How many hours count as full-time is a matter of concern to many employees when they feel they are being unfairly worked by their employer.4 min read For more information on the joint employer liability provisions, please see our Q&A. The Department of Finance and the IRS have also issued the following legal guidance regarding the employer`s shared responsibility provisions: Since there is no law governing what constitutes full-time employment in terms of compensation and benefits, it is important to obtain this information at the outset. This will protect you in the future. Even the Fair Labour Standards Act does not impose legal guidelines for full-time employment. Some states may establish regulations for full-time hours. For example, Texas defines anyone who works 32 hours a week as a full-time employee if that employee`s schedule is comparable to that of other workers in the same company or other full-time workers in the area. So if you work 32 hours a week in Texas, you`re legally considered full-time. Employers use one of two methods to determine full-time employee status. The first is the consideration of monthly hours. The second is a rollback method to check the status of a defined period in the past.

This is important for the right to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides for the right to an average of 24 hours per week over the past 12 months. Part-time employees typically work less than 32 hours per week, full-time is typically 32 to 40 hours. Part-time workers are generally offered limited benefits and health care. Often, a part-time worker is not entitled to paid leave, health insurance or paid sick leave. The CBA has the same designation – employees who work more than 30 hours per week are considered full-time employees. Because of the different ways employers define full-time employment, there are common misconceptions. One of the most common misconceptions is that you qualify as a full-time employee if you work 30 to 35 hours per week. While working 30 hours a week may qualify you for benefits from one employer, you may need to work at least 35 hours a week to receive benefits from another. Understanding what constitutes a full-time employee has implications for an employee`s eligibility for various company benefits. There is a lot of confusion about what constitutes full-time employment because the Ministry of Labour does not specify the number of hours required. The Internal Revenue Service only offers policy for certain programs, such as health care.

Generally, 30 hours or more are considered full-time employment, but this depends on company and state policies. However, the DOL does not distinguish between full-time and part-time status. Under the Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA), employees who work more than 40 hours per week and are not paid must be paid one and a half hours for every hour worked in excess of 40 hours. Some employers consider employees who work at least 35 hours per week to be full-time employees and offer overtime pay for each hour worked after age 35. However, employees are not always entitled to more money if they work more than 40 hours per week. This is important because courts tend to favor the law that is most favourable to the employee when making decisions. This means that although Texas law is different from federal law, when a labor dispute based on hours of work is brought before the courts, the most favorable state law is considered valid. * Save time and money with our small business compliance tools.* The definition of full-time hours is a classification established by law to determine an appropriate standard of working time and set the maximum number of hours hourly workers can work in a single week before being eligible for overtime pay.

The number of full-time employees helps Many employers also reserve certain benefits for full-time employees. 29 CFR 4.176 – Benefits Payment to Temporary and Part-Time Employees Under Federal Contracts Covered by the Service Contracts Act Certain industries and occupations are more suitable for overtime, and these employers and employees are exempt from the RSA. For example, doctors, nurses, police officers and firefighters often work long shifts and are often excluded from overtime pay. Sometimes, when a company is at the peak of its busiest season, a full-time employee is unable to work, or other circumstances change, a part-time employee may work overtime. Full-time employees are entitled to at least minimum wage up to 40 hours of work. After 40 hours of work, employees are entitled to overtime pay. This remuneration may take the form of an hourly wage and a half or, where permitted by law, employers may grant leave during which employees may take leave commensurate with their overtime. According to the California Department of Labor Relations, working 40 hours a week qualifies employees as full-time employees. However, you don`t want to confuse the 40-hour week with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Although the RSA does not define full-time hours, it does stipulate that workers must earn at least minimum wage for all hours worked up to a maximum of 40 hours per week. Each hour of overtime worked in a seven-day period must be paid at one and a half times the prevailing hourly wage. The following employees are exempt from overtime pay and are also listed on the U.S. Department of Labor website: Although the DOL does not define full-time employment, it does require employers to pay overtime after the 40-hour week. This leads many to believe that full-time status is 40 hours per week. Both the IRS and the ACA or Obamacare impose guidelines for full-time employment. According to the IRS, an employee is considered a full-time employee if: Sick days occur when an employee is absent from the office due to illness or injury. Depending on the employer`s benefit plan, sick leave may be paid or unpaid.

Some employers may require an employee to provide a medical certificate to excuse missed time as sick leave. Read on for examples of how to write a sick email. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not define the number of hours an employee must work to be considered a full-time employee. This means that employers themselves must distinguish between full-time and part-time work. Often, employers require employees to work full-time to be eligible for a benefit plan. While the definition of full-time hours varies from employer to employer, two important federal laws guarantee certain benefits if your job meets a number of criteria. If a part-time employee consistently works full-time but does not receive full-time benefits, this can lead to IRS and ERISA violations. You should have a specific policy that dictates when a part-time employee becomes full-time so that you consistently offer benefits throughout your company. To learn more about overtime and compensation, visit OSHA`s Extended Unusual Work Shifts page, where you can also learn about the health and safety risks associated with working long hours to minimize risk to yourself or your employees. If you create part-time jobs, the number of hours worked may not be enough to justify the cost of certain services. However, you don`t want to confuse the 40-hour week with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which identify full-time employees as those who work 30 hours a week.