futureBOS Partner Resource Hub

The futureBOS jobs portal is a central hub for all youth employment opportunities throughout the City. futureBOS guides young people through the application, onboarding, and hiring processes, ensuring these employment opportunities are easily accessible in one place. The futureBOS site serves as a centralized resource for youth employment across the City, making it easier for young people to locate opportunities across various industries. 

• If you would like to update your current posting to reflect the remaining available slots, please refer to the futureBOS bi-weekly update guidelines.

If you have any questions regarding posting a youth employment opportunity, contact futurebos@boston.gov.

Below, we shared some recommendations for making the youth hiring process easy, clear, and equitable for young people. Following the tips below will help make sure that youth can easily apply and be hired into your job opportunities.

• Simplify the Application Process: Streamline your application process to be user-friendly and accessible. Use online platforms with clear instructions and intuitive interfaces.
• Create Clear Job Requirements: Outline job requirements and expectations in your job posting. This will help young applicants to assess their suitability for the position.
• Emphasize Transferable Skills: Encourage young applicants to focus on transferable skills like: communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and time management. This will be especially useful for those with limited work experience.
• Use Age Appropriate Language: Use language that is easy to understand and appropriate for the target age group. Avoid jargon or complex terminology that may be unfamiliar to younger applicants.
• Don’t Require a Resume: Avoid asking for resumes from youth applicants. It is likely they will have limited work experience. Instead focus on relevant skills, interests and potential during the application process.  
• Equitable Practices: Consider ways your team is prepared to offer additional support to young people who may need it most. Partners can attend YEO’s DEI Academy, which equips employers with tools to equitably recruit, interview, and hire young people in a way that is representative of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, citizenship status, and socioeconomic status.

Not sure where to start? We have a template Youth Job Application Form that you can adapt and use for your own recruitment and hiring process.

If the young people your organization is looking to hire are unsure about their work authorization status, the City’s Immigrant Youth Advancement Program may be able to provide leadership and work-readiness experience. 

Working a youth job has many benefits, but can also come with risks. Youth employment laws are designed to protect young people from potential dangers and abuses in the workplace. Educating youth on their rights on the job and how to exercise them is essential for ensuring they have a successful and empowering employment experience.

Youth have a right to a safe and healthy workplace. As an employer, you must provide health and safety training, including any information on substances youth may come into contact with. "It is illegal to fire a youth employee for voicing concerns about health or safety conditions at work or for filing a health and safety complaint.

When it comes to pay, employers must:

• pay youth at least the Massachusetts minimum wage for all hours worked
• pay 1.5 times the regular pay for every hour over 40 that an employee worked in a week
• let youth keep all their tips or their share of a valid tip pool
• pay for their medical care if they get hurt or sick because of their job
• let youth earn and use up to 40 hours of sick leave a year.

Visit Mass.gov’s Breaks and Time-Off page for a more in-depth look at workers’ rights on the job. Youth employees who get injured on the job may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Injured youth should visit Mass.gov’s Workers’ Compensation for Injured Workers page to see if they qualify. The types of jobs youth can perform depend on their age. Explore the prohibited jobs for minors to see which roles are permitted for your employees.

The Office of Youth Employment & Opportunity has created a series of 'Know Your Rights' instructional videos to educate youth about their workplace rights and how to exercise them. These videos provide in-depth information on topics such as pay, child labor laws, youth working hours, workplace safety, discrimination, and advocating for better working conditions.

• Know Your Rights (Part 1)
• Know Your Rights (Part 2)
• Know Your Rights (Part 3)
• Know Your Rights (Part 4) 

Employees are protected from discrimination based on age, sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. If a youth believes they are experiencing discrimination, they can file a complaint with the Civil Rights Division of the Attorney General’s Office. Additionally, if a youth believes their employer is not following workplace laws, they can file a workplace complaint with the Attorney General’s Office.

In order to fulfill our mission of employing, developing, and engaging as many young people as possible, YEO relies on our employment partners to help spread the word to Boston youth about our offerings. Employer partners can support our mission by amplifying YEO’s message and sharing promotional content for the Youth Jobs Program through their communication channels. This includes posting on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), sharing stories, and forwarding email content to youth audiences. We hope to expand our reach to ensure that every young person in the city is aware of and able to apply!

To help spread the word about the upcoming summer youth employment program, please access the 2025 Summer Outreach Toolkit. Inside the toolkit, you will find flyers to download, blurbs for email newsletters, and social media copy and graphics that your department can use to inform youth about finding and applying for summer jobs.

To further spread the word about YEO’s youth job programs, explore the additional promotional materials our office provides, or request printed flyers or an informational session.