The HR Dictionary

Employee Type

Employee type refers to the different kinds of employees that an organization might hire or contract for employment such as full-time, part-time, and temporary with legal obligations and regulations applying to each. The legal requirements that an organization needs to maintain for its personnel depends on the types of employees employed. 

List of Employee Types

  1. Full Time - Employees that are employed full-time often put in 40 hours per week and are entitled to perks. Healthcare coverage for full-time employees and dependents is a requirement for employers with 50 or more full-time workers.
  2. Part Time - Part-time workers are those who regularly put in fewer than 36 hours in a workweek. Sometimes, but not always, they are free to set their own hours. Due to the transient nature of their position, seasonal workers may still be regarded as part-time even if they work 40 hours each week.
  3. Temporary Workers - Companies engage temporary workers on a temporary basis, typically for a predetermined amount of time or until a particular project is finished. Benefits are often ineligible for temporary workers.
  4. Independent Contractors - These workers are obligated by their employment contracts to offer certain goods or services in return for compensation. They must perform their duties in accordance with the requirements of the employer. Additionally, independent contractors are in charge of their own perks and materials. Usually, these qualify as tax deductions.
  5. Leased Employees - Staffing firms engage leased workers and lease them out to other businesses to carry out particular tasks, typically for a year or longer. Benefits are provided to leased employees by their staffing agencies, not by the leasing businesses.
  6. Apprenticeship - An experienced journeyman teaches a trade or talent to an apprentice and helps to obtain the licenses required to practice it.
  7. Interns - Although similar to apprentices, interns typically concentrate on white-collar career choices rather than trades. Interns may work full-time or part-time and are supervised by higher-level management. Organizations provide both paid and unpaid internships.


Having multiple types of employees such as above can become a nightmare for HR managers. Thus, one of the most easiest and popular methods to manage multiple types of employees are HR software which offer Employee Management capabilities. Some HR software allow organizations to configure policies specific to different employee types and automate the processing of leave, compensation, benefits, performance reviews, and more according to the configured policies. This takes away most of the tedious HR administrative work for HR departments and contributes to a lot of time saved.