Your insurance carrier says 20 hours qualifies employees for coverage. The ACA compliance guidelines use 30 hours as the full-time threshold. Your employee handbook mentions 25 hours. Now you’re staring at three different definitions for the same workforce, wondering which one actually matters when questions about benefits eligibility arise.
The answer is all of them. But none of them provides a complete picture. Understanding how many hours is part time becomes critical when you’re managing payroll, taxes, and employee benefits across multiple jurisdictions. Unlike full-time employment standards, part-time work doesn’t have a universal federal definition. That makes classification decisions entirely yours to manage, along with the compliance consequences that follow. This guide breaks down how many hours is part time under various regulations, what thresholds trigger benefits requirements, and how to set defensible policies that work across multiple states.
Key Takeaways
- Federal law doesn’t define part-time hours, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers 1-34 hours per week part-time. Employers set their own thresholds based on business needs and compliance requirements.
- The Affordable Care Act treats employees working 30 or more hours per week (or 130 hours per month) as full-time for health insurance purposes at large employers with 50+ FTE.
- State-specific requirements for paid sick leave, disability insurance, and overtime rules create multi-state compliance challenges that require careful tracking and documentation.
What Is Considered Part-Time Employment?
The federal government won’t tell you how many hours makes someone part-time. That sounds convenient until you realize it shifts all definition responsibility—and liability—to you as the employer. The differences between part-time and full-time employees affect everything from salary structures to which workers receive certain benefits.
Federal Standards and Guidelines Under the FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping requirements for employees. What the FLSA doesn’t do is define part-time versus full-time employment. Congress left that decision to individual employers, creating a patchwork of company policies across industries.
The FLSA does clarify that part-time workers are entitled to the same minimum wage protections as full-time staff. Whether someone works 15 hours or 40 hours per week, they’re eligible for overtime pay once they exceed 40 hours in a workweek. These protections apply regardless of how you classify the position internally.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics considers anyone working 1-34 hours per week to be employed part-time. This statistical benchmark helps researchers track labor force trends. For employers trying to classify workers and manage employee benefits, though, it’s merely a starting point rather than a binding standard.
In practice, most companies establish part-time employment somewhere between 20 and 29 hours per week. The wide range reflects different operational needs and compliance calculations. Retail and hospitality industries often use lower thresholds around 20-25 hours, while other sectors may set higher limits. Choose your threshold strategically rather than arbitrarily—each number carries specific implications for benefits costs, regulatory requirements, and administrative burden.
Common Part-Time Work Hour Thresholds
Three numbers appear repeatedly in part-time job policies. Understanding why helps you choose intentionally.
20 hours per week:
- Minimum threshold many health insurance carriers use for group coverage
- Aligns with 1,000-hour annual ERISA requirement for retirement plans (~19 hours weekly)
- Often chosen by employers wanting to match benefits provider requirements
25 hours per week:
- Middle-ground approach balancing talent attraction with cost control
- Stays comfortably below ACA’s 30-hour full-time threshold
- High enough to attract workers seeking substantial part-time roles or additional income
29 hours per week:
- Maximum part-time threshold avoiding ACA full-time status
- Used by employers wanting maximum scheduling flexibility without triggering health insurance mandates
- Risky if employees regularly exceed 29 hours and cross into full-time territory
Pick a threshold that aligns with your benefits structure, budget constraints, and compliance obligations. Then enforce it uniformly across similar roles and document it thoroughly in your employee handbook. This distinction between part-time and full-time work affects which employees receive certain benefits like health insurance, paid time off, and retirement contributions.
The ACA 30-Hour Threshold: What Large Employers Must Know
For applicable large employers, 30 hours per week creates a compliance line that triggers significant obligations. Cross it with enough workers, and you’re facing health insurance mandates backed by substantial penalties.
Applicable Large Employer (ALE) Requirements
The ACA employer mandate kicks in at 50 or more full-time equivalent employees averaged over the previous calendar year. That status brings health coverage requirements whether you planned for them or not.
ALEs must offer affordable health insurance providing minimum value to at least 95% of full-time employees and their dependents. Full-time means averaging 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month. Fail to offer coverage, and you face penalties if even one full-time employee obtains subsidized coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.
For 2026, not offering coverage to full-time workers triggers assessments of thousands of dollars per employee annually. These penalties function similarly to taxes on non-compliance, creating real budget impact. Offering coverage that’s unaffordable or fails to provide minimum value creates different penalties but still costs serious money. That’s why the 30-hour threshold matters so much for workforce planning and scheduling decisions.
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Calculating Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employees
Determining ALE status requires counting both full-time employees and full-time equivalents. Here’s the math:
Step 1: Count everyone working 30+ hours per week (or 130+ hours monthly) as one full-time employee
Step 2: Calculate FTE from remaining part-time workers:
- Add total monthly hours for all part-time employees (those under 30 hours weekly)
- Divide that total by 120
- Round down to nearest whole number
Step 3: Add full-time count to FTE number
Example: You have 35 employees at 35 hours weekly (full-time) and 30 part-time employees at 20 hours weekly each.
- Full-time count: 35
- Part-time hours: 30 × 20 × 4.33 weeks = 2,598 monthly hours
- FTE calculation: 2,598 ÷ 120 = 21.65, rounds to 21
- Total: 35 + 21 = 56 FTE employees
- Result: You’re an ALE subject to the mandate
This calculation determines not only ALE status but also which part-time employees might qualify as full-time under ACA measurement rules, even if your internal classification differs.
Measurement Periods Under the ACA
The ACA offers two methods for determining which employees average 30 hours weekly: monthly measurement and look-back measurement. Both track actual hours of service rather than your internal part-time designation.
Monthly measurement method:
- Assesses hours each month to determine full-time status for that specific month
- Employees averaging 30+ hours weekly or 130+ hours monthly qualify as full-time
- Works best for stable workforces with predictable schedules
- Creates real-time accuracy but requires constant hour tracking
Look-back measurement method:
- Uses historical hours during a defined period (usually 12 months) to determine future eligibility
- Provides stability—employees maintain status during entire stability period
- Protects against fluctuations for variable-hour employees
- Requires careful documentation of measurement, administrative, and stability periods
The look-back method particularly benefits employers with seasonal fluctuations or variable part-time work schedules. An employee working extra hours during busy periods won’t immediately trigger full-time status and lose it when hours drop. That consistency helps both workforce planning and employee relations.
Exempt Employees vs. Non-Exempt Part-Time Workers
The FLSA distinction between exempt employees and non-exempt workers applies regardless of part-time or full-time status. However, most part-time positions don’t meet exemption criteria.
Exempt employees must satisfy both a salary basis test and a duties test. The salary threshold for 2026 requires minimum weekly compensation that exceeds what most part-time workers earn. Beyond salary, exemptions require executive, administrative, or professional duties involving discretion and independent judgment.
Part-time workers in retail and hospitality industries, along with most hourly positions, classify as non-exempt. These employees remain eligible for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week, regardless of their regular part-time schedule. A part-time worker scheduled for 25 hours who covers extra shifts totaling 45 hours that week earns overtime for those 5 hours over 40.
Misclassifying non-exempt workers as exempt creates FLSA violations carrying back pay liability, penalties, and potential litigation. The classification depends on actual job duties and compensation structure, not the number of hours scheduled or whether you consider the position “part-time.”
Payroll and Tax Considerations for Part-Time Work
Part-time employees trigger the same payroll taxes as full-time workers. Thus, employers must withhold federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from part-time wages. State and local payroll taxes apply based on work location, creating complications for multi-state operations.
FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare) apply to all wages regardless of hours worked. Part-time workers earning above the Social Security wage base still owe Medicare taxes on all compensation. Employers match these contributions dollar-for-dollar, making payroll taxes a consistent cost across all employee classifications.
Federal and state unemployment insurance taxes also apply to part-time workers. These taxes fund unemployment benefits that part-time employees can claim if they lose their jobs. Rates vary by state and employer history, but the obligation exists whether someone works 10 hours or 40 hours weekly.
The administrative burden grows when you’re managing payroll for part-time workers across multiple states. Different state income tax withholding rules, varying local taxes, and different unemployment insurance requirements all require careful tracking. Payroll systems need configuration for each jurisdiction’s specific requirements.
Benefits Eligibility and Part-Time Employee Benefits
Employee benefits eligibility creates one of the biggest advantages and disadvantages of part-time employment. The benefits available to part-time workers vary dramatically based on employer policy, regulatory requirements, and hours worked.
Retirement Benefits Under ERISA
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) requires 401(k) plans to include employees working at least 1,000 hours annually (roughly 19 hours per week). That’s long been the standard threshold for retirement plan participation.
Meanwhile, the SECURE 2.0 Act adds new requirements for long-term part-time workers. Employees working at least 500 hours annually for two consecutive years (or three years for plan years beginning before 2024) must be allowed to make elective deferrals to 401(k) plans. They’re contributing their own money toward retirement even if they don’t meet the 1,000-hour threshold for employer contributions.
This creates a two-tier system. Part-time workers at 500+ hours can contribute. Those at 1,000+ hours qualify for employer matching. Your plan document needs clear language defining these thresholds and explaining which part-time employees receive which benefits.
Health Insurance and Other Benefits
Outside ACA requirements, health insurance eligibility for part-time workers depends entirely on your plan design. Many group health plans set minimum hour requirements, commonly 20, 25, or 30 hours weekly. These thresholds reflect both insurance carrier requirements and employer cost management.
Other employee benefits follow similar patterns. Dental and vision insurance often mirror health coverage thresholds. Life insurance and disability coverage may exclude part-time workers or require minimum hours for eligibility. Paid time off policies typically prorate accrual for part-time employees or exclude them entirely.
The key is consistency. Whatever thresholds you set, apply them uniformly across similar positions. Different rules for different departments create discrimination risks. Document eligibility requirements clearly in your employee handbook and communicate them during hiring.
State-Specific Requirements Affecting Part-Time Work
State and local employment laws create additional compliance layers that affect part-time work arrangements differently than full-time positions. These requirements vary significantly by jurisdiction, making multi-state compliance particularly challenging.
Paid Sick Leave Accrual
Many states and cities mandate paid sick leave accrual based on hours worked. This applies to part-time employees at the same rate as full-time workers—they just accumulate fewer total hours due to reduced schedules.
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Common accrual rates include:
California:
- One hour sick leave per 30 hours worked
- 24-hour minimum available annually for most employees
- Part-timer working 20 hours weekly accrues about 35 hours yearly
New York:
- NYC: All employees accrue one hour per 30 hours worked regardless of company size
- Upstate: Requirements vary based on employee count
- Part-timers accumulate at same rate as full-timers—just fewer total hours
Washington:
- One hour sick leave per 40 hours worked for all employees
- Someone working 25 hours weekly earns about 32.5 hours annually
The administrative challenge gets even more tangled with part-time workers in multiple states. Your California team accrues at the 30-hour rate. Washington workers accrue at a 40-hour rate. Texas employees might receive nothing if you’re not offering voluntarily. Tracking accrual rates manually across different jurisdictions guarantees errors.
State Disability Insurance Variations
Five states require short-term disability insurance for employees unable to work due to non-work-related illness or injury: California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. These programs explicitly cover part-time employees with different specifics:
- California SDI: All employees covered; workers contribute ~1.1% of wages via payroll deductions; part-timers qualify with $300 earned in base period
- New York: Private insurance or state fund required; part-timers eligible after four consecutive weeks employment
- New Jersey, Hawaii, Rhode Island: Each has own contribution rates, benefit formulas, eligibility requirements
Part-time workers can’t be excluded from coverage in these states. While your California part-timers participate in SDI, New York part-timers need separate disability coverage. Workers in the other 45 states may have nothing unless you offer voluntarily. Obviously, managing different insurance policies, contribution rates, and claim procedures across states requires dedicated compliance tracking.
Overtime Complications for Part-Time Workers
Most states follow federal FLSA rules: time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a workweek. California doesn’t, creating scheduling complications for part-time employees who work extra hours during busy periods.
California requires daily overtime:
- Time-and-a-half after 8 hours in a single workday
- Double-time after 12 hours in a day
- Time-and-a-half for first 8 hours on seventh consecutive workday
- Double-time for hours beyond 8 on seventh day
A part-time employee scheduled for a 10-hour shift in California earns 8 hours regular pay plus 2 hours time-and-a-half, even working just 10 hours that entire week. They never approach 40 weekly hours, but daily overtime kicks in anyway. Most other states wouldn’t require overtime for that schedule.
Alaska has similar daily overtime after 8 hours in a workday. Colorado mandates overtime after 12 hours daily or 40 weekly. These state-specific rules mean your part-time scheduling strategies must vary by location. Four-day schedules with 10-hour shifts work perfectly for Texas part-timers but trigger expensive overtime in California.
Part-time employees working remotely from different states adds yet another layer. A worker living in California but employed by your Texas company falls under California labor law. Their 10-hour workday triggers California’s daily overtime even though your Texas operations never consider daily overtime.
Handbook Documentation Across Jurisdictions
A single generic employee handbook fails spectacularly across multiple states. State-specific requirements create legal obligations that vary dramatically by location.
Your handbook needs to address:
- Paid sick leave accrual rates differing by state and city
- Disability insurance availability and contributions in five mandated states
- Overtime calculation methods accounting for California’s daily requirements
- Meal and rest break rules (California requires specific timing; many states have none)
- Final paycheck timing when employment ends (California requires immediate payment; other states allow 30 days)
Some employers create state-specific handbook addendums. Others maintain entirely separate handbooks by jurisdiction. However, both require ongoing maintenance as employment laws change—which they do constantly. California alone passes dozens of new employment laws annually, many affecting part-time workers.
Automated handbook solutions—like the one Mosey provides—maintain state-specific language that updates automatically when regulations change. Your California employees see California-compliant policies. The Texas team sees Texas requirements. Manual approaches simply can’t keep pace once you’re managing compliance across 5-10 states.
The Compliance Tracking Challenge
Suffice to say, manual tracking systems fail predictably at multi-state scale. Spreadsheets tracking part-time hours for ACA measurement, sick leave accrual across different state formulas, disability insurance eligibility, and ERISA retirement thresholds become unmanageable.
Consider what you’re tracking for a single part-time employee, again using California as an example:
- Weekly hours for ACA measurement (monthly and look-back periods)
- Sick leave accrual at 1 hour per 30 worked
- Hours toward ERISA 1,000-hour threshold
- Hours toward SECURE 2.0 long-term part-time status (500 hours for 2 years)
- Daily hours to catch overtime triggers
- SDI contribution calculations
- Workers’ compensation premium basis
Multiply that across 50 part-time employees in five different states with varying requirements. The spreadsheet becomes a liability magnet where one missed formula triggers penalties.
Different benefits eligibility by state means you can’t apply universal rules. Thankfully automation platforms designed for multi-state compliance solve these challenges by maintaining state-specific requirements and thresholds simultaneously, alerting you to upcoming obligations before deadlines pass. A solution like Mosey updates automatically when states change requirements and provides the step by step and automated processes to stay compliant.
The alternative is manual tracking that works until the wheels inevitably come off. And by the time you discover the failure, you’re facing back penalties, employee lawsuits, or both.
Stay Compliant with Mosey
Part-time employment offers workforce flexibility, but classification decisions carry compliance weight that increases significantly across state lines. Each jurisdiction adds requirements for sick leave accrual, disability insurance, overtime calculations, and benefits eligibility that manual systems struggle to track accurately. Miss a threshold in one state while meeting it in another, and you’re building violations even while trying to comply.
Mosey automates multi-state part-time compliance, from employee handbooks to payroll compliance and more. Our platform maintains state-specific policies that update automatically when regulations change, alerting you to obligations before they become violations.
So, are you ready to eliminate manual compliance tracking once and for all? Schedule a free demo with Mosey to see how our platform manages part-time employees across all 50 states to make your HR team’s life immeasurably easier.
FAQ: How Many Hours Is Part-Time?
Part-time hours per day typically range from 4-6 hours daily for employees working 20-30 hours per week. There’s no federal standard defining part-time hours per workday—classification depends on total hours worked per week or month rather than daily schedules.
What is the minimum hours for part-time?
No federal minimum hours requirement exists for part-time employment since the Fair Labor Standards Act doesn’t define minimum or maximum part-time hours. Employers set their own thresholds, though most consider anything from 1-34 hours per week as part-time based on Bureau of Labor Statistics benchmarks.
What workplace rights do part-time workers have?
Part-time workers have the same basic workplace rights as full-time employees, including minimum wage, overtime pay when exceeding 40 hours weekly, workers’ compensation coverage, anti-discrimination protections, and workplace safety standards under OSHA. Benefits eligibility varies based on hours worked and company policy, but core wage and hour protections apply equally regardless of part-time or full-time status.
Are part-time employees entitled to vacation, sick or holiday pay?
Part-time employees’ entitlement to vacation, sick leave, and holiday pay depends on federal, state, and local laws plus company policy—there’s no universal federal requirement for these benefits. Many states and cities mandate paid sick leave accrual based on hours worked (commonly 1 hour per 30-40 hours), which applies to part-time workers proportionally, while vacation and holiday pay typically remain discretionary.
What are the types of part-time job arrangements?
Common part-time arrangements include regular part-time (consistent schedule under 30 hours weekly), variable-hour positions with fluctuating schedules, job sharing where two employees split one full-time role, seasonal work for busy periods, and on-call or per-diem positions with as-needed scheduling. Each type affects benefits eligibility, scheduling predictability, and income stability differently.
