What Does Pro Rata Salary Mean?

Part-time employees are those that work less than 40 hours per week, and they do not usually receive benefits such as health insurance or paid vacation time. Full-time employees, however, usually receive higher salaries and additional benefits. When an employer hires a part-time salaried employee with full-time benefits, the employee often receives a pro rata, or proportional, salary.

If you accept a pro rata salary, your employer will pay you based on the hours you work, but you will not receive an hourly wage. Instead, your employer will determine your wage using a proportion or percentage. For example, if the hours you work are equal to 75 percent of a full-time employee's hours, you will receive 75 percent of a full-time salary.

To calculate your pro rata salary, you need to know what a full-time employee in your position makes annually, how many hours you will work each week and how many weeks you will work each year. You can find the percentage of pay you will receive by dividing the hours you work during the year by the hours a full-time employee will work. To calculate your annual salary, multiply this percentage by the annual salary of a full-time employee.

A full-time employee that works 40 hours per week will work a total of 2,080 hours annually (40 x 52 = 2,080). If you earn a pro rata salary for working 25 hours per week, you will work a total of 1,300 hours annually. In this case, your hours worked are equal to 62.5 percent of a full-time employee's hours (1,300/2,800 = .625), so you will earn 62.5 percent of a full-time salary. If a full-time employee earns $50,000 annually, you will earn $31,250 (50,000 x .625).

If you earn a pro rata salary, you will also be eligible for the same benefits as a full-time employee. However, you will receive these benefits in proportion to the amount of time you work. For example, if you work 75 percent of the hours of a full-time employee, you will be entitled to 75 percent of the vacation time, maternity leave, pensions and health insurance coverage of a full-time employee.