What is the Difference Between Part-Time and Casual Employment?
The job market includes employees who work jobs that may not be full-time. Two main types of such jobs are part-time and casual jobs. While there are similarities between the two, the differences are important to note. Part-time work is regularly scheduled, steady work that adds up to fewer than 40 hours per week. Casual work, by contrast, tends to have an unpredictable schedule, and work opportunities that depend on employers' needs. Casual workers typically decide whether they want to work on any given day and tend to do whatever work is available. But those aren't the only differences between the two types of work.
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Definition of Part-Time
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Part-time employment is continual, regularly scheduled employment. Part-time employees work fewer than 40 hours per week, although classifications vary according to each state’s labor laws. Like their full-time counterparts, part-time workers are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which gives them protection regarding the hours they're allowed to work and wages they earn, including minimum wage and overtime. There is no guarantee of benefits such as health insurance, paid vacation time or savings plans for part-time employment, although some employers do offer some of those benefits.
Definition of Casual
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Casual employment refers to work that's done on an irregular basis. Casual workers are employed when and if needed by the employer and if they want to work. The work is not scheduled beyond a finite period of time or specific job, which may last one day or several months. When work is offered, it is up to the employee to decide if she wants to take the assignment, essentially allowing her to choose when she works and gets paid. According to the IRS, casual workers who put in more than 1,000 hours in a fiscal year must be reclassified as regular employees.
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Part-Time Advantages
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Choosing part-time work does not necessarily mean giving up benefits. Companies nationwide--such as Starbucks and UPS--offer health care, savings plans, paid vacation time and discounts on merchandise for part-time employees. Establishing a good relationship and proving your worth to an employer may lead to full-time employment, if you want it. A predictable and flexible schedule can allow you to better balance issues in your work and personal life and the opportunity to hold more than one part-time position at a time.
Casual Advantages
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A casual employee has the advantage of being in control of when he accepts work. If there is a schedule conflict or a family issue to be dealt with, he can decline employment that day, but be on call for the next. Casual employment is an effective way for students to earn income between classes, or for a stay-at-home parent to earn cash. Of course, the availability and duration of casual work assignments is uncertain and dictates the opportunities available to employees. Sometimes, you may want to work, but there's no work to do, in other words.
Potential Jobs
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Part-time positions are available in almost every field and among most employers. Retail work is a large market for part-time workers, as is the food service industry, including waiters, hostesses, cooks, and bartenders. Technical and engineering fields have part-time positions available that match their full-time equivalents but have fewer hours. Even law enforcement, fire departments and other emergency response agencies and medical facilities offer part-time positions.
Casual positions also span many fields, but the on-demand nature of the work affects the work types and schedules available. Casual work includes babysitting, pet and house sitting, as well as day labor and landscaping. Holiday and seasonal work is a major source of casual employment--shopping mall Santas, pumpkin farm employees and snow shovelers are usually casual workers. Substitute teachers and tutors are also casual employees, and large events like concerts and weddings provide casual employment in security, catering and vehicle parking. Temporary employment agencies are a useful source of casual employment.
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