Hello, I'm an exempt salaried employee in Colorado. I'm also a shift worker who works 24/7 rotating shifts so there are situations where I could work a 72 hour week or a 16 hour week depending on what part of my shift rotation I'm currently in.

My first question is, is there a labor law that states the difference between part time and full time hours i.e. is 40hrs full time is 32hrs part time?

My second question is, if I'm a salaried employeed and didn't sign documentation stating that I must work a minimum of 40 hours per week can a company require me to work minimum 40hrs/week?

1. Generally speaking, no. This is not an issue addressed by either Colorado or federal law. For what purpose are you asking? Insurance, retirement plans, time off benefits?

2. Again, generally speaking, the employer can require how every many hours is necessary to get the job done; the only issue is whether you must be paid overtime when you work over the prescribed requirement under either federal or Colorado law.

The employer sets the hours required, exempt or nonexempt. Do you have an employment contract?

Thanks for the response.

1. I'm asking because of our Insurance benefits plan and like I said some-times the erratic shift we work the hours in one month may not add up to less than 40hrs/week where the following month our hours will add up to over 50hrs/week the company is saying that we aren't qualifying for full time benefits even though we are considered full-time salaried exempt employees.

The company NOW is asking the employees to make up their time from the beginning of the year even though it wasn't mandatory to work a set 40hr work week in the beginning of the year. In fact they didn't start saying that we needed to start officially working 40hrs/week/month until April and the employees were more than willing to and did work extra time to meet requirements.

The company is being retroactive in order to cover themselves which is what this boils down to. Is it legal?

2. Thank you

When it comes to insurance, the plan rules dictate who is eligible under what circumstances. However, any time you become ineligible for medical insurance due to not working the required hours (for whatever reason), you would be eligible for COBRA if the employer has at least 20 employees; I can imagine this would be an administrative nightmare for the employer, but that's federal law.

As an exempt employee the employer can legally require you to work the additional hours without additional compensation. Again, not terribly fair, and not the way I would handle it, but not illegal.