Annual average employees and total hours for Form 300A

The two numbers at the top of Form 300A, worked out the way OSHA's own worksheet does it.

The Form 300A worksheet

Employees paid in all pay periods, added upStep 1 of the worksheet.

Pay periods in the yearStep 2. 26 for biweekly pay, 52 for weekly.

Or paste the number paid in each pay periodOne number for each pay period, on separate lines. Include periods with no employees as 0.

Full-time employeesFor the hours estimate.

Work hours for one full-time employee in a year

Overtime hours, plus hours of part-time, temporary and seasonal workers

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.

The four steps on OSHA's worksheet

Add up the employees paid in every pay period of the year. Include all employees: full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, salaried and hourly.
Count the pay periods. Include any pay periods when you had no employees. For example, 26 for biweekly pay periods or 52 for weekly ones.
Divide the number of employees by the number of pay periods.
Round the answer to the next highest whole number. That is the annual average number of employees for the Summary.

OSHA's own example

The worksheet follows Acme Construction: it paid 830 employees across 26 pay periods. 830 / 26 = 31.92, which rounds up to 32.

The worksheet warns that you cannot divide the number of W-2s by the number of pay periods. You add up the employees paid in each pay period, then divide. If you pay about the same number every pay period, it says you can use that number.

Total hours worked

Include	Leave out
Hours worked by salaried, hourly, part-time and seasonal workers	Vacation
Hours worked by other workers you supervise day to day, such as temporary help service workers	Sick leave
Overtime hours	Holidays and any other non-work time, even if it was paid

If you only keep hours paid, or have employees who are not paid by the hour, the worksheet says to estimate the hours actually worked: full-time employees times the work hours of one full-time employee in a year, plus overtime and the hours of other employees, rounded to the next highest whole number.

What the ITA does with the two numbers

Column	Check	Kind
`annual_average_employees`	Greater than 0, a whole number	Must
`annual_average_employees`	Under 25,000	Should
`annual_average_employees`	Greater than the total number of cases (G to J)	Should
`total_hours_worked`	Greater than 0, a whole number	Must
`total_hours_worked`	Divided by the employees: under 8760	Must
`total_hours_worked`	Divided by the employees: over 500	Should

A decimal or a comma in either field rejects the CSV. Test a finished 300A file.

These two numbers go into columns 13 and 14 of the 300A CSV. The converter writes the whole row and rounds them as the worksheet says.

Open the converter

Short answers

Do I round the annual average number of employees up or down?

Up. The Form 300A worksheet says to round the answer to the next highest whole number, so 31.92 becomes 32. The ITA rejects a decimal in this field.

Do part-time and temporary workers count toward the annual average?

Yes. The worksheet says to include all employees: full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, salaried and hourly.

Can I divide the number of W-2s by the number of pay periods?

No. The worksheet says you must add up the number of employees paid in each pay period and then divide by the number of pay periods.

Sources

Read on 2026-11-10. OSHA can change these documents; the link is the authority. Logmend is an independent information tool. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor, and it is not tax, legal or professional advice.