How many hours is full time in New Zealand? Full time, part time and what the law says

No legal number, and where 40 hours comes from

Employment New Zealand puts it plainly: there is no legal definition of full-time or part-time work. Its rule of thumb is 30 hours or more every week for full-time, and under 30 for part-time. Its example is Jamie, who works 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and is full-time, and Aditi, who works 10am to 3pm Tuesday to Thursday and is part-time.

So where does the 40-hour week come from? From section 11B of the Minimum Wage Act 1983, which Employment New Zealand summarises on its hours of work page. Every employment agreement must fix the maximum ordinary hours at no more than 40 a week, not counting overtime, unless you and your employer agree to more. If the maximum is under 40, you must both try to fit the hours into no more than five days. That makes 40 a ceiling on ordinary hours rather than a definition of full-time, and it is why so many agreements say 40 hours, Monday to Friday. Hours beyond it are overtime, which our article on overtime and the law covers.

The law also sets no minimum. Employment New Zealand says there is no minimum number of hours for any type of employee, though a zero-hour contract, which guarantees no hours but requires you to work when asked, is illegal. What sets your hours is your employment agreement: the number of hours, the start and finish times, or the days you work. Once agreed, your employer cannot change them without your agreement.

For a sense of scale, at the adult minimum wage of $23.95 an hour, a 40-hour week is $958 before tax.

Where full-time does and does not matter

Most of your rights do not depend on the label. Employment New Zealand says being full-time or part-time does not affect your employment rights, and permanent part-time employees have the same minimum entitlements as full-time ones. Some government payments do count hours, though.

• Leave. Every employee gets 4 weeks' paid annual holidays after 12 months of continuous employment, so a part-timer gets 4 of their own weeks. Sick leave is 10 days a year after the six-month test, and it is not pro-rated. A public holiday is a paid day off if it falls on a day you would otherwise work.
• KiwiSaver. Inland Revenue says your employer must contribute at least 3.5% of your gross earnings if you are contributing. There is no hours condition, so it follows your pay, not your status.
• Working for Families. The in-work tax credit needs income from paid work, with no hours test. The minimum family tax credit does count hours: a single parent must work at least 20 hours a week, and in a two-parent family one or both parents between them at least 30 hours, for a salary or wage. It is paid only for the weeks those hours are worked.
• Jobseeker Support. Work and Income's full-time work obligations mean looking for work of at least 30 hours a week. Someone whose health condition, injury or disability means they can only work part-time looks for work of at least 15 hours. You can get Jobseeker Support while in part-time work and looking for more, depending on your income.

From 6 August 2028, when the Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act, hours will matter more for leave. Annual leave will build up at no less than 0.0769 of an hour, and sick leave at no less than 0.0385 of an hour, for each standard hour worked. Until then, the day-based rules above apply.

Part time and casual compared

Part-time is about how many hours you work. Casual is about whether they are guaranteed. Employment New Zealand describes casual employees as having no guaranteed or predictable hours: they work when the employer asks and it suits them. A permanent part-time employee has agreed, regular hours, whether that is 12 or 28 a week.

That difference matters more than the count. Agreed hours cannot be cut without your agreement, and a regular pattern can turn a so-called casual job into permanent part-time employment. Our article on part-time versus full-time pay works through what dropping to fewer hours does to take-home pay, leave and KiwiSaver.

Hours in a year: 2,080, and why yours differ

The figure most often used is 2,080: 52 weeks of 40 hours. It is a convenient yardstick for turning a salary into an hourly rate, but a real year rarely matches it.

• A year is not exactly 52 weeks. 2026 has 261 weekdays, which is 2,088 hours at eight a day. 2028 has 260, which is 2,080.
• Paid time off is inside the salary. Take out 4 weeks' annual holidays (160 hours) and 12 public holidays that fall on working days (96 hours: 11 national holidays and your regional anniversary day), and a 40-hour employee is at work for about 1,824 hours a year.
• Overtime and short weeks. Extra hours push the real total up, and unpaid leave pulls it down.

The difference shows up in an hourly rate. A $60,000 salary is $28.85 an hour over 2,080 hours, or $32.89 for each hour actually at work over 1,824. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions. Use 2,080 when comparing a salary with an hourly rate on the same terms, since both pay for leave and public holidays, and your real hours when you want to know what each hour at work earns.

Checking your own week

Whether you count as full-time for a payment, or whether your agreement still matches the job, comes down to the hours you actually work. An agreement may say 40 while the roster and the late finishes say something else, so a record of your own is the way to know.

Your Timesheets at jobtracker.co.nz shows your week in a grid, Monday to Sunday, with the total along the foot, free on every plan. Type the hours as 7.5 or 7:30, or start the timer when you start and stop it when you leave, and log a second job on its own row so both count. A few weeks in, you will know whether your full-time job is 37 hours or 45, and whether your part-time one has drifted past 30.

Know your own hours