Part-time jobs don’t always equate to zero benefits. There are plenty of part-time jobs out there that offer surprisingly good health insurance and benefit plans. You just have to know where to look. Why is it to your benefit to know which part-time jobs have benefits? Life happens. Jobs get downsized, life gets busy with kids or health issues, you may choose to retire early but don’t want to foot the bill for health care, or you may decide to go back to school.
Sometimes, as my wife has done, it makes sense to actually choose part time vs. full time.
Industries that Offer Good Part-Time Benefits
To make some broad generalizations, the following industries tend to offer pretty good part-time benefit programs:
- health care
- unionized blue collar
- army/military
- state/federal/municipal governments
- retail (non food-service)
I’m going to highlight a few national employers to consider. Note that not all health insurance or retirement plans are created equal. Just because you may be eligible for health insurance, does not mean you will have a free ride. All of these employers will have slightly different plans that will require varying premium coverage by you. It pays to research extensively beforehand.
That being said, some of the benefits offered by these employers are quite generous and fairly surprising.
If all else fails, part-time workers who do not receive health benefits are eligible for insurance through the health insurance exchanges – and could be eligible for subsidies. The Affordable Care Act is a big victory for part-timers.
Starbucks
Starbucks benefits usually get mentioned in any part-time benefit discussion. And for good reason. Benefits include:
- Medical, dental, and vision plan for you and your dependents, including domestic partners.
- Health care and dependent care reimbursement accounts.
- A 401K match (100% match on first 5% of eligible pay).
- Life Insurance: automatic + voluntary supplemental life insurance
- Vacation, holiday (7 days), and sick time.
- Parental leave.
- Up to $10,000 for adoptions.
- Short and long-term disability.
- A pound of coffee or tea per week.
- Discounted stock (5% discount).
- Free college tuition through Arizona State University towards a Bachelor’s degree!
According to Starbucks, you establish initial benefits eligibility the first day of the second month after receiving at least 240 total hours over three full, consecutive months (averaging about 20 hours per week).
Kudos to Starbucks for offering such a great benefits package for part-timers. They’ll need to keep improving those benefits with all of the Starbuck employees that have voted to unionize.
Trader Joe’s
Part-time “Crew Members” are eligible for medical, dental and vision coverage at a cost as low as $25 per month, and a 10% annual salary contribution to a 401K retirement plan after meeting the eligibility requirements. Members accrue 5-to-10 paid time off days per year. Most Crew Members qualify after a couple of months, according to Trader Joe’s career page.
However, one should be aware that ‘part-time’ can be up to 40 hours per week. I still haven’t seen a sad Trader Joe employee.
Trader Joe’s employees are also paid very well. According to employee surveys at Indeed, crew member wages at Trader Joe’s average $17.70/hour, but can go up to $26/hour.
Employees also get a 401K, up to a 20% Trader Joe’s store discount, and other nice perks.
REI
Want to spend a lot of time hiking and biking and less working? With REI, you can. Employees averaging 20 hours or more per week are eligible for the REI Flex Plan. REI pays for the majority of employees’ medical plan cost and the full cost for basic life and disability coverage. Employees can choose from several medical plans for themselves and their dependents, as well as life insurance and disability plans.
REI benefits also include:
- 50% off gear (a big one for me).
- Vacation, PTO, and 8 paid holidays.
- Family and medical leave.
- $3,000 adoption assistance.
- Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year.
- 4 week paid sabbatical at 15 years.
- A retirement contribution of 5% of earnings and up to an additional 10% depending upon company profitability. Employees are not required to contribute their own pay in order to receive the REI contribution.
- tuition reimbursement.
Hmm… note to self: live near an REI in retirement.
Fedex/DHL/UPS
The shipping carriers don’t readily supply full details of their benefits on their website or the qualifications to receive them, but their reputation is well earned.
Fedex, DHL, and UPS each offer medical, dental, vision, and a 401K.
UPS, in particular, also offers vacation, stock purchase incentives, and a defined benefit pension.
The great part? They offer this to all employees, not just full-timers.
Note with FedEx that their ground shippers are considered independent contractors and don’t receive company benefits.
Lowe’s
Lowe’s benefits are the same for part-timers as they are full full-timers and you are eligible immediately. Those benefits include:
- limited health insurance, vision, and dental
- life and disability insurance
- flexible spending and health savings accounts
- paid time off, vacation, and sick time
- 6 paid holidays
- discounted employee stock purchase plan (15% off)
- 10% discount on merchandise
- 401K match up to 6% (100% on first 3%, 50% on next 2%, 25% on next 1%)
You can get some great benefits all while beefing up on useful Bob Vila superpowers. Win-win.
Just be sure to wear some really good shoes, you’ll be standing on concrete all day long.
Part-Time Jobs with Benefits Discussion:
- What other part-time jobs have great health insurance and other benefits? Share the details!
- Have you stayed on part-time with one of these employers because the benefits were so great?
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Wow I’m going to have to look into Starbucks or Trader Joes and see if I can get on board there.
The REI and Starbucks part-time positions sound pretty good to me!
The REI sounds pretty sweet to me. It really still surprises me how many companies actually take care of their employees.
I don’t know if this is available to most readers here, but Nugget Markets also offers benefits to part time workers. I haven’t researched how good they are though.
Whole foods, JC Penny also offer benefits to part timers!
I know someone who worked at Trader Joe’s for over a year and she said that all the employees are overworked and completely miserable. The company’s focus on customer service means you can’t tell by how they act, but she HATED everything about the company and the job.
like most customer service jobs
Dah…You and your friend are in the wrong industry/job if you dont understand the meaning of good n bad customer service, etc!!!
Aloha!
Mr MBA
any one know any information on sears for medical benefits for part timers?
REI SUCKS I WORKED FOR THEM FOR THREE YEARS. I had a 401 k with them and 7 years after I quit they took ALL their money back 4000 plus dollars. REI is a scam and a sham and is NOT a co-op but a corporate bunch of ripoff artists. and their brand gear is crap.
I worked at Rei for 5 years, just long enough to keep my retirement money, most of which they put in. Over $11,000. That’s your fault for not doing your homework and knowing you lose it if you don’t stay long enough. Get you facts straight.
It’s retail though and customers get annoying and the return policy was abused quite a bit. Wages are low but amazing deals though. Half off REI brand full price items. Decent stuff but I agree their own brand is not great. But up to 80% off major brands. Outfitted myself with Thule gear and the shipping was more than price I paid for roof box. Same with smartwool, but can buy for friends and fam around Xmas. Those socks are not cheap!
Lowe’s never offered the “same” coverage to full and part-time but it did at least offer some healthcare coverage for part-timers that I for one really appreciated.
They… as of July 31st 2014 have cancelled those plans for part-time associates and have offered…at a more expense cost a pathetic plan that lets you get a yearly well-visit check up…that would be less than what your paying yearly for coverage! so If you go to the annual visit and your BP is too high , or discover your lymph nodes are swollen, cancer , diabetes etc… the annual exam is covered but there is no insurance or script benefit for you to be treated….Lovely Lowe’s then they blame it on Obama Care….good try folks the other plan covered more for less, this covers almost nothing but your offering it…..So please don’t insult us by saying it doesn’t meet the healthcare guidelines then offer worse coverage for more.
what about costco? Anybody have any experience with them?
I am a very “young/high energy” 56 yr. old and I also teach several fitness classes per week, have a part time 2 yr. old class that I teach twice a month, and another job where I’m on my feel for 4-6 hrs. at a hospital. I have applied to Costco twice. On-line there is a form that you fill out prior to the application. If you are over 55 yrs. of age, they do not hire you.
Trader Joe’s crew members make up to $25 and hour. It says $19, which is incorrect. The management has a much higher cap.
NOPE! TJs in the SF BAY AREA/No.CA for PT n FT Clerks (not mgt.) most all start at their min. of $15 hr. no matter what your experience level. To qualify for benefits you must work a min. of 24 hrs a week, n tend not hire mostly GEN XYZ & Millinials, very few hires/peeps over 50-60+ ….just another case of AGEISM!!!
TYPO/CONTD……TJs similar to SPROUTS (pays less than TJs, & SPROUTS offers no benefits for PT + higher turnover due to poor mgt. n wage) employment practice tends to hire alot of young inexperienced (in retailing) peeps under 40, n very few if any 50-60+/seniors, under n or over qualified, = AGE & WAGE DISCRIMINATION!
FYI….Hear WHOLE FOODS may be the BEST of BEST in the retail food industry tho harder to crack for hire! Patience & Persistence is of Virtue, GOODLUCK JOB HUNTING!!!
At trader joes a part time employee must average over 32 hours weekly per 6 month period to be elgible for the full benefits package. 20 or more hours a week to be elgible for dental and vision, which are both garbage. Part timers cap out at 25/hour ( every year or 2 years theres a increase via cost of living) mates yes probably cap close to 40/hour ( every 2 years they get a cost of living increase) Around 10 years back a crew member would have 4 reviews in a year period. Each review they would be elgible for a 1$ wage increase. Now there are 2 reviews a year and if you make over 17$ hour then you elgible for .75 cent wage increase under 17$ hour. You are elgible for a .65 cent wage increase. As long as you show up on time and dont call out too many times you will get a raise. Trader joes mates and captains rarely recognize a person who works hard, smart, multi tasks, takes the intitiative, pro active, and most of all one of our core values with integrity. Ive never experienced a group of people that are just so completely checked out from there immediate surroundings than crew members at trader joes. I was on a register, saw a guy pull a hand basket out of a cart and bee lined it towards the entrances where he had his bicycle leaning and unlocked up against the cart corale. I calmly left my register where i did have a customer and followed him outside and as he hopped on his bike to ride off i calmly grabbe the basket from out of his hand and returned into the store with the products went back to my register and completed the transaction in progress. Nobody except for the customer at my register and maybe the 3 -5 customers at the entrance to the store had any idea of what just happened . We have 9 registers in which all are open at any time for maybe 10 of the 13 hours we are open.
You may want to scratch Trader Joe’s off your list. Word is, they are considering eliminating Healthcare Benefits for part Timers.
Source: Huffington Post and Time Magazine.