Free Payroll Tool
See what your payroll provider really charges
Most providers hide per-run and add-on fees. Audit your real cost per employee in about 30 seconds, free.
Run the Payroll Fee Auditor →Blog · Payroll Management · Real Estate
Real Estate Agencies: Managing Part-Time Worker Payroll (2026)
Part-time payroll in real estate brokerages 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 real estate brokerage staff
The outside sales exemption from minimum wage and overtime requires that the employee's primary duty be making sales or obtaining orders or contracts, and that the employee be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. The salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to this exemption.
Any fixed site, including a home office, that a salesperson uses as a headquarters or for telephone solicitation is treated as one of the employer's places of business. Sales made by mail, telephone, or the Internet do not count as outside sales unless that contact is only an adjunct to personal calls.
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 real estate sales agents, $52,830 a year or about $25 an hour, a 20-hour week is $508 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 outside sales exemption from minimum wage and overtime requires that the employee's primary duty be making sales or obtaining orders or contracts, and that the employee be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business. The salary requirements of the regulation do not apply to this exemption. [DOL Fact Sheet #17F]
- Any fixed site, including a home office, that a salesperson uses as a headquarters or for telephone solicitation is treated as one of the employer's places of business. Sales made by mail, telephone, or the Internet do not count as outside sales unless that contact is only an adjunct to personal calls. [DOL Fact Sheet #17F]
Read the full guide to ACA reporting and the employer mandate, and the rest of the real estate brokerage payroll library.
Managed Payroll, Handled.
BEG manages payroll at $45 per employee per month, all-inclusive. Get an instant cost comparison for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do part-time licensed agents at a real estate brokerage 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 real estate brokerage 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 outside sales exemption from minimum wage and overtime requires that the employee's primary duty be making sales or obtaining orders or contracts, and that the employee be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer's place of business.
What does managed payroll cost for a real estate brokerage?
$45 per employee per month, all-inclusive, inside the payroll software you already use, with no monthly minimum. Commission-only agent payroll, agent contractor vs W-2 classification and split commission processing 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 Real Estate Agencies. 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
From the blog