I imagine its a rolling average over time. I know when I was at Walgreens the kids would have their avg weekly hours printed on the pay stub. They could go over and nothing would change, but the millisecond they went under their coverage was dropped.
But like you said, the rules are evolving due to O’care as we speak.
Several years ago, when I was in my mid-40’s, I was out of work.
I was driving around one day and saw a large construction job that was just starting.
I pulled in and asked to talk to the “General” (General Contractor in charge)
He asked me what I wanted. I said “a job”
He said “What can you do?”
I told him I don’t have any experience in the trades, but am willing to do anything.
He hired my as a general laborer at 13 bucks an hour.
I worked on that job site until completion, 11 months later.
Worked 6 days a week and a lot of OT, about 10 hours a day Monday thru Friday, starting at 6 AM and half days on Saturdays. About 56 hours per week.
I was working with a bunch of Latinos half my age and outworked many of them because of pride although they were all hard workers and would invite me to join them during our lunch break.
Right when that job finished, I got a job in software development. I remember thinking about throwing out my worn down workboots, but I kept them as a reminder that there’s always a way to survive and make a living.
It was hard work, I had to get up at 4:45 AM every day, run a jackhammer and perform a lot of physical labor in 90 degree heat and freezing cold rain, but it was better than flipping burgers for half as much money and half as many hours.
Fast Food jobs used to be filled by High School kids. It’s a stepping stone, not a career. Anyone that is still working in fast food after 2 or 3 years is either stupid or lazy. If you’re only working 20-30 hours a week, go to community college and better yourself instead of demanding to be paid more than your worth.