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Stands forFull-Time Equivalent

initialismF T E, letter by letter

What Does FTE Stand For?

BusinessPayrollHRUpdated Oct 30

What does FTE stand for? In jobs, budgets and payroll, FTE stands for full-time equivalent. It is a way to count work in units of one full-time person. One FTE, written 1.0 FTE, equals the hours a single full-time employee works. Two people working half time also add up to 1.0 FTE.

Managers use it because a head count can mislead. A store with ten part-time clerks and a store with five full-time clerks might both have 5.0 FTE of staff. Job ads, grant budgets, school reports and hospital staffing plans all use the measure to compare apples to apples.

Quick facts

  • Stands for

    Full-time equivalent

  • Type

    Initialism, said F T E

  • 1.0 FTE

    One full-time worker's hours, often 40 a week

  • 0.5 FTE

    Half of full time, often 20 hours a week

  • Used in

    Payroll, budgets, job postings, school and hospital staffing

  • Also used for

    Full-time employee, in casual office talk

  • Not to be confused with

    Head count, which counts people, not hours

What does FTE stand for in payroll?

In payroll and HR, FTE is a ratio. It compares the hours someone works with the hours the employer counts as full time. Many employers use 40 hours a week, or about 2,080 hours a year, as 1.0.

Weekly hours turned into FTE, on a 40 hour week
Hours per weekFTETypical label
401.0Full time
320.8Four days a week
300.75Three quarter time
200.5Half time
100.25Quarter time

Some employers set full time at 37.5 or 35 hours, so the same hours can produce a different FTE at another job. Always check what that employer counts as 1.0.

How to figure FTE

  1. Add up all the hours worked in a period, such as a week.
  2. Divide by the hours of one full-time worker in that period.
  3. The answer is the FTE count.

A small clinic: two nurses work 40 hours each, one works 24 hours and one works 16 hours. That is 120 hours a week. Divided by 40, the clinic has 3.0 FTE of nursing staff, even though four people are on the team.

Some federal rules for employers use their own counting method. For example, under the health care law, full time generally means 30 or more hours a week, and part-time hours are combined in a set way to find the number of full-time equivalent employees. Those counts can decide which rules apply to a business.

This is general information. FTE rules for taxes, benefits and health coverage differ by program, so check with a tax professional, an HR advisor or the agency for your own situation.

FTE acronym in job ads and budgets

  • Job posting: "Position is 0.6 FTE" means about three days a week on a five day schedule.
  • Grant budget: "0.25 FTE project manager" means a quarter of one person's time is paid by the grant.
  • School district: "The school gained 2.0 FTE teachers" means two full-time positions, which could be filled by more than two people.
  • College enrollment: FTE students turns full and part-time course loads into a count of full-time students.

In the office, people also say FTE to mean simply a full-time employee, as opposed to a contractor. "Is she an FTE or a contractor?" asks whether she is on staff. Pay rules for full-time staff are tied to terms like PTO and FMLA.

What does FTE stand for in pageants and other settings?

Outside work, the letters are less fixed. Pageant groups and other clubs sometimes use their own shorthand, and FTE is not used the same way across organizations. If you see it in pageant rules or entry forms, look for a glossary in that organization's handbook or ask the director, since the payroll meaning does not apply there.

In science and engineering papers, FTE can also mean other technical terms, but in nearly every business setting it is full-time equivalent.

Saying and writing FTE

Say the letters, "F T E." Capitals and no periods are standard. Since the letter F is sounded "eff," the article is an: "an FTE count," "an FTE position." The plural is FTEs, with no apostrophe.

  • "We are budgeted for 12 FTEs next year."
  • "The role is 0.8 FTE with benefits."
  • "Two part-time hires will cover one FTE."
  • "Our department lost an FTE in the reorganization."

For more letters from the payroll office, browse our business acronyms guide, or see related terms like HR and KPI.

Questions people ask

What does 1.0 FTE mean?

It means one full-time worker's hours, often 40 a week. A 1.0 FTE job is a full-time job at that employer.

Is 0.5 FTE part time?

Yes. A 0.5 FTE role is half of full time, usually about 20 hours a week on a 40 hour schedule.

Does FTE mean full-time employee?

In casual office talk, people sometimes use it that way. In budgets and payroll, though, it means full-time equivalent, a measure of hours.

How is FTE different from head count?

Head count is the number of people. FTE is the amount of work time, so ten half-time workers equal a head count of 10 but only 5.0 FTE.

How many hours is 0.75 FTE?

On a 40 hour week, 0.75 FTE is 30 hours. If the employer counts 37.5 hours as full time, it is a little over 28 hours.