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Engineering & Professional Services Firms: Managing Part-Time Worker Payroll (2026)
Part-time payroll in engineering firms carries the same withholding and overtime rules as full-time, and part-time hours count toward the ACA employer mandate at 120 hours a month per full-time equivalent. BEG: $45 per employee per month inside the payroll software you already use, live in 3 to 5 days.
Rules that matter for part-time engineering firm staff
The Service Contract Act covers federal service contracts over $2,500 and requires prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits for service employees; workers who meet the executive, administrative or professional exemption under 29 CFR part 541 are not service employees under the Act. Contracts of $2,500 or less carry the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
Engineering is listed as a field of science or learning for the learned professional exemption, so engineers whose primary duty requires advanced knowledge acquired through prolonged specialized instruction and who are paid on a salary or fee basis at the standard salary level are exempt from overtime. Job titles alone do not determine exemption status.
The arithmetic
Overtime is owed after 40 hours in the workweek regardless of part-time status, and a part-time employee who picks up shifts across two roles has their regular rate blended across both. For the ACA, monthly hours of all non-full-time employees are pooled and divided by 120 to produce full-time equivalents; 60 part-time employees at 60 hours a month are 30 FTEs. For FMLA, a part-time employee counts as one employee toward the 50 threshold and is eligible personally only after 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months. At the BLS May 2025 national median for civil engineers, $100,840 a year or about $48 an hour, a 20-hour week is $970 before tax.
The rules behind this page, with sources
General information, not legal advice. Every rule below was read on the agency page linked next to it.
- The Service Contract Act covers federal service contracts over $2,500 and requires prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits for service employees; workers who meet the executive, administrative or professional exemption under 29 CFR part 541 are not service employees under the Act. Contracts of $2,500 or less carry the $7.25 federal minimum wage. [DOL Fact Sheet #67]
- Engineering is listed as a field of science or learning for the learned professional exemption, so engineers whose primary duty requires advanced knowledge acquired through prolonged specialized instruction and who are paid on a salary or fee basis at the standard salary level are exempt from overtime. Job titles alone do not determine exemption status. [DOL Fact Sheet #17D]
Read the full guide to ACA reporting and the employer mandate, and the rest of the engineering firm payroll library.
Managed Payroll, Handled.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do part-time engineers at an engineering firm count toward the ACA 50-employee test?
Yes, as full-time equivalents: their monthly hours are pooled and divided by 120. That is why the count is run from payroll hours every year rather than from headcount.
Is overtime owed to a part-time engineering firm employee?
Yes, after 40 hours in a workweek, at time and one half on the regular rate. Part-time status changes benefits eligibility, not the overtime rule. The Service Contract Act covers federal service contracts over $2,500 and requires prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits for service employees; workers who meet the executive, administrative or professional exemption under 29 CFR part 541 are not service employees under the Act.
What does managed payroll cost for an engineering firm?
$45 per employee per month, all-inclusive, inside the payroll software you already use, with no monthly minimum. Prevailing wage for government projects, billable hour payroll allocation and PE license classification are configured at setup, not billed as add-ons.
Related Resources
Anthony leads payroll solutions at Business Executive Group, a national managed payroll firm serving businesses across industries including Engineering & Professional Services Firms. BEG manages payroll at $45 PEPM, all-inclusive, with deep expertise in compliance, multi-state filing, and industry-specific payroll requirements. Get instant pricing at beghr.com.
Authoritative source: U.S. Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division
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