How many hours is full time? Full-time vs part-time hours

This is general information, not legal advice. Federal, state and local rules can differ, and they change. Check the official sources linked below, or talk to an employment attorney or accountant, before you set policy for your staff.

How many hours is full time? In the US there is no single legal answer. Federal wage law doesn’t define it, the health care law uses 30 hours a week, government surveys use 35, and most employers pick a number between 32 and 40. If you’re hiring your first helper for a market stall, food truck or shop, here’s what each number means and which ones actually affect you.

The short answer

• Most common employer definition: 40 hours a week, sometimes 32 to 37.5.
• Affordable Care Act (ACA): an average of at least 30 hours a week, or 130 hours a month.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys: 35 or more hours a week.
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): no definition at all. It leaves full time and part time to the employer.
• Part time: usually anything under 30 to 35 hours a week, depending on whose definition you use.

How many hours is full time under federal law?

The Department of Labor is direct about this. Its page on full-time employment says the FLSA does not define full-time or part-time employment and that it is generally a matter for the employer to decide. So for minimum wage and overtime purposes, calling someone full time or part time doesn’t change what you owe them.

That means your own definition is mostly a policy choice. It decides who gets the benefits you offer, who gets priority for shifts, and how you describe a job in a listing. Write it down in your handbook or offer letter so staff know where they stand.

Full time under the Affordable Care Act: 30 hours

The ACA has its own definition, and it’s the one people most often run into. For the employer shared responsibility rules, the IRS says a full-time employee is one employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week, or 130 hours of service per month.

Those rules apply to an applicable large employer, which the IRS defines as one with at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, on average during the prior year. Most food trucks, coffee carts and boutiques are well under that. Still, the 30-hour line is worth knowing, because it’s where a lot of people assume full time starts.

Full time in government statistics: 35 hours

When the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports how many Americans work full time, it uses its own cutoff. In the Current Population Survey, full-time workers are those who usually work 35 or more hours per week, and part-time workers usually work fewer than 35. BLS notes these definitions are for statistical purposes only and are not legal definitions. You’ll see the 35-hour figure quoted in news stories, but it doesn’t set any rule for your business.

How many hours is part time?

Part time is simply whatever falls below your full-time line. In practice, part time hours per week usually look like this:

For a small seller, part time often means a weekend market helper on 8 to 16 hours, a lunch-rush cashier on 20, or a barista who covers mornings five days a week. There’s no federal minimum or maximum for part-time hours.

Full time and overtime are different things

A common mix-up: full-time status doesn’t trigger overtime. Under the FLSA, covered nonexempt employees must get overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at no less than time and a half. That applies whether you call the person full time or part time. A part-timer who picks up extra shifts during the holiday rush and works 44 hours in one week is owed 4 hours of overtime.

A few related points from the DOL’s overtime fact sheet:

• Overtime is counted by workweek, a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours (seven 24-hour days).
• The FLSA doesn’t require extra pay for Saturdays, Sundays or holidays unless those hours push the week over 40.
• Each workweek stands alone. You can’t average a 50-hour week with a 30-hour week to avoid overtime.

States can go further. California, for example, generally requires daily overtime for hours over 8 in a workday for nonexempt employees. Check your state labor department before you plan long market days or 10-hour festival shifts.

What full-time status does affect

Because federal wage law leaves it open, full time mostly matters for what you choose to offer and for a few specific programs:

• Health coverage. The ACA’s 30-hour test matters if you’re a large employer. Smaller employers who offer a group plan often set their own eligibility hours, and insurers may have their own minimums.
• Paid time off and holidays. The FLSA doesn’t require pay for time not worked, such as vacation or holidays. If you offer it, you decide who qualifies, often based on hours.
• State and local rules. Some states and cities have paid sick leave, scheduling or other laws that depend on hours worked rather than a job title. These vary widely.
• Retirement plans. Plan rules can include service and hours requirements for eligibility. Ask your plan provider.

How to set your own full-time and part-time policy

For a small shop or truck with a handful of staff, a simple written policy covers most of it.

1. Pick a number. Many small businesses use 30 or 32 hours as the full-time line, which lines up with the ACA idea of full time. Others use 40.
2. Decide how you measure it. Scheduled hours, or hours actually worked averaged over a month or a season? Seasonal sellers often average because busy and slow months differ so much.
3. List what comes with each status. Benefits, PTO, shift priority, holiday pay. Keep it short.
4. Check your state. Look up your state labor department for overtime, sick leave and break rules.
5. Track actual hours. A policy only works if you know who worked what. Clock-in records settle questions about overtime and eligibility quickly.

Also make sure the person is actually your employee and not an independent contractor. That’s a separate question with separate tax forms; see our guide to 1099 vs W-2 workers.

Working out hours and pay

If you’re estimating what a schedule costs, a few free tools help. Use the time card calculator to total a week of clock-ins and outs, the hours calculator to work out a single shift, and the salary calculator to turn an hourly rate into weekly, monthly and annual pay. Our work schedule maker lays out the week so you can see who is close to 40 hours before you post the rota. And remember the paycheck and the hourly rate aren’t the same number; our guide to gross vs net pay explains the gap.

How SleepingFire helps you track staff hours

SleepingFire is a point-of-sale app, not payroll software, so it won’t calculate taxes, decide who counts as full time or file anything for you. What it does is give each staff member their own login, with a built-in time clock and hours reports, so you can see who worked how much each week and spot anyone heading past 40 hours. It runs in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. See staff management features.

Frequently asked questions