How many hours is part-time? Definition and benefits

• Part-time generally means fewer than 35 hours a week; most U.S. employers set it at 20 to 29.
• There’s no federal legal definition, so the employer decides.
• The IRS/ACA treats 30 or more hours a week as full-time, which triggers health-coverage rules at large employers.
• Part-time workers still get federal minimum wage and overtime past 40 hours a week.
• Benefits like retirement plans and paid time off are mostly at the employer’s discretion.

Part-time is generally 20 to 29 hours a week, though the exact number depends on the position, company, and agreement. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts anyone working 1 to 34 hours a week as part-time.

Common pitfall: a part-time label doesn’t guarantee few hours. One student in the Glassdoor Community described a part-time clothing-showroom job that ran 33 hours a week. As another student in the Glassdoor Community put it, “In college I worked front desk at a hotel. I worked night shift so I could put myself through school.” Check the scheduled hours before you accept, not just the title.

A part-time job is one where you work fewer hours per week than your employer considers full-time, and that threshold varies by company policy. There are no legal definitions here: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not define the difference, as the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) notes. Part-time workers are still guaranteed federal minimum wage and overtime pay past 40 hours in a week. It comes down to how the employer defines full-time.

Different agencies draw the line at different hours, so the same schedule can be part-time in one context and full-time in another. For the other side, see our guide on how many hours is full-time.

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counts full-time as 35 or more hours a week.
• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), treats 30 or more hours a week as full-time, triggering health-coverage rules at employers with 50 or more full-time employees.
• The federal Office of Personnel Management treats under 40 hours a week as part-time for federal employees.

Part-time hours come with trade-offs, but they open up advantages a full-time schedule often can’t.

Flexibility and lower stress

Full-time hours can be tiring, and continuous stress affects your performance and health. Part-time hours can ease that load and free up time for family, friends, and hobbies.

New skills and opportunities

Part-time hours let you gain experience across different fields. Some employers who hesitate to hire a less experienced candidate full-time will bring one on part-time, and you can work for more than one company at once, building skills for other roles later.

More income and stacking roles

If you can balance more than one part-time job, your combined income may exceed a single full-time job, sometimes at fewer total hours. Just plan deliberately. As one Retail Store Associate in the Glassdoor Community put it, “It’s very draining but so nice to not always be stressing about money. My biggest tip is to try to find a way to schedule both so that you get at least one full day off a week.”

Time for other pursuits

Part-time work frees your time for other activities. It’s ideal if you’re pursuing a degree, and it can help you get your foot in the door at a company you want or make room for projects like writing, art, or civic outreach.

The Fair Labor Standards Act doesn’t say whether part-time employees get the same benefits as full-time workers. Usually the employer decides whether to offer retirement plans, paid time off, and health insurance. For what a typical package includes, see our guide to employee benefits.

Two federal rules narrow that discretion. Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with 50 or more full-time employees must offer health coverage to those working 30 or more hours a week. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), workers who log 1,000 or more hours a year may qualify for an employer’s retirement plan.

Cutting hours can cost you benefits, so part-time pay is rarely a clean cut. As one Human Resources professional in the Glassdoor Community put it, “you can probably negotiate better than 50% ‘chop’ because you’ll be losing benefits. So I’d aim for 60% at least.” Another Developer in the Glassdoor Community noted, “working fewer hours could mean an end to benefits. You’d need to ascertain a lot of detail before making that decision.”

Pay and benefits vary by employer, so it helps to hear from people who’ve made the same choice. For peer discussion on part-time work and offers, the Job Seeker Support bowl is a good place to start. Join the Glassdoor Community.