Cost control activities Rogal and Associates Legal Services hires full$-$ and part$-$time professional employees. Full$-$time experienced staff can be hired for a salary of $$60,000$ per year; fringe benefit costs for each full$-$time employee amount to $20$ percent of base salary. Rogal and Associates pays part$-$time professional employees $$50$ per hour but does not provide any fringe benefits. If a parttime employee has worked for the firm for more than $1,500$ hours by year$-$end, he or she receives a $$4,500$ bonus.

a$.$ Does the firm's policy of hiring part$-$time professional staff represent an example of cost containment, cost avoidance, or cost reduction? Explain.

b$.$ For a given professional position, at what level of annual hours worked should the firm consider hiring full$-$time rather than part$-$time professional staff?