Does Part-Time Work Count Toward FMLA Eligibility?

Does Part-Time Work Count Toward FMLA Eligibility?

Updated September 2026

Yes, part-time work counts. There is no full-time requirement in the FMLA and no minimum weekly schedule.

What there is, is an hours threshold — and it works out to roughly 24 hours a week. Clear that, and a part-time employee has exactly the same FMLA rights as anyone else in the building.

The part that catches people is how those hours are counted. Paid vacation, sick days and holidays do not count toward the total, which means you can be paid for far more hours than the law credits you with. For someone working 25 or 30 hours a week, that gap decides the whole question.

The Three Tests

To be eligible for FMLA leave you have to pass all three. The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #28 sets them out:

1. You’ve worked for the employer at least 12 months.

2. You have at least 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months before your leave starts.

3. Your worksite has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.

Part-time status is irrelevant to all three. Hours are not.

Where 24 Hours a Week Comes From

1,250 hours over 52 weeks is 24.04 hours a week.

That’s the practical line. Someone averaging 25 hours a week clears it with a little room. Someone averaging 20 hours a week reaches about 1,040 and does not qualify, however long they’ve been there.

A rough guide to where you sit:

Don’t rely on the average if your hours move around — what matters is the actual total, and a few busy months can carry a year that looks thin on paper.

The Trap: Paid Time Off Doesn’t Count

This is the part almost nobody knows, and it’s where part-time employees lose eligibility they assumed they had.

The regulation at 29 CFR 825.110 says hours of service are determined “according to the principles established under the Fair Labor Standards Act for determining compensable hours of work.” The test is hours worked, not hours paid.

Counts toward the 1,250:

• Every hour you actually worked
• Overtime, whether mandatory or voluntary
• Training and meetings you were required to attend
• On-call time where you were genuinely restricted

Does not count:

• Paid vacation
• Paid sick leave
• Paid holidays
• Bereavement leave
• Disability leave
• Time on a previous FMLA leave
• Any period you were paid but not working

Work it through. Someone scheduled 26 hours a week who takes three weeks of paid vacation and eight paid holidays looks, on their pay stubs, like they worked all year. In FMLA terms they’ve lost about 130 hours — and 26 hours a week was only ever 1,352 to begin with.

The two tests treat leave differently, which is what makes this confusing. For the 12 months of employment test, a week counts as long as you were on the payroll, including weeks of paid or unpaid leave. For the 1,250 hours test, only hours actually worked count. Same employee, same year, two different answers.

Timing: The Clock Stops When Leave Begins

Eligibility is measured as of the date your leave starts, not the date you ask for it.

That’s worth knowing, because it can work in your favor. If you’re at 1,190 hours today and you need leave that isn’t urgent — a planned surgery, an adoption — working another few weeks before the leave begins can put you over the line. Two extra weeks at 25 hours is 50 hours.

It also cuts the other way. If your employer reduces your hours after you mention needing leave, your total stops climbing. If that reduction looks connected to the request, that’s a separate problem — see whether your employer can deny FMLA leave.

If You Took FMLA Last Year, Check Again

Here’s a consequence people don’t anticipate.

Time spent on FMLA leave is not hours worked. So twelve weeks of leave last year removes roughly twelve weeks of hours from this year’s calculation.

A part-timer at 28 hours a week normally reaches about 1,456 — comfortable. Take twelve weeks of FMLA and the same schedule produces around 1,120 over the following twelve months. Not eligible.

This matters most for the people most likely to need leave twice: someone managing a chronic condition, or caring for a parent whose health is declining. The first leave can quietly disqualify them from the second. If you’re in that position, work out your hours before you count on the leave being there.

The 12-Month Test Is More Forgiving Than It Looks

Three things about the 12 months of employment:

They don’t have to be consecutive. The regulation is explicit that “the 12 months an employee must have been employed by the employer need not be consecutive months.” Seasonal work, a stint that ended and restarted, a gap between contracts — it adds up.

There’s a seven-year limit, with exceptions. Employment before a break of seven years or more generally doesn’t count — unless there’s a written agreement about rehiring, including a collective bargaining agreement, in which case it does.

Military service counts. Under USERRA, time away for covered military service counts toward both the 12 months and, using your pre-service schedule, toward the 1,250 hours.

Two Jobs, Variable Hours, and Staffing Agencies

Two part-time roles with the same employer: the hours combine. You’re one employee as far as the FMLA is concerned.

Hours that swing month to month: only the twelve-month total matters. A heavy autumn can carry a quiet spring.

Agency or temp work: joint employment rules apply, and they’re genuinely complicated. Broadly, the staffing agency is usually the primary employer and the client the secondary, with different obligations falling on each. The DOL’s fact sheet on joint employment sets out how it works. If you’re placed through an agency, read it before assuming you’re not covered.

The 50-employee test counts everyone, full-time and part-time, at all worksites within 75 miles — not just your location and not just people on your shift. Employees on leave and on the payroll count too. A small branch of a large company often qualifies when the employee assumes it doesn’t.

If Your Employer Says You’re Not Eligible

Ask for the number, in writing. “How many hours of service do your records show for me in the last twelve months?”

Two reasons that question matters.

The burden is on them, not you. Where the records don’t clearly establish it, the regulation puts the burden on the employer to show the employee hasn’t worked the required hours. An employer who can’t produce the number is in a weak position.

They may be counting wrongly — and the error usually runs in your favour when it happens. Overtime gets missed. Required training gets left out. Hours from a second role in the same company get overlooked. A joint employment situation gets treated as no employment at all.

Keep your own record: pay stubs, schedules, timeclock exports. If you’re within a hundred hours of the line, that documentation is the case.

And if you genuinely fall short, check your state. Several — California, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Massachusetts among them — run their own family leave programs with lower thresholds than the federal law, and some cover part-time workers the FMLA doesn’t reach. See paid family leave versus FMLA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Have to Be Full-Time to Qualify for FMLA?

No. There is no full-time requirement anywhere in the FMLA. What matters is 1,250 hours of service in the preceding twelve months, which averages about 24 hours a week.

Does Paid Vacation Count Toward the 1,250 Hours?

No. The 1,250-hour test counts hours actually worked under FLSA principles. Paid vacation, sick leave, holidays and previous FMLA leave are all excluded — which is why some part-time employees fall short despite being paid for a full year.

What If I’m Just Under 1,250 Hours?

Eligibility is measured when the leave begins, not when you request it. If the leave can wait, working a few more weeks may put you over. At 25 hours a week, three weeks is 75 hours.

I Took FMLA Last Year. Am I Still Eligible?

Recalculate. Time on FMLA leave doesn’t count as hours worked, so a twelve-week leave removes roughly twelve weeks of hours from the following year’s total. Part-time employees who used leave once are frequently ineligible the next time.

Does My Employer Have to Count My Overtime?

Yes. All hours actually worked count toward the 1,250, including overtime, whether it was required or voluntary.

My Worksite Only Has 12 People. Am I Out?

Not necessarily. The test is 50 employees within 75 miles of your worksite, counting every employee of that employer in that radius. A small office belonging to a large company often qualifies.

Related Articles

• Can Your Employer Deny FMLA Leave? — the legitimate reasons, and the ones that aren’t
• How Long Does FMLA Last? — how the 12 weeks are measured
• What Conditions Qualify for FMLA Leave? — the serious health condition standard
• Paid Family Leave vs. FMLA — state programmes with lower thresholds
• How Many Hours Is Part-Time? — and what benefits come with it
• Does FMLA Protect Your Job? — what reinstatement actually guarantees

Disclaimer

This article is general information, not legal advice. Employment law varies by state and by situation, and the rules described here may have changed since this article was last updated. For guidance on your circumstances, consult a licensed employment attorney in your state. See our full Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions.