The Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2021 data shows that 97.3% of large businesses, or those with 50 full-time equivalent employees or more, provide health insurance to their staff members. However, just 31.9% of businesses with fewer than 50 full-time workers provided benefits to their staff members for health insurance.
What causes the difference to exist? The main reason for this is that the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also referred to as Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, does not compel small businesses to offer employer-sponsored health insurance.
In the meantime, part-time workers receive little consideration, even from larger companies that do provide health insurance benefits to full-time workers. Less than one in four part-time employees in civilian occupations (such as state and local government, private industry, and the public sector) have access to employer-sponsored health care coverage, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Businesses that Provide Benefits for Health Insurance to Part-Time Workers
To exacerbate the situation, some employers have recently reduced or discontinued their part-time employees’ benefit offerings.
In recent years, Target, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Home Depot have all stopped offering health or retirement plans—or both—to its part-time employees. The weekly minimum required to qualify for health coverage is now 30 hours, while the weekly minimum required to qualify for retirement benefits is 40 hours.
Workers who don’t put in 30 hours a week must use state or federal insurance marketplaces to obtain coverage for health, dental, and vision care.
Thankfully, there are still some employers who provide health benefits and other benefits to part-time workers (less than thirty hours per week), including dental coverage and 401(k) plans.
These are a few of the biggest and most geographically varied businesses that provide part-time employees with health insurance and other perks.
1. The Allegis Group
Allegis Group, a staffing company established in Maryland and formerly known as Aerotek, employs about 100,000 temporary and contractor workers in addition to about 10,000 full-time staff members.
All contract and temporary workers who put in at least 20 hours a week are eligible for the company’s benefits, which are offered through a number of companies, one of which operates under the name Aerotek.
Health Scheme
Payroll contributions can be used to cover the cost of medical, dentistry, and vision insurance if you work for an approved Allegis Group employer. On the first day of the month that follows the date of your hire, you are eligible.
Employee reports state that the part-time employee plan is eligible for a high deductible health plan (HDHP). The details of this plan aren’t made public, although Allegis pays a share of the premiums. Your dependents might qualify for unsubsidized family coverage if you have any.
In addition to this plan, Allegis also provides a health savings account (HSA). At its discretion, the firm contributes matching funds to this HSA.
Within 30 days of your employment date, whether you are a new contract worker or temporary employee, you must apply for benefits. You will have to wait until the following open enrollment period if you don’t.
Additional Advantages
Moreover, Allegis Group provides a 401(k) plan with an employee match. Employer matches can total up to $750 annually; they match 100% of the first $500 in employee contributions and 50% of the subsequent $500.
Please note that these numbers could fluctuate, so for the most recent information, visit Allegis’s website directly or return frequently. Benefits could also differ for each subsidiary.
Additionally, Allegis offers its subsidiaries’ internal (rather than contract) part-time employees an annual profit-sharing bonus at the managers’ discretion. A portion of the profit-sharing bonus may be paid to qualified workers as a separate 401(k) deposit from the yearly company match.
In addition, full- and part-time workers receive paid time off for sick days and vacation, a 529 college savings plan, life and disability insurance, and tuition reimbursement. While vacation and sick leave accrue on a time-served basis, new recruits are eligible for these benefits immediately.
2. The Costco
Seattle-based The nation’s second-biggest big box store is called Costco. It employs well over 100,000 people and has more than 700 warehouse stores. CNN reports that the company offers a starting wage of $17 per hour, which is fairly generous for a large store.
Its pay structure is also flatter; according to ExecPay, the CEO earned approximately $1 million in cash remuneration and $8.8 million in total in 2021, while the CEO of Walmart made almost $26 million in the same year.
The majority of Costco employees participate in health or retirement plans, thus its benefits are well-liked even though they can all be changed or terminated at any time at Costco’s discretion.
Health Scheme
Any Costco worker who logs 180 days of service and more than 23 hours per week is qualified for an extensive health insurance plan via Aetna.
Part-timers can also take advantage of a low-cost dental plan that includes basic eyesight care, preventive visits, and some basic procedure costs covered.
Part-time workers benefit from an in-house prescription plan with cheap copays for both branded and generic drugs—typically less than 20%—because all Costco locations feature pharmacies. This benefit is not included in the primary health insurance package.
Only Costco employees have access to Costco’s Rate Benefits Booklet, which contains information on payroll deductions for health and dental plans.
Additional Advantages
Costco’s 401(k) plan is available to part-time workers, and it offers a maximum employer match of $500 or 50% of the total yearly salary deferral contributions.
Employees may choose to utilize their pretax income to pay for daycare and other approved dependent care services through the use of a flexible spending account (FSA).
Additionally, Costco’s Care Network refers clients to debt counselors and attorneys and offers free mental health treatment. For their services, these outside service providers could charge a fee.
A direct stock purchase plan, life and disability insurance, and long-term care insurance are among the other Costco advantages. Part-time employees who work more than 23 hours a week and accrue 180 days of service are eligible for all of these perks, however Costco has the right to modify them at any time.
3. Home Improvement at Lowe’s
Based in Charlotte One of the biggest home improvement stores in the world, Lowe’s employs over 250,000 people at approximately 2,000 locations both domestically and overseas.
In contrast to its primary competitor, Home Depot, Lowe’s offers health insurance coverage to all of its non-seasonal part-time workers. Additionally, Lowe’s is remarkably open about the benefits it offers to employees, providing the general public with comprehensive details on its medical, dental, vision, and other benefits programs.
Health Scheme
As a part-time employee, you will have access to an excellent health plan after 89 days of continuous service. Up to six primary care visits and all preventative care are fully covered by the plan each year.
The specifics of additional coverage differ from state to state, so find out what’s offered where you live by visiting BenefitsPricing.
Remember that although there isn’t a minimum number of hours worked to be eligible, you have to apply within 31 days of being hired or wait until the next open enrollment period.
Additional Advantages
As a part-time employee of Lowe’s, you can also apply for short-term disability and life insurance.
Other advantages of the company are as follows:
• A direct stock purchase scheme that allows you to buy Lowe’s shares at a 15% discount following a month of service
• A 401(k) plan with an instant 100% vesting after one month of employment, and a business match of up to 4.25% on contributions of 6% or more
• A variety of insurance plans, such as short-term disability and term life
• Minimum coverage for dental and vision insurance
4. Starbucks The Seattle-based company employs hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and has tens of thousands of outlets. It’s highly possible that you pass by one or more Starbucks outlets on a daily or weekly basis, even if you’re not a big coffee drinker.
Most workers at Starbucks work part-time hours. The coffee company is known for paying its employees generously; baristas make an average of more than $12.50 per hour, while supervisors make close to $18. Higher-end labor markets have substantially higher figures.
Moreover, Starbucks was among the first restaurants to provide a full range of benefits to staff members with its Starbucks Special Blend. Contrary to what other lower-wage companies are doing, these benefits have gotten better over time as a result of labor shortages and a Starbucks employee union effort.
Health Scheme
Workers who put in more than 20 hours a week or 240 hours in a quarter are qualified to sign up for Starbucks’ perks.
The health coverage component of the Special Blend offers a range of medical plans, from basic high-deductible health plans to an extensive Platinum plan with no coinsurance or deductible and low out-of-pocket maximums.
There are also three optional dental plans that, depending on the plan tier, cover some or all procedure costs as well as preventive visits, in addition to three vision plans with different degrees of coverage.
Additional Advantages
It’s true that the Starbucks Special Blend is extensive. Among its non-medical advantages are:
• Insurance policies for accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) and short-term disability
• Low-cost counseling programs offered by employee assistance programs; • Dependent care reimbursement account (dependent care FSA); • Adoption support
• Plans for college savings
• A 401(k) plan with a maximum 6% company match on all employee contributions
Among the biggest logistics companies in the world, UPS is based in Atlanta and employs over 430,000 people worldwide. Its drivers make good money; Indeed reports that they make an average of $22 per hour.
Additionally, one can earn a significant amount of overtime compensation by being willing to work on holidays and evenings, particularly during the hectic rush from Black Friday to New Year’s.
The majority of UPS’s hourly workers in the United States, including those who work in warehouses and deliveries, are covered by collective bargaining agreements that have resulted in alluring benefit packages.
Hourly UPS employees who join the Teamsters union and put in at least 225 hours over the course of a three-month eligibility determination period (or roughly 19 hours per week) are entitled to the same TeamstersCare benefits as full-time Teamsters members.
Your benefits become full-time, even more generous than part-time, if you reach 400 hours in any three-month eligibility determination period.
Health Plan Every TeamstersCare member Part-time workers at UPS have access to basic health plans that include coverage for dental and preventative care. Low copays for generic prescription medications and coinsurance for more costly services are features of these programs. There’s also a basic vision plan attached.
UPS distinguishes itself from most other companies that offer part-time benefits by requiring part-time workers to pay nothing out of pocket for these benefits under the rules of the current collective bargaining agreement, which is subject to modification. The majority of employers demand that workers pay into their health plans with a portion of their salaries.
Workers may qualify for union-administered plans that are financed by UPS payments, depending on their role. Before applying, make sure to verify with UPS management since these plans are subject to change at UPS’s discretion and with changes to collective bargaining agreements.
Additional Advantages
Other benefits that UPS employees can take use of at little or no expense out-of-pocket include support for quitting smoking, adoption assistance, and insurance against death, disability, and dismemberment. Children and dependent spouses are also eligible for some of these benefits.
UPS also provides legal aid, health savings accounts for employees and their dependant spouses, kids, and elderly parents, personal lines insurance (car and home lines), and supplemental life insurance. Employer-paid premiums are required for all of these policies.
Lastly, UPS provides tuition assistance of up to $5,250 per year, with a $25,000 lifetime ceiling, through the Earn and Learn Program because nearly half of its part-time employees enroll in college courses. This benefit is instantly available to new hires.
6. REI
Seattle-based REI, which employs 15,000 people across slightly over 150 retail locations, is frequently named as one of the greatest companies to work for in the nation. Even while not every worker has an ownership stake and a regular board of directors makes high-level decisions, the company is nonetheless set up as a cooperative.
Indeed estimates that the typical pay for a REI customer service associate is $15 per hour. The typical hourly wage for a stocking associate is $22. According to REI’s executive salary report, the CEO will receive approximately $870,000 in base pay and almost $4 million in total in 2022. This is an exceptionally flat pay structure for the corporation.
In the past, REI provided benefits to all workers, even those who only put in a few hours a week. Even though it stopped doing this in the middle of the decade, REI continues to provide full-time benefits to all workers who put in at least 20 hours a week. Over the course of a year, you have to put in an average of 20 hours per week.
It’s unclear exactly what is meant by “tools” to assist in navigating the individual health insurance marketplace if your workweek average is less than 20 hours.
Health Scheme
If you work at least 20 hours a week on average as a nonexempt REI employee, you are eligible for all of the company’s health insurance plan options. For medical and dental coverage, REI pays the majority of the premium costs; however, the precise percentage varies based on the plan chosen from among various options.
For any plan, the precise premium prices are not disclosed to the public. Overall, vision coverage is less generous.
Additional Advantages
For part-timers who put in 20 hours a week, REI also provides basic life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) plans that are instantly available. It pays the entire cost of disability and life insurance.
A profit-sharing 401(k) deposit equal to 10% of your entire income is possible through the retirement plan, which also offers a dollar-for-dollar corporate match up to 5% of your total income. The profit-sharing component is contingent upon the profitability of the business in the preceding year.
You can also apply for medical or personal leaves of absence as a part-time employee; these requests are granted on an individual basis. In addition, you are eligible for substantial savings on REI goods and services, such as 30% off travel booked through REI Adventures, no matter how much you work.
7. Fixtures
A physical store that continues to provide good perks to workers working part-time in its warehouses and stores? It may surprise you to learn that Staples, the massive office supplies company, also has a network of physical stores to support its expanding e-commerce business.
The Boston-based company Staples offers a wide range of benefits to both full-time and hourly workers, including corporate campus workers and store-based associates, in addition to health insurance.
For the purposes of its health insurance plan, Staples, however, strictly defines “part-time” labor as working thirty hours or more a week on average over the plan’s measurement period.
Health Scheme
The Staples health plan offers some very appealing features to part-timers who meet the eligibility requirements. These include complete coverage for preventive care provided within the network, comparatively low deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, and acceptable coinsurance for services that are not fully covered (the employee pays 20% of service costs).
Dental and vision insurance are optional. However, Staples doesn’t make its dental, vision, or health insurance premiums available to the general public.
Additional Advantages
Temporary Employees of Staples are eligible for numerous other perks, including:
• A 401(k) plan where the first 6% of qualified contributions are matched 50% by the employer
• Insurance against disability
• Life insurance
• Insurance against accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D)
• Health insurance for pets
• Retail specials: 10% off of all in-store and online purchases, with an extra 10% off all Staples brand items
8. Haul
U-Haul, a self-serve moving company established in Phoenix, employs over 20,000 people and has a fleet of tens of thousands of trucks, trailers, and storage units nationwide. The workforce of the company is flexible, with many seasonal jobs in warehouses and sales in addition to a work-from-home customer service team.
According to Indeed, part-time customer service positions pay an average of $14 per hour, with management making a little bit more. Most part-timers are also qualified for benefits as employees.
A medical reimbursement plan is included in the limited medical and dental coverage provided by Health Plan U-Haul. For part-timers and temporary employees, or “Moonlighters,” this plan pays for certain medical treatments up to a predetermined benefit amount that is kept private. More comprehensive medical plans that do comply with the ACA’s minimal standards are available to full-time employees.
If you anticipate needing a large quantity of medical attention over the course of the year, you might want to apply for additional medical insurance. If not, you risk swiftly depleting your benefit amount.
You can also get basic dental and vision care as a part-time or temporary employee of U-Haul, with 100% coverage for checkups and preventative visits. Dental copays are affordable once the annual deductible is met; they are 20% for basic services and 50% for significant services.
Additional Advantages
You are qualified for a direct stock purchase plan that vests 100% in you after six years of service as a part-time employee after one year. After 30 days of employment, you are qualified for the firm’s 401(k) plan, which has no company match but has a default contribution of 3% of gross compensation.
Extra benefits include access to a company credit union, discounts on U-Haul equipment, and optional insurance coverage (homeowners and vehicle).
9. Morgan Stanley
Blue-chip financial company JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a long history and a reputation for being both high-flying and tightly wound up.
Although there are too many of its products and services to list them all here, the most well-known aspects of its company’s operations include its business and consumer bank accounts, private wealth management services, and a variety of well-liked small-business and cash-back credit cards.
Although Chase may not seem like the ideal option for a summer side gig or part-time work, it actually pays its part-timers very well. Those who work more than 20 hours a week and have been employed for 60 days are entitled for a comprehensive benefits package.
Health Plan Chase employees are offered a choice between two medical coverage plans, each of which falls under the category of “consumer-driven health options” and comes with a medical reimbursement account (MRA) to assist employees in covering any medical expenses that are not covered by the plan.
The majority of plans pay the full cost of in-network preventive care, including treatment for spouses and domestic partners, without any exceptions for prior diseases. Chase pays a portion of the premiums in every situation, albeit it keeps the specifics of this agreement confidential.
More extensive cost-sharing plans are typically available to senior staff members and individuals in higher positions of responsibility within the organization.
In addition, Chase offers three dental plan alternatives with comparable cost-sharing structures: the classic indemnity dental option, the dental maintenance organization (DMO)/dental health maintenance organization (DMHO), and the preferred dentist program (PDP).
There is also an additional option for a health spending account with a variable employer contribution.
Other Benefits
Chase offers a slew of additional benefits for 20-hour-plus employees:
• Flexible spending accounts, including accounts earmarked specifically for transportation and elder care
• Long-term disability insurance paid in full by Chase for employees earning under $60,000 per year, which likely include most part-timers and partially paid by Chase for higher-compensated employees
• Life insurance
• AD&D insurance
• Personal liability insurance
• Discounted employee stock purchase program
• 401(k) plans with variable but generous employer contributions
10. Mexican Grill Chipotle
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast-casual restaurant company with thousands of outlets and tens of thousands of employees in North America. It is established in Denver and is probably well-known among fans of casual dining. Many of the workers at Chipotle are part-timers.
The restaurant industry’s extremely low profit margins and substantial employee attrition make Chipotle’s apparent dedication to its part-timers even more startling. Chipotle also does a commendable job of being open and honest about the advantages it offers to crew members, or part-timers.
Health Scheme
The majority of Chipotle employees have a choice between two options for medical care; employees based in California can have more options.
While the Anthem Hourly PPO has greater premiums and more extensive benefits, the Anthem Preventive Plus plan has cheaper costs but skimpier coverage. However, Chipotle does not disclose to the general public the specifics of any scheme.
For hourly part-timers, Chipotle also provides optional dental and vision coverage. These proposals’ specifics are also not made public.
Other Benefits
Chipotle offers a host of additional benefits, ranging from free meals on every shift to free access to emotional counseling and health care advocates.
After a year of uninterrupted service, employees qualify for an additional slate of benefits:
• 40 hours of paid vacation time and 24 hours of paid sick time per year
• Up to $5,250 in tuition reimbursement
• A company match in a Chipotle 401(k) account
• An employee stock purchase plan
• Gym discounts
• Discounts with retail partners like AT&T and Verizon
Last Remark
Even while some businesses have reduced the benefits offered to part-time workers, larger organizations are still able to provide competitive benefit packages to their part-time workers. If none of the employers on this list have any available opportunities, you might try your luck with local or regional businesses that have a reputation for providing good employee care.
It is true that there may be limitations or restrictions on these benefits, and they might not be as comprehensive as those provided to full-time employees. However, employer-sponsored group health insurance policies are still typically less expensive than those bought privately, particularly when employers contribute to the premiums.
