate or transcript certified by the Demographic Registry; passport issued by the United States Department of State; or any other documentary proof of age issued and certified by a Court.

What penalty does whoever allows it face?

The same. The law reaches whoever employs, contracts, uses, procures to employ or use, or allows the minor to work or be used: a misdemeanor, imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine of one thousand to three thousand dollars, or both, at the Court’s discretion.

Which agency is in charge?

The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources, in coordination with the Secretary of Justice, shall adopt the measures necessary for faithful compliance with the law.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

August 24, 2026

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