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There are four types of persons who go to work part-time. These include retirees who want a bit
more income or socialization, parents who want to spend more time with their children, college and high
school students and temporary agency workers who want more experience. Many people enjoy the
advantages of working part-time, but benefits are rarely offered to part-time employees.
Most people are hoping for health insurance and retirement benefits when taking a job. Traditionally,
companies only offer benefits to employees who work 30 hours or more a week. This is only a 25%
reduction in hours, so it doesn't free up a lot of time for the employee who needs part-time hours. Even
when a part-timer is offered health benefits, he is rarely offered paid time off and retirement benefits.
Dental benefits are almost never offered to part-time employees.
Many businesses hire part-time employees for the simple reason of saving money. If they work less
than a certain number of hours, the employers don't need to pay for benefits. There are companies,
however, that are beginning to offer benefits to part-time employees. This includes benefits for health,
paid time off and retirement plans. Some companies have begun to offer this in order to take in high
quality, trained professionals who just want part-time hours. If a company wants a qualified employee,
it will have to compete with other companies. People who may only want to work part-time may be
forced to take a full-time job to get the benefits. Companies who offer benefits to part-timers have an
advantage by offering more choices to their employees in terms of hours.
Conducting an Internet search is probably the quickest way to find companies that provide benefits
for part-time employees. Many large corporations like Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and Whole Foods
offer benefits to part-time employees among other things. Look for companies that offer a team approach
to their employees. Employees are given choices and part of decision-making in the business. Businesses
that allow employee input are more likely to offer benefits to part-timers.
1. People prefer to work part-time mainly because they ______.
A. don't want to spend more time on work
B. have so many household and social affairs
C. hope to have more money, time and experience
D. only expect to make more friends
2. From the second paragraph we can learn that part-timers _______.
A. can enjoy as many benefits as full-timers
B. prefer retirement benefits to health insurance
C. often retire without enjoying any benefit
D. often enjoy fewer benefits than full-timers
3. What's the advantage of hiring part-time employees?
A. They don't need the insurance. B. They can save employers some money.
C. They have no choice but to work hard. D. They can be also changed into full-timers.
4. We can infer from the last paragraph that _______.
A. it's easy to find companies providing benefits
B. companies not allowing employee input don't offer any benefit to part-timers
C. Starbucks in England doesn't provide benefits to full-timers
D. employees are often forced to choose their jobs
