Do Part-Time and Seasonal Crews Count for Health Insurance?

Two questions get confused constantly, and they have different answers. Here is the arithmetic, with the seasonal exception the trades need.

Two different questions, constantly confused

Every owner with a mixed workforce asks the same thing: do my part-timers count? The answer depends on which question you are actually asking, because there are two, and they have different answers.

A landscaping company with 30 full-timers and 40 part-timers may be an Applicable Large Employer and still owe an offer of coverage to only those 30 people.

The full-time equivalent math

1. Count everyone averaging 30 or more hours a week, or 130 hours a month. Those are full-time employees.
2. Total the hours of everyone else for the month, counting no more than 120 hours per person.
3. Divide by 120. That is your full-time equivalent count from part-time staff.
4. Add the two. Average the monthly results across the year.

A worked example. A childcare center has 18 teachers at 35 hours a week and 26 aides averaging 90 hours a month.

Under 50, nothing is required. The same center with 40 aides instead of 26 lands at 48, and one busy season away from the obligation.

The seasonal exception

This is the part roofing, landscaping, pool and holiday-retail businesses need to know. If your workforce goes over 50 full-time equivalents for 120 days or fewer in the year, and the excess is made up of seasonal workers, you are generally not an Applicable Large Employer for that year.

Two cautions. The 120 days do not have to be consecutive, and they are counted across the whole year. And “seasonal” means work that is genuinely tied to a season, not simply a busy stretch you have every month.

Crews whose hours swing

Construction and service trades rarely produce a clean 40-hour week. Rather than reclassifying someone every payroll, the rules let you measure.

Pick a measurement period of 3 to 12 months. Average each variable-hour employee's hours across it. Whoever averages 30 or more is treated as full-time for a matching stability period, regardless of what their hours do in the meantime. Whoever does not is treated as part-time for that period. You choose the lengths in advance and apply them the same way to everyone in a category.

The practical benefit: a framer who runs 55 hours in March and 12 in August has one status for the year instead of six.

What it costs to be wrong

For 2027, an Applicable Large Employer that offers nothing, where at least one full-time employee gets a subsidised marketplace plan, faces $3,780 per full-time employee minus the first 30. Offering coverage that is unaffordable or lacks minimum value costs $5,670 per affected employee. Affordability for 2027 is 10.22% of household income for employee-only coverage, and most employers use a safe harbour based on W-2 wages or rate of pay rather than guessing at household income.

The trigger matters as much as the amount: no employee claims a subsidy, no penalty. That is why the counting is worth doing before a marketplace notice arrives rather than after.

Frequently asked

Do part-time employees count toward the 50-employee rule?

Yes, fractionally. Add every part-time employee's hours for the month, counting no more than 120 hours per person, divide the total by 120, and add that to your count of full-time employees. The result is your full-time equivalent count. Averaged over the year, 50 or more makes you an Applicable Large Employer for the following year.

Do I have to offer coverage to part-timers?

No. The offer obligation applies to full-time employees, defined as 30 or more hours a week or 130 hours a month. Part-time employees count toward whether you are a large employer, but they do not have to be offered coverage. Many employers offer it anyway to keep the workforce stable.

How do seasonal workers change the count?

There is a specific exception. If your workforce exceeds 50 full-time equivalents for 120 days or fewer during the year, and the people pushing you over the line are seasonal workers, you are generally not treated as an Applicable Large Employer. A roofing company that doubles for a busy season may stay under the requirement even though its peak headcount is 70.

How do I handle employees whose hours swing week to week?

Measure them over a period instead of week by week. The look-back method lets you pick a measurement period of 3 to 12 months, average an employee's hours across it, and then treat that person as full-time or not for a matching stability period regardless of how their hours move in the meantime. You choose the periods in advance and apply them consistently.

What happens if I get the count wrong?

If you were an Applicable Large Employer and offered nothing, and at least one full-time employee received a premium tax credit on the marketplace, the 2027 penalty is $3,780 per full-time employee minus the first 30. If you offered coverage that was unaffordable or lacked minimum value, it is $5,670 per affected employee. Both are assessed monthly at one twelfth.

What counts as affordable for 2027?

For 2027 the affordability percentage is 10.22% of household income for the employee's own coverage, up from 9.96% for 2026. Employers generally use one of the IRS safe harbours — W-2 wages, rate of pay, or the federal poverty line — rather than trying to know an employee's household income.