There is no state employment law in California that defines part-time work as being less than a certain number of hours. Instead, it is generally up to the employer to define what “part-time” means.
The Labor Market Information Division of the California Employment Development Department has a non-legally binding definition of part-time work as fewer than 35 hours a week.1
According to California Labor Code 510(c), part-time workers presumably work less than 40 hours per week since it defines full-time work as at least 40 hours a week.
Meanwhile, for the purposes of the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare), part-time workers put in fewer than 30 hours a week.
Do I have any legal protections working part-time in California?
Yes. Non-exempt part-time workers in California enjoy nearly all of the legal protections that non-exempt full-time workers do regarding wages and benefits.
Wages
In terms of wages, California part-time workers are entitled to:
- Minimum wage of $16.00 per hour, and some cities and counties mandate an even higher minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour.
- Overtime pay, which includes time-and-a-half pay for working more than eight hours a day, more than 40 hours in a week, or on the seventh day of a workweek. You can even get double-time pay for more than 12 hours in a workday, or more than eight hours on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek. It is rare for part-time workers to rack up enough hours to earn overtime pay, but in the event it happens, employers are obligated to pay it.
- One extra hour of pay – called premium pay – if you make minimum wage and you work a split shift (such as working three hours in the morning and then three hours at night).2
- Equal pay to the pay earned by colleagues that do “substantially similar work” (work performed in similar conditions by someone with similar skill, effort, and responsibility), as required by the California Equal Pay Act.
Note that if you leave a work shift early (such as for an emergency), you are entitled to pay only for the time you worked unless you and your employer contracted otherwise.
Benefits
In terms of benefits, California part-time workers are entitled to:
- Paid sick days if you have at least 30 days of employment in the calendar year (currently workers get 40 hours/five days of sick leave per year with an annual accrual cap of 80 hours/10 days).3
- Meal and rest periods, including a 10-minute break for every four hours you work, and a 30-minute meal break for every five hours you work.
- Health insurance under the ACA, if your employer has 50 or more full-time employees, and you put in at least 30 hours a week.
- Vacation pay, if the employer also provides vacation pay to full-time employees.
- Retirement plans. Employers who provide retirement plans must offer them to full- and part-time workers under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
- Unemployment insurance, if you you meet the eligibility requirements.
Furthermore, all workers are entitled to a harassment-free workplace and a discrimination-free workplace.
Note that “exempt” workers are not entitled to overtime pay and meal and rest periods, unless the employer promises it. Exempt workers typically have full-time executive, administrative, or professional jobs.
Are there any federal laws that define part-time work?
There are no federal laws that state how many hours you have to work to be a full-time worker or a part-time worker. There are a handful of laws that use a certain number of hours to define part-time work for specific circumstances, such as when you are entitled to health insurance:
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – This federal law generally governs workplace rules. However, the FLSA is silent on the distinction between full-time and part-time work.
- U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) – Through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the DOL defines part-time workers as those who usually work fewer than 35 hours per week.4 However, this definition is only used for statistical purposes and is not a legal definition.
- Affordable Care Act (ACA / Obamacare) – You are part-time if you work less than 30 hours per workweek or 130 hours per month.5
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) – If you complete 1,000 hours of work in a 12-month period, then you gain eligibility to participate in a retirement plan offered by your employer.6 This means that a little less than 19.5 hours per week is full-time employment under ERISA.
However, these and other laws that define part-time work only apply to specific circumstances. You may be considered a part-time worker by one law, but a full-time worker by another law that requires fewer hours.
Furthermore, employers can label a job as full- or part-time with little oversight. A part-time job can be a role that requires anywhere from one hour a week to 35 or 40.
What can I do if my employer is violating my labor law rights?
If your employer is misclassifying you as part-time when you work full-time – or if your employer is discriminating against you for being part-time by depriving you of legal protections – you can file a lawsuit demanding all the back pay, benefits, and rights you are entitled to.
Many of these labor lawsuits become class actions. If you are being cheated out of your wages or legal protections, there is a good chance that your employer is doing the same to other part-time workers.
Additional reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Job attitudes of part-time vs. full-time workers: A meta-analytic review – Journal of Occupation and Organizational Psychology.
- Reconceptualizing the Nature and Consequences of Part-Time Work – Academy of Management Review.
- Why Do Part-Time Workers Earn Less? The Role of Worker and Job Skills – ILR Review.
- Part-Time Work: A Threat to Labor Standards? – Part-Time Prospects.
- Voluntary Part-Time Workers: A Growing Part of the Labor Force – Monthly Labor Review.
