working papers

noun

A set of documents or a certificate serving as a permit that grants state permission for a minor (child or adolescent) to work, with restrictions on the amount and type of work.

Similar
work paperswork permit

Meanings

nounworking papers pl (plural only)
  1. USpluralplural onlyA set of documents or a certificate serving as a permit that grants state permission for a minor (child or adolescent) to work, with restrictions on the amount and type of work.
    1 more example

    If the child is of a working age it may be taken for granted that his relatives are desirous of putting him to work at once, to add to the family income. The institution should be charged with the duty of procuring the working papers of every boy of working age discharged, as this is a parent's duty and the institution stands in loco parentis to its charges. If the child has not been in school the required number of days, or if he has not attained the standard of proficiency required by the department of education, and is consequently ineligible for a working certificate, it is a wrong to him, and to the community, and to the reputation of the institution to discharge him into the ordinary home, as we know it, until he is fully equipped for work.

    1909, Tenth New York State Conference of Charities and Correction: Proceedings. Albany, New York, November 16-18, 1909, Albany, New York: J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers, page 140
  2. pluralplural onlyThe notes and interim documents used during the work in process of an accountant, auditor, or other knowledge worker.
    1 more example

    Working Papers. / The subject of working papers is very important to the auditor. It is so important and moreover so extensive that more than one book has been devoted entirely to it. For the author's views on the subject, the reader is referred to "Accountants’ Working Papers" by Palmer and Bell. With that complete treatise available it is thought to be unnecessary to discuss the technique of working papers in this volume except as it appears to be called for in the consideration of detail subjects. Too much stress cannot, however, be laid upon the desirability of limiting working papers to essentials. Mere transcripts of accounts serve no useful purpose.

    1936 [1924], William Hansell Bell, John Abrum Powelson, Auditing, Prentice-Hall, page 24

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna legal document giving information required for employment of certain people in certain countries

Similar
work paperswork permit
Broader
legal documentlegal instrumentofficial document
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Already in established use by 1909 for the sense concerning the regulated employment of minors.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

working papers. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/working%20papers

MLA

“working papers.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/working%20papers. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “working papers,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/working%20papers.

Source: working papers on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.