FTE Calculator
Calculate full-time equivalent employees for workforce planning, ACA compliance, and budgeting. Enter your headcount below to get your FTE total instantly.
Enter your workforce details
Employees working full-time hours
Employees working fewer than full-time hours
Typical hours each part-time employee works per week
Hours per week that count as full-time (40 in the US, 35 in France)
Your FTE calculation
6 employees x 20 hrs / 40 hrs
Formula: Total FTE = Full-time employees + (Part-time employees x Average PT hours / Full-time standard)
10 + (6 x 20 / 40) = 13.00
What is FTE?
FTE stands for full-time equivalent — a unit that measures employee workload relative to a full-time schedule. An employee working 40 hours per week is 1.0 FTE. An employee working 20 hours per week is 0.5 FTE.
FTE is not the same as headcount. A team of 10 full-time and 6 part-time employees (at 20 hours each) has a headcount of 16 but an FTE of 13.0. The distinction matters for budgeting, compliance, and staffing decisions.
Common FTE values
| Weekly hours | FTE value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1.00 | Full-time |
| 36 | 0.90 | Full-time (EU standard in some countries) |
| 30 | 0.75 | Three-quarter time |
| 20 | 0.50 | Half-time |
| 10 | 0.25 | Quarter-time |
How to calculate FTE
The FTE formula
Total FTE = Full-time employees + (Part-time hours / Full-time standard)
Step-by-step example
Suppose your company has 10 full-time employees working 40 hours per week and 6 part-time employees working an average of 20 hours per week.
- Count full-time FTE: 10 full-time employees = 10.0 FTE
- Calculate total part-time hours: 6 employees x 20 hours = 120 hours per week
- Divide by the full-time standard: 120 hours / 40 hours = 3.0 FTE
- Add them together: 10.0 + 3.0 = 13.0 total FTE
Annual FTE calculation
For ACA compliance and government reporting, FTE is often calculated on an annual basis using 2,080 hours (40 hours x 52 weeks) as the full-time standard.
Annual method: Add all hours worked by part-time employees in the year. Divide by 2,080. Add the number of full-time employees.
Why FTE matters
FTE is used across HR, finance, and operations to normalize staffing data and make apples-to-apples comparisons.
ACA compliance
The Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50 or more FTE to offer health insurance to full-time employees. The IRS uses a specific monthly calculation: total part-time hours divided by 120. Crossing the 50 FTE threshold triggers the employer mandate — getting this number wrong can mean penalties of over $2,000 per employee per year.
Budgeting and cost planning
FTE normalizes labor costs across teams with different mixes of full-time and part-time workers. Comparing cost-per-FTE across departments reveals where you are overstaffed or understaffed relative to output.
Productivity benchmarking
Revenue per FTE and output per FTE are standard benchmarks for measuring workforce efficiency. These metrics are more accurate than revenue per headcount because they account for part-time workers proportionally.
Government programs
FTE calculations are required for PPP loan forgiveness, SBA size standards, various tax credits (like the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit for employers under 25 FTE), and federal contractor reporting requirements.
FTE calculation for ACA
The Affordable Care Act uses a specific method to determine whether an employer is an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) subject to the employer mandate.
The ACA method
- Count your full-time employees (those working 30+ hours per week or 130+ hours per month under ACA definition)
- Add up the total monthly hours of all part-time employees
- Divide by 120 to get the part-time FTE
- Add full-time employees + part-time FTE
- Average across all 12 months of the prior year
Important: The ACA defines full-time as 30 hours per week (not 40). This means employees working 30-39 hours count as full-time for ACA purposes even if your company considers them part-time.
FTE standards by country
The 40-hour standard is specific to the United States. If you manage international teams, the full-time standard varies by country.
| Country | Standard weekly hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 40 | 30 for ACA purposes |
| United Kingdom | 37.5 | Maximum 48 (Working Time Regulations) |
| Germany | 38-40 | Varies by industry agreement |
| France | 35 | Legal maximum without overtime |
| India | 48 | 9 hours/day, 48 hours/week maximum |
| Philippines | 40 | 8 hours/day, 5 days/week |
| Australia | 38 | National Employment Standards |
For country-specific labor law details, see our compliance guides covering 45 countries.
Accurate FTE starts with accurate hours
FTE calculations are only as good as the hour data behind them. If employees self-report hours on spreadsheets, inaccuracies compound across your entire workforce — leading to incorrect ACA determinations, flawed budgets, and unreliable benchmarks.
Automatic time tracking captures actual hours worked, not estimates. HiveDesk tracks hours across full-time and part-time employees using desktop, mobile, and browser apps — generating timesheets that feed directly into FTE calculations.
Frequently asked questions
What does 0.5 FTE mean?
An FTE of 0.5 means the employee works half of a full-time schedule. If full-time is 40 hours per week, a 0.5 FTE employee works 20 hours per week.
How many hours is 1 FTE?
In the United States, 1 FTE typically equals 40 hours per week or 2,080 hours per year. For ACA purposes, 1 FTE is 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month.
Is FTE the same as headcount?
No. Headcount counts every employee as one person regardless of hours worked. FTE weights employees by their hours relative to a full-time schedule. A company with 10 full-time and 10 half-time employees has a headcount of 20 but an FTE of 15.
How do you calculate FTE for ACA?
For ACA, count all employees working 30+ hours per week as full-time (1.0 FTE each). For part-time employees, add their total monthly hours and divide by 120. Sum these numbers and average across all 12 months. If the result is 50 or more, you are an Applicable Large Employer.
What is the FTE threshold for the employer mandate?
The ACA employer mandate applies to organizations with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees. Below 50 FTE, you are not required to offer health insurance (though you may choose to). The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit is available to employers with fewer than 25 FTE.
Get accurate hour data for your FTE calculations
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