C.2. Full and part time jobs

7.30.                  According to the ILO Part‑Time Work Convention (article I (a) and (c)), the term part‑time worker means an employed person whose normal hours of work are less than those of comparable full‑time workers. The term comparable full‑time worker refers to a full‑time worker who: 

(a)            Has the same type of employment relationship; 

(b)            Is engaged in the same or a similar type of work or occupation; 

(c)            Is employed in the same establishment or, when there is no comparable full‑time worker in that establishment, in the same enterprise or, when there is no comparable full‑time worker in that enterprise, in the same branch of activity, as the part‑time worker concerned. 

7.31.                  Consequently, a part‑time job is a position that requires a person to work fewer hours than would be considered full‑time by his or her employer. National criteria for what contitutes a full‑time and a part‑time job may vary from country to country. For instance, in Canada and New Zealand, the full‑time (work‑hours) category includes employed persons who usually work 30 hours or more per week, at their main or only job. The part‑time (work‑hours) category includes employed persons who usually work less than 30 hours per week, at their main or only job.[1] In Australia, a modern award usually defines a part‑time employee as an employee who is engaged to work less than an average of 38 ordinary hours per week and whose hours of work are reasonably predictable, with a guaranteed minimum number of hours of work[2].  

7.32.                  The preferred official national data source on the number and profile of full- and part‑time jobs is an establishment‑based sample survey of employment, wages and hours of work. The preferred official national data source covering both employees and, especially, self‑employed persons is a household‑based sample labour‑force survey. Examples of questions used to collect data on full‑ and part‑time employment are given in Annex III (questions 31 and 32 (main job) and question 53 (second job)). In the absence of the above data sources, population census counts, special industry surveys with employment modules and business registers should be used.