There is no single legal number. The FLSA does not define full-time employment and leaves it to the employer. Other laws use their own tests, and the most important one for benefits is the ACA’s 30 hours a week.
| Rule | Test | What the label changes |
|---|---|---|
| Company policy | Whatever the employer sets, for example 36 hours | Benefits, PTO accrual, holiday pay |
| ACA employer mandate | Averages at least 30 hours of service a week | Nothing. The hours decide |
| FMLA eligibility | 1,250 hours in the past 12 months, plus 12 months of service | Nothing. The hours decide |
| FLSA overtime | Over 40 hours in a workweek for non-exempt staff | Nothing. The hours decide |
The part-time employee entry covers the other side, and FTE explains how hours are added up for headcount.
To total hours with breaks and overtime, use our time card calculator.
A dental group with 70 employees, an applicable large employer, defines full time as 36 hours a week. Only full-time staff get health coverage and holiday pay under its policy.
A front desk coordinator is hired as part-time and works 32 hours every week. By company policy she is part-time. Under the ACA she averages more than 30 hours a week, so the group has to offer her coverage or risk an employer mandate penalty.
Over a year she works 32 x 52 = 1,664 hours. That is more than 1,250, so after 12 months of service she is also eligible for FMLA leave. In a week before a busy holiday she works 43 hours, and the 3 hours over 40 are paid at time and a half, the same as for any non-exempt employee. The group changes its benefits policy so that health coverage follows the ACA test and holiday pay follows the 36-hour company rule.
A full year of 40-hour weeks is 2,080 hours. Many employers use that figure to convert salaries to hourly rates and to compare part-time schedules with full time.
A part-time pharmacy clerk works exactly 24 hours every week for a year and then asks for leave to care for her mother.
Her hours for the 12 months are 24 x 52 = 1,248, two hours short of the 1,250 needed for FMLA eligibility. HR checks the time records for any extra hours, such as a training session or a shift she picked up. One extra 4-hour shift in March brings her to 1,252 hours, so she is eligible. Without accurate records of every hour, the answer would have been a guess.
Federal law has no single definition. Most employers choose a number between 30 and 40 hours, and the ACA uses 30 hours a week for health coverage.
It depends on the employer’s policy. For the ACA employer mandate, 32 hours a week counts as full time.
No. The FLSA does not define full time. 40 hours matters because overtime starts after 40 hours in a workweek.
They can. Eligibility depends on 12 months of service and 1,250 hours in the past 12 months, not on the part-time label.
At 40 hours a week, 2,080 hours a year. The ACA’s 30-hour test equals 130 hours of service in a month.
Under company policy, yes, if hours change. For the ACA, status is measured using the method the employer has chosen, so check how your plan measures it.
Employees clock in by mobile GPS, web, kiosk or NFC, with geofencing, break alerts and missed-punch requests that keep an audit trail.