workingmums.co.uk’s guide to part-time workers rights

workingmums.co.uk outlines your rights if you work part time.

Part Time or Full Time writing on block with clock on top

 

workingmums.co.uk gets a lot of emails from people who have been treat differently because they work part time, whether that is that they are paid less, are excluded from certain benefits or training or are first in line for redundancy.

However, employment law protects part-time workers from being treated less favourably than full time workers. All part time workers should get the same treatment across pay and benefits, pensions, holiday entitlement, career development, promotion and redundancy.

If you feel that you have been overlooked for something purely because you’re part time, and there’s no logical reason for this, you could have a case for discrimination under Part-Time Workers Regulations.

A part-time worker is someone who works fewer hours than a full-time worker. There is no specific number of hours that makes someone full or part-time, but a full-time worker will usually work 35 hours or more a week.

The Government says that part-time workers should get the same treatment when it comes to pay (including sick pay, maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay), pension opportunities and benefits, holidays [which are usually decided on a pro rata of full-time entitlement as are benefits such as a Christmas bonus], training and career development, selection for promotion and transfer, or for redundancy and opportunities for career breaks.

They may, however, only qualify for overtime pay when they have worked over the normal hours of a full-time worker.

Nevertheless, there are some situations when employers do not have to treat part-time workers in the same way as full-time employees. In these situations the employer must be able to show there is a good reason to do so – this is called ‘objective justification’.

The Government gives the example of health insurance. If the employer can objectively justify why it needs to provide health insurance to full-time workers and not to part-timers then it can do so, for instance, the costs involved are disproportionate to the benefits part-timers are entitled to. In this case the employer may come up with an alternative like asking the part-time worker to make a contribution to the extra cost.

If you suspect you are being treated differently to a full-time worker, you can ask your employer for a written statement of reasons for the treatment. The request should be made in writing and the employer must write back within 21 days.

If the worker is not satisfied that the reason given was objectively justified, they may be able to take a case to an employment tribunal.

Going part-time, but not having your duties reduced

Under flexible working legislation, individuals have to make a business case for having their hours reduced and that includes taking into account the impact that might have on the business. Ways of mitigating this can then be discussed and negotiated with the employer.

The employer has a responsibility to take into consideration the role involved and whether it can be done part time before they agree the request. If an employee’s workload is such that they are consistently working over their hours and the employer does nothing to address this internal processes such as the grievance process should be followed and employers should be aware that they could face legal action, such as a possible sex discrimination case.

Annual leave and part-time workers

Annual leave is usually based on a percentage of what full-time workers get, including bank holidays. There are particular rules when it comes to part-year workers as opposed to people who work part-time throughout the year. You can find out more about annual leave here.



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