How do I decide how many hours per year counts as one Full Time Equivalent?
For Contractors, the Federal Acquisition Regulation Full Time Equivalent definition is: The [job] number shall be expressed as full-time equivalent, calculated cumulatively as all hours worked divided by the total number of hours in a full-time schedule, as defined by the contractor. For other Prime Recipients, the June 22 Office of Management and Budget guidance states “the estimate of the number of jobs required by the Recovery Act should be expressed as full-time equivalents, which is calculated as total hours worked in jobs created or retained divided by the number of hours in a full-time schedule, as defined by the recipient An example of a jobs calculation can be found in the Instructions for Contractors and Instructions for Grant and Loan Recipients on the Recovery Act Recipient & Contractor Reporting page.
OMB Memoranda M-10-08 (pdf) contains the definitions and formulas for calculations of jobs created and retained. The requirement for reporting estimates of the “Number of Jobs” is based on a simple calculation used to avoid overstating the number of other than full-time permanent jobs. This calculation converts part-time or temporary jobs into fractional “full-time equivalent” (FTE) jobs. Full-time equivalent (FTE) employment is a standard concept used by the Office of Personnel Management. This definition is taken from OMBCircular A-11, Preparation, Submission and Execution of the Budget 2009. The definition states the following: “Full-time equivalent (FTE) employment means the total number of regular straight-time hours (i.e., not including overtime or holiday hours) worked by employees divided by the number of compensable hours applicable to each fiscal year. Annual leave, sick leave, compensatory time off and other approved leave categories are considered ‘hours worked’ for purpose
