The number of hours an employee must work to be considered full-time and eligible for employee benefits such as health insurance, paid time off (including vacation leave and sick leave), and retirement accounts (401k and related employer-contributions) is generally in the sole discretion of the employer. This is because an employer is not obligated to provide these employee benefits or fringe benefits to any employee, whether full-time or part-time.

For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not define full-time employment or part-time employment. And whether an employee is considered full-time or part-time does not change the application of the FLSA—or the application of the Service Contract Act (41 US.C. §351) or the Davis-Bacon Act wage and fringe benefit requirements (40 U.S.C. §3141).

In Rhode Island, the definition of full-time employment and the eligibility for employee benefits such as health insurance, paid time off, and retirement accounts are typically determined by the employer, as there is no specific state statute that defines full-time employment for these purposes. Federally, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) also does not define full-time or part-time employment, which means that the provision of benefits is largely at the discretion of the employer. This applies to the number of hours an employee must work to be considered full-time. However, employers must comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which mandates that employers with 50 or more full-time employees provide health insurance to those working 30 hours or more per week. Additionally, while the Service Contract Act and the Davis-Bacon Act set wage and fringe benefit requirements for certain government contracts, they do not alter the definition of full-time employment or mandate specific benefits for full-time employees outside of those contracts.