Job share option OK?
ninanewbie
29 Posts
We have an opening because an employee moved.
To save money, the department head wants to hire two part-timers to job-share the position and who both will not work enough hours to qualify for health benefits, instead of one full time employee with benefits. It is an exempt position. Can we do this?
Comments
To save money, the department head wants to hire two part-timers to job-share the position and who both will not work enough hours to qualify for health benefits, instead of one full time employee with benefits. It is an exempt position. Can we do this?[/quote]
Some thoughts:
When the position is broken down into two separate people, depending on how it's split up, the remaining positions may not be exempt anymore.
It's never wrong to pay someone on an hourly basis as far as FLSA is concerned, but consider the ramifications if you want it to go exempt later.
Exempt + part time often = plan for abuse. Be careful about scope and hours creep stuck in their by line supervisors until the position is completely unfair and you end up with 2x unhappy and abused employees not doing their job very well. Even with two part timers, nobody gets away from salaray threshold requirement of $455/week. If the original role plus benefits was making more than $910 weekly, then this will work out for you. If not, then this is going backwards in money although forward in flexibility.
There's nothing wrong with diminishing a role so that it is no longer eligible for medical benefits. That happens sometimes even when the role is not vacant and a current employee is sent a COBRA later due to a reduction in hours.