Some people just want to keep it simple and work part time. They like coming into work and want to work normal hours. They just don't want to do it every day or all day.

Reduction to a part-time schedule may ultimately result in a job-sharing situation. If the employee isn't likely to job-share successfully, your best bet is to just hire another part-time worker and divide the job duties.

If a full-time employee asks to have his hours reduced to part time and you decline, there is a good chance that he will seek part-time work elsewhere. He wouldn't ask for a reduction in time and pay if it was not important to him; this is why it is best to make a reasonable effort to accommodate the requests of employees who ask to cut back to part time.

Part-time workers are known to be very productive because they can't always say that they'll finish something tomorrow, or that they have all day to get it done. Keeping their part-time work schedule is dependent on whether or not they can complete their work while maintaining quality and quantity. You are likely to get both from part-time workers if they want to keep the schedule. It's when someone works part time but wants full-time hours that you run into problems.