Introduction In 2015, around 15% of the Danish workforce had marginal part-time work (<15 hours/week). Yet, not much is known about marginal part-time worker’s work environment.

Objectives This study assessed characteristics of the work environment among marginal part-time workers (8.00–14.99 hours/week) compared with full-time workers (32.00–40.00 hours/week).

Methods Employees between 18–65 years old, who responded to the survey Work Environment and Health in Denmark (WEHD) in 2012, 2014, or 2016 were included in the study (n = 34,960). Average working hours per week, based on register information obtained from the Labour Market Account (LMA), in the three months prior to responding to the WEHD survey, was linked at an individual level with work environment characteristics obtained from the WEHD survey. Logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, and socio-economic status, were used to analyse the associations between marginal part-time work and the work environment characteristics.

Results Compared with full-time workers, marginal part-time workers less often reported too little time for their work tasks (OR 0.81, 95%CI 0.67–0.97) and struggling to keep deadlines (OR 0.79, 95%CI 0.69–0.91). However, marginal part-time workers more often reported lower influence on how and when to solve work tasks and lower authority. Furthermore, they reported less help and acknowledgement from colleagues, and less interesting and inspiring work tasks, and low job satisfaction. In addition, marginal part-time workers more frequently reported having an occupational accident in the past year (OR 1.31, 95%CI 1.03–1.68) and poor guidance and instructions to work safely (OR 1.32, 95%CI 1.10–1.59). Results on negative social relations in the workplace and physical workload were ambiguous.

Conclusions Marginal part-time workers report less quantitative job demands, but also less influence at work, less support from colleagues, less job satisfaction, and poorer safety. Future studies with prospective designs are needed to determine the direction of these associations.