What It Means
Job sharing is a way to fill one full-time job with two or more people who each work part time. Between them, the sharers split the hours, divide or share the duties, and hand work over to each other so the role runs as one job. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) describes it as a form of part-time employment for federal employees, where each sharer can work up to 32 hours a week if the agency allows.
Try It: Split a 40-Hour Job Between Two People
Split one 40-hour position between two people. Any hours over 40 are overlap you can use for handovers.
The whole week is covered, and neither sharer is over OPM's 32-hour limit for a federal job sharer.
Some of the 40 hours have nobody on them. Agree how that work gets covered.
One sharer is past 32 hours a week, OPM's limit for a federal job sharer. A private employer sets its own rules.
How People Say It at Work
- "We job share, so I'm Monday to Wednesday and she's Wednesday to Friday."
- "Wednesday's our overlap day for handovers."
- "Email either of us, we both read the shared inbox."
The Breakdown
Example split of one full-time role (Buhata's example)
| Day | Sharer A | Sharer B |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Works | Off |
| Tuesday | Works | Off |
| Wednesday | Works the morning | Works the afternoon, with a short handover |
| Thursday | Off | Works |
| Friday | Off | Works |
How to set up a job share (Buhata's suggestion)
- Find a partner whose skills and working style fit the role, ideally someone you've worked with.
- Split the week, and decide which days or half-days each of you covers.
- Build in overlap for handovers, even 30 minutes, and keep one shared list of open work.
- Decide which duties you share and which each of you owns outright, so nothing has two owners or none.
- Ask how pay, leave, benefitsBenefits packageEverything an employer offers on top of wages, such as health insurance, paid leave and a retirement plan, which can be worth thousands of dollars a year. See more and reviews work for each sharer.
- Put the plan in a written proposal with a trial period and a review date.
Try it today. Write down every task in the role and mark each one "split", "A" or "B". Tasks you can't easily mark are the ones that need a handover routine.
Good to Know
For federal employees, OPM says a permanent part-time employee works 16 to 32 hours a week on a prearranged schedule and gets leave, retirement, and health and life insurance on a prorated basis, and job sharing is one form of that part-time work. In private jobs, the Department of Labor notes that the Fair Labor Standards Act doesn't define part-time employment; your employer decides, and its own plan rules decide which benefits a sharer gets.
FAQ
What is job sharing?
Two or more part-time employees sharing one full-time position, splitting its hours and duties between them.
How many hours does each job sharer work?
It depends on the split. For federal job sharers, OPM says each can work up to 32 hours a week if the agency allows.
Do job sharers get benefits?
Federal permanent part-time employees, including job sharers, get prorated leave, retirement, and health and life insurance, per OPM. In private jobs it depends on the employer's plans.
Do It in Buhata
Team Space and Tasks
Keep the role's work in Tasks inside a Team Space, each with an owner, so whoever starts the next day sees what's done and what's waiting.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Flextime
A work schedule that lets employees pick their start and finish times within limits, as long as they work the required hours and are there for core hours.
- Compressed workweek
A full-time schedule that fits the usual hours into fewer, longer days, such as four 10-hour days a week instead of five 8-hour days.
- Delegation
Handing a task, and the authority needed to finish it, to someone else, while you stay responsible for the result.
- Returning to work after baby
The move back to a job after parental leave, which brings new childcare costs, a pumping plan for some parents, and federal rights worth knowing before day one.
- Benefits package
Everything an employer offers on top of wages, such as health insurance, paid leave and a retirement plan, which can be worth thousands of dollars a year.
Sources
U.S. Office of Personnel Management, "Part-Time & Job Sharing"; U.S. Department of Labor, "Part-Time Employment"
- www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/part-time-and-job-sharing
- www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/parttimeemployment
Last updated .