Full-Time Hours

What are Full-Time Hours?

A legal classification known as "full-time hours" is used to establish a reasonable norm for working hours and to identify the most hours that hourly employees can work in a week before being eligible for overtime pay. The number of full-time workers is beneficial. Additionally, a lot of firms only offer certain perks to full-time workers.

What are the Full-Time Hour Requirements?

Any employee who works an average of 32 to 40 hours per week or 130 hours per month is considered full-time by the IRS in the United States. When Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, which mandated that companies pay overtime to any workers who put in more than 44 hours per week, this maximum amount was established. Two years later, in 1940, they changed the law to make the workweek 40 hours.

Up to 40 working hours, full-time workers are entitled to compensation that is at least the legal minimum wage. Employees are eligible for overtime pay after 40 hours of work. If permitted by law, companies may also grant compensatory time off so that workers may take leave that equals the number of hours they worked beyond the required minimum.

In addition, for the purposes of calculating an employer's employee count, the Affordable Care Act defines full-time hours as 30 hours per week. This establishes whether a firm has at least 50 employees, the number at which they must, by law, provide health insurance.

What Are Full-Time Hours As Defined By Employers?

While the federal government specifies a range of 32 to 40 hours, companies have a lot of discretion in determining the minimum number of hours workers must put in to be considered for a full-time position (and to receive full-time benefits). Eight working hours per day divided by five workdays per week results in a 40-hour workweek.

What Perks Are Typically Linked to Full-Time Hours?

Employees' eligibility for the following benefits is typically determined by their full-time employment:

• Travel time
• Health protection
• Dental protection
• Money for retirement and corporate match

Again, companies have a lot of freedom in deciding how to structure their benefits programs outside of what is mandated by laws like the ACA. They can choose to give part-time workers a portion of their perks. They might also stipulate that workers must put in some time at the office before they are qualified for benefits.

What Changes in Full-Time Hours for Exempt Employees

Exempt employees are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime rules (FLSA). Exempt personnel is compensated for the work they accomplish because it is challenging to track their time on an hour-by-hour basis for these often knowledge-based duties. Exempt workers are required by law to use independent judgment for more than half of each workday. Salary employees are another name for exempt workers.

Organizations have no financial or legal incentive to prevent employees from working long hours because overtime restrictions do not apply to exempt employees, and the FLSA does not set weekly work-hour limits. As a result, many salaried workers put in far more than 40 hours every workweek to finish their tasks or just to show their commitment. The engagement, job satisfaction, and retention rates of an organization's workforce can all be negatively impacted by extended workdays.

Conclusion

Employers are allowed to determine what constitutes full-time employment inside their organizations and to choose the benefits they wish to provide to those workers. However, if they have more than 50 full-time employees or the equivalent, they could have to offer health insurance that complies with ACA minimum standards.