Part-time employees
Part-time employees work less than 38 hours per week and their hours are usually regular each week. They're usually employed on a permanent basis or on a fixed term contract.
On this page:
- What part-time employees get
- How part-time is different to full-time or casual employment
- Part-time hours of work agreements
- Tools and resources
- Related information
What part-time employees get
Part-time employees get the same minimum entitlements as a full-time employee, but on a pro-rata basis. This includes paid leave, such as:
- annual leave
- sick and carer’s leave
- family and domestic violence leave.
Example: Sick and carer's leave entitlements for part-time employees
Suzanne is a full-time employee who works 38 hours, 5 days a week.
Rebecca is a part-time employee who works an average of 19 hours per week, working a 5-day fortnight.
Suzanne gets 76 hours (or 10 days) of paid sick and carer's leave per year.
Rebecca gets half of Suzanne’s paid sick and carer's leave per year as she works half the hours Suzanne works.
How part-time is different to full-time or casual employment
Full-time employees work longer hours. On average, they work 38 hours per week.
Casual employees usually work irregular hours. A casual employee does not have a firm commitment in advance from their employer to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work.
Find information about changing from part-time to casual employment.
Part-time hours of work agreements
Many awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements have record-keeping arrangements for part-time employees about their hours of work.
Find information about hours of work arrangements for part-time employees in your award by selecting from the list below.
