Texas and federal laws leave it up to an employer to define what constitutes part-time status within a company and to determine the specific schedule of hours
Most companies define full-time employees as those who are regularly scheduled for a set number of hours each week (40, 37.5, 45, or similar amount), and part-time status is for anyone who is regularly scheduled to work less than that amount of time each week
A common reason for differentiating between part-time and full-time employees is to distinguish the set of employees who receive company benefits from those who are not eligible for such benefits, or to supply a way of distinguishing between two sets of benefits for two classes of employees. It is legal to have one set of benefits, or none at all, for part-time employees, and another set of benefits for full-time employees.
For information on unemployment claim issues relating to part-time / full-time status, click here.