# Legal rights concerning "full time" employment **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-rights-concerning-full-time-employment/408100 "2007-06-15T07:09:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-rights-concerning-full-time-employment/408100/1 "2007-06-15T07:09:06Z")
Well, I just hit my 12th week in a row of working 40-48 hours per week. However, I am considered a “part time employee”. I get no vacation time and no benefits. FWIW, I do get overtime pay for anything over 40 hours. Somehow, I always thought that the definition of part-time meant I didn’t work this many hours without benefits. Otherwise, why wouldn’t companies just call everyone part-time and save a bundle on health insurance? Anyway, what are the specific legalities regarding part-time and full-time employment? Can I demand benefits after so long? My intentions aren’t to rock the boat with this, I am just curious. Even if my company is somehow breaking the law I doubt I’d say anything, as I defintely enjoy the extra pay from working so much. $8.25 an hour takes alot of hours to equal rent. This is in Michigan, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-rights-concerning-full-time-employment/408100/2 "2007-06-15T13:15:04Z")
How is it that you are working 40-48 hours and are considered part-time? Were you hired for a regular schedule of fewer hours, but this has been a busy time for the company and they’ve scheduled you for extra hours? That’s what I’m picturing, so if it’s something substantially different that might change things. A company’s main legal obligation with regard to benefits is to treat similarly situated employees in the same way. So your company probably has a formal definition of part-time and full-time. Federal law gives employers latitude in defining this. Michigan may place some constraints on that. I don’t know. Some definitions I’m familiar with will define someone as full-time if they work over 1250 (or a similar number–nothing magic about 1250) hours in a calendar year. So part-time employees may work 40 hours or more some weeks, but over a year don’t average out to more than, say, 25 hours per week. I suggest checking your employee handbook or HR website to find out how your company defines part-time. If they offer benefits, they almost certainly have a formal definition of it somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-rights-concerning-full-time-employment/408100/3 "2007-06-15T13:23:38Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] This is in Michigan, btw. [/QUOTE] Get in touch with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, Wage and Hour Division: [http://www.michigan.gov/cis/0,1607,7-154-27673---,00.html](http://www.michigan.gov/cis/0,1607,7-154-27673---,00.html) Basically, what **Harriet the Spry** said. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-rights-concerning-full-time-employment/408100/4 "2007-06-15T13:48:18Z")
Here’s a previous thread: [A question about U.S. employment law. - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=408453) ---
**Author:** ![Like\_Fry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@Like\_Fry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Like_Fry)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-rights-concerning-full-time-employment/408100/5 "2007-06-15T14:35:56Z")
I seem to remember that when I was hired part time at sears parts and repair, they were allowed to work me full time for up to 16 weeks a year without changing my part time employment status. This meant I had full time during the busy season, and diddly time for the rest of the year. Fry