Hey, posting this for a friend of mine -- any feedback would be appreciated. I've got a friend of mine who was hired on part time to work for a retail company in the area. Its been two months since he was first hired on and he has literally been working 35-40 hours a week, every week. I thought I read somewhere before that if a company schedules you at full time hours for a certain period of time, they are required by law to give you full time benefits/status/etc. Anyone know if this is the case, or am I just confused? Any links/advice would be appreciated. Thanks

10/31/2006 2:21:07 PM

They are not required by law. See below

http://www.ncarts.edu/formsprocedures/IRS.htm

10/31/2006 2:24:37 PM

when I first started at IBM I was working "part time" because I was taking some classes. I still worked close to 40 hours a week. But when I became a regular full time employee they moved my actual start date back to when I originally started, instead of when I went full time because I averaged over 30 hours a week.

10/31/2006 2:27:42 PM

what does he do? what are the conditions of the job? does he have a "boss" that directs his work? does he use their supplies?

it's more complicated than simply hours worked.

10/31/2006 2:28:40 PM

Where do you work ncsuapex?

10/31/2006 2:31:19 PM

NCSU hires countless "professors" under titles like associate and assistant so that they don't have to give them the pay they deserve. Even ones who have worked most of their adult careers here and are good at what they do.

10/31/2006 2:33:13 PM

^^

I'm at another 3 letter corporation in RTP now but I was in Global Services at IBM.

10/31/2006 2:37:27 PM

Two months ... that's it? If that were the case, every coop/intern or person who ever worked a summer job would be entitled to benefits from the company they worked for. Being classified as full-time instead of part-time is an entirely different matter. Being classified as seasonal, year-round, etc. is an entirely different matter.

I doubt (and I could be dead wrong) there are any labor law or HR experts on here. Refer to your friend to Google. Good place to start would be NC Department of Labor.

10/31/2006 3:01:13 PM

Yeah. I can't recall the company, but one group of people worked 40 hrs a week for this company for YEARS before they were able to sue and be considered employees.

10/31/2006 3:12:43 PM

You basically have to show that you are a permanent employee, not contract labor, a temp ect...

that hinges on a many things (some of which i stated above). The federal DOL has specific "tests" to determine your classification.

[Edited on October 31, 2006 at 3:48 PM. Reason : e]

10/31/2006 3:24:46 PM

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-25,SUNA:en&q=dol+full+time+part%2dtime

10/31/2006 3:36:22 PM

he might be seasonal

10/31/2006 3:52:30 PM

Quote :

"ect..."

10/31/2006 4:09:06 PM

They do not have to make him full time at all. It would be a good gesture if they gave him an FT postion if one opens up though.

10/31/2006 4:19:16 PM

^If he meets the DOL requirements to be classified as a full time employee of that company he is legally entitled to any benefits they offer, and he is possibly entitled to compensation for benefits not received, as well as punitive damages if the company was deliberate in breaking the law.

10/31/2006 4:24:50 PM

this happened to me when I worked for Lowe's (Hardware store). They were so uptight about anyone going even 1 minute over 40hrs that they would have the part-time people work extra hours to cover shifts. So I averaged about 35-37 hrs as part-time. I didn't mind, I was getting paid the same as full-time so I just enjoyed the extra pay each check.

10/31/2006 4:28:22 PM

It may depend on the company, I work for Kindred Health care
I was hired as a student, but put in full time hours for summers and during the school year.
I was still not eligible for full time benefits though, for silly things like bonus's for getting a friend hired etc. Even though I was working full time and they depended on me as a full time employee.

11/1/2006 1:50:30 AM

You are responsible for yourself. If you don't like the conditions, you should leave and you should have interviewed the company well before you started. If your "friend" is entry level, let this be a lesson to him.

11/1/2006 2:24:31 AM

Did your friend try talking this out with his managers and seeing what the company's policy is on extending benefits to employees who stay with the company, or is he just going to try to see if he can force their hand under NC law?

11/1/2006 2:34:47 AM