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FTE (Full-Time Equivalent), in plain English.
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Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) measures workforce size in standard-hour units.
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One employee working a 40-hour week is 1.0 FTE; two half-time employees together are also 1.0 FTE. FTE rolls part-time and casual workers into a single number for budgeting and reporting. Workzoom calculates FTE per position from the scheduled hours you configure.
How FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) works.
FTE converts a headcount of mixed part-time and full-time employees into a comparable number of full-time-equivalent positions, usually by dividing scheduled or actual hours by the employer's full-time standard. The figure is only as good as that standard, which varies by employer, by jurisdiction, and sometimes by collective agreement. Budget models, grant reporting, and statutory thresholds all consume it, and a single organization may need to report more than one FTE figure to satisfy different definitions.
Where FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) goes wrong.
- Two departments using different full-time standards produce FTE figures that cannot legitimately be summed, which shows up the first time someone rolls up a company-wide total.
- A second error is calculating from scheduled hours when the funder or statute requires actual hours paid, which understates FTE whenever absence or turnover is high.
- A third is reporting FTE as of a single date when the requirement is an average across the period, which can overstate or understate seasonal workforces.
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How FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) runs on Workzoom.
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) is part of the Workzoom Workforce Suite. Workzoom runs HR, workforce, and talent on a single employee record across ten countries: Canada, the United States, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, and the United Kingdom. Full gross-to-net payroll runs live in Canada, the United States, and the Bahamas. Pricing starts at $4 per employee per suite per month.
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