Part-Time Employees

Employers may not want to provide the same benefits to part-time employees that full-time employees enjoy. So that there is no confusion on this issue, personnel policies should include a statement defining “part-time employee” and discussing the role and benefits of the part-time employee. The recordkeeping procedures of the Fair Labor Standards Act, provisions on discrimination and sexual harassment, breaks, and in-line-of-duty injury are all areas that affect part-time employees. However, benefits such as health insurance, sick leave, vacation time, holidays, bereavement leave, and other types of paid leave are often not extended to the part-time employee, and this should be clearly established in the policies. Because there is no law that establishes the maximum number of hours worked by part-time employees, the employer’s policy must define this point.