Law Regarding Full Time Employment

To receive full time benefits an employee must work 40 hours per week.

Is this a Federal law? Can 35 hours per week qualify you for full time status?

If there is law regarding this issue where would I find copies?

Thank you
TLC

Harkening back to my employee benefit days, I don't believe there is any federal standard. Each employer is entitled to define full-time employee however they wish to; most use a standard of somewhere between 32 and 40 hours per week.

when I worked for Walmart and a retail store here (in management there) you could work over 40 and still be a part time employee. It's how they classify you when they hire you. You could be 30 hr full time, 40 hour part time, whatever.

At UPS the same thing
there are plenty of part timers working over 40 hours

And full timers working less

But its your classification that makes you full or PT

But our benefits are the same ,full or PT ,the same exact benefits

Thanks for clarifying that. So as an employer- if I hire someone as a full time employee - if they do not put in their 40 hours - they are not eligible for the paid holidays, insurance, paid vacations. I guess our company policy should be more specific about these things.
I had thought there was a law that if your worked 35 hours you were entitled to full time benefits.
Thanks
TLC

call the dept of labor in your state and make sure so you don't set yourself up. Good luck

Full-Time Status

A full-time employee, entitled to full-time benefits, must work at least 75% of a full work schedule.
Nonexempt Staff:

For a nonexempt staff salaried employee at 100% of a full work schedule, the employee must work 37.5 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.
For a nonexempt staff salaried employee at 75% of a full work schedule, the employee must work 1,462.5 hours per year.

Exempt Staff:
For an exempt staff salaried employee at 100% of a full work schedule, the employee must work a minimum of 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.

For an exempt staff salaried employee at 75% of a full work schedule, the employee must work 1,560 hours per year.
Faculty:

For a salaried faculty member, the full-time status is determined on an individual contractual basis.

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associate full-time benefit overview;

The following benefits are provided to full-time associates:

One day paid annual leave accrued on the first day of each month following a full month of employment. Two additional annual leave days are accrued on January 1 and July 1 each year.


One day paid sick leave accrued on the first day of each month following a full month of employment.


One day paid floating holiday determined on an annual basis.


U.S. Government holidays, which include:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
President's Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Thanksgiving Day
Friday after Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

Eligibility to a retirement fund at a rate of 10 percent of the base salary commencing once the associate has completed at least 12 months of service. After meeting eligibility requirements, associate will enter the plan on one of two entry dates, January 1 or July 1. One hundred percent vesting of funds will occur after four years participation in the plan.


Associate health insurance coverage at $35/$90 per month. Optional dependent coverage included at $55/$160 per month. Waiting period: First of the month following date-of-hire for all insurance benefits.


One hundred percent paid life and AD&D insurance at one times salary up to $50,000


One hundred percent paid dental insurance


One hundred percent paid short and long term disability insurance


Flex spending for Dependent Care/Medical accounts


Tuition reimbursement/Certification reimbursement allotment


Eligibility to participate in a 403(b) deferred compensation plan

CoCo, dont' know where that came from, but it doesn't apply to all companies, including the biggest retail chain in the US.

You guys are teriffic!
Thank-you,CoCo, for the links you emailed me. Exactly what I was looking for.

So the answer to my question, from a federal standpoint is:

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

That and answers to any other questions are found at this excellent website

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/index.htm


The second part of my question would be, from the state standpoint and there are links on the above site that take you to your individual state.



(Edited to fix the link)

This message was edited Saturday, Feb 22nd 9:11 AM

A lot of this can rely on the size of the company - I do believe there are different requirements for benefits for companies over 50 ppl., etc.

Some alternatives, if the issue is around whether you want to pay benefits, are sub-contracting, or hiring through another company.

You've seen answers all over the board and they're probably all correct in the circumstances of THAT company.

Best bet as suggested above, check the Department of Labor.
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/index.htm

~tig~
Coco was posting examples of Benefit Packages from other companies; this just gives me an idea of what other companies choose to do.

Already did call the state and they said that they were not aware of any such law.

~sbarr~
As a small company we keep abreast of things to be sure we comply in all legal situations including OSHA issues.

Just got the notion in my head that if a person puts in 35 hours a week that by law we had to consider them to be full time and therefore offer them benefits. And that is the way we have treated our employees for 15 years.

Needed to know if this was wrong; apparently there is no law that says this.

Working for Target, 32 hours is full time and I have heard you qualify for benefits if you consistently work at least 28 hours per week.

Hi TwinLakesChef, you may already have one, but if not, an employee handbook which completely spells out what the employee's and employer's rights and obligations are is an excellent thing to have. That way, should an issue arise, its there in black and white.

"It does not apply to all companies."

Well, a Federal law cannot be subordinated by State, municipaility, or specific employer. Walmart is famous for widely violating Federal Labor statutes, and at any one time has dozens of Federal labor practices reviews in progress in multiple jusrisdictions.

Here is an example:

Walmart employees are or have been required to enter their place of work through the front door, not an employee entrance. They are required to enter the place of work in their company vest. They are required to assist any and all customers asking for help prior to punching in for paid work. The work they do prior to punching is is not compensated. Helping customers prior to punching in makes them late for work, for which they are penalized.

This appears to be a clear violation of Federal labor law.

Just because Walmart does it, does not make it right (though they might wish us to think so).

Adam.

For anyone interested.

http://pweb.jps.net/~dcasner/SFSAWalMartPage.html

I am not a labor activist, yet I prefer to spend my money where working people are decently treated.

Adam.

Rudbeckia

Our Company Policy is given to every new employee. It currently states that 35 hours per week is full time.

Have decided we won't be changing it to 40. Reason being ~ it gives them some "wiggle" room. In a given quarter they could miss an average of one morning or afternoon per week due to illness, emergencies, etc. and still keep their full time status along with the benefits.

In 25 yrs of being in business I have NEVER had a full time employee who shows up for work two-thirds of the time. We have one instance in which this appears to be going that way. ~~so it caught me by surprise~~

This person does excellent work - just not good attendance.

In going over my wages stats it came to my attention that I paid Christmas Day and New Years Day - paid holidays to this person when they had not worked more than 26 hours a week in the previous quarter.
Don't resent that I did it -just know it's not going to happen in the future! Also it is not fair to the other employees.

Wrote that policy so many years ago couldn't remember why I put 35 in. Got to thinking maybe it was a law. Ooooh! my memory is going south!

:) Thank you all for your wonderful input! :)

Interestingly enough, my last job in NYC had the 35 hr = full time rule and so do the large NYC firms (Lehman Brother's Ernst & Young and others) that several of my family members work at.

Federal law makes a difference between salaried and hourly workers.

If one reviews the statutes, they are not "absolute," but contain formulas for creating equivalencies for full~time, part~time work, depending upon methods of compensation.

Like our tax codes, the labor laws are magnificently complex puzzles, permitting spectrums of interpretation.

I imagine this would be a good spot to insert a joke about lawyers, but I was up all night billing clients for my vague advice on their issues, so can't think of any at the moment. If I've done my work well, I expect they'll be back for more billable hours ;~)

Adam.

Walmart just lost a suit in Portland. the same type of scenario as Adam pointed out, but much worse, they were told to clock out, then continue working etc., a group of employees took them to court and won, in fact, I think that it was an important case because it has set the tone on the suits being filed against walmart. It is a disgrace. Walmart is a multi-billion dollar company, their profits are staggering, and they treat their employees very very badly.
shame on them....

My FIL sued for, and won, back overtime his boss never paid him while he was a chef at this guy's restaurant. That guy was ticked at my FIL until the day he died, I bet, but he deserved to get the money he was owed for his hard work.