1) Employers can pay any employee on either an hourly or a salaried position. Full time or part time employees can be salaried or hourly.2) The employees still must, for the number of hours he/she works per work, make at least the equivalent of minimum wage/hour, regardless of how he/she is paid.3) Whether he or she gets the same benefits as a full time employee depends on the *that company's* rules for benefits--there is no general law on the subject, but rather each employer makes its own rules for how is eligible for benefits, how many hours must be worked per week to earn them, etc.