Classify your employees: the difference between full time and part time

It’s normal for small and medium companies to struggle when it comes to hiring full time and part time employees. Truth is that some companies need more part time workers and others need more full time collaborators, sometimes a mix of both.

You need to know that commonly the number of hours worked per week and the schedule helps define if it’s about a full time or part time job. For instance, a part time worker in a mall may have a schedule of 10 hours one week and the next one 25 hours. 

Most of the time employers are able to make their own definitions, so we can understand if you haven’t found what you´re looking for related to this subject so far in your research. In this article we´ll help you out.

The concepts of full time and part time jobs

Definition of a full time job

The major employment law in the United States does not provide a definition 100% clear in this matter, so it depends on the needs of the company. Some companies may require people to work 32 or 40 hours per week. The exact amount of hours is particularly important because it determines how many hours are guaranteed on a weekly basis for the employee.

Definition of part time job

The name part time job defines itself, this type of work routine has fewer hours than full time. Part time employees are not guaranteed the same amount of hours or shifts each week. 

Employees for part time jobs have the option of selecting additional turns to cover for co-workers who can´t make it because of different reasons, and sometimes they can make extra hours during a particular time of the year. Part-time jobs typically require no more than 35 hours per week, and may be as few as 5-10 hours. 

You can also read: What are the best PEO company services in 2021?

Main differences between full time and part time

Amount of hours considered for full time 

The answer is that The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has no exact definition for part-time or full-time employment, and the owners of the companies may determine their own definitions. 

However, according to the IRS, for purposes of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this is the right definition to use: for a calendar month a full-time employee is someone employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week, or 130 hours of service per month.

It’s important to make the right classification

If your management does it wrong it can cause unwanted penalties, like benefits related issues for the company. For instance, if an employer under the ACA does not offer benefits to a full-time employee because they hired the person as part time colaborator the company may face fees or other demanded payments for that kind of error.

MidtownHR can help your company with simple solutions, classifying your employees, also with payroll and taxes, propose benefits that really feel like benefits, keep up with employment law and also help protect your team. MidtownHR is on a mission to create a world of optimistic entrepreneurs.