Part Time/Full Time
Jane works in a shop for twelve hours a week. She would like to work full-time but has children to run around after.
One Saturday morning when she is working in the shop she gets chatting to Sarah who works full-time. Jane is disgusted to learn that Sarah is paid 20 pence per hour more than she is. Jane moans a bit to Sarah but does not complain to the owner of the shop, Ian, because she has only been employed for eight months and does not want to rock the boat.
The following month, Ian announces that he is introducing a new stock control system and that all three full-time staff will receive training on how it works. Jane is really fed up now. She wants to be trained as well and feels like a second class citizen.
Jane’s friends encourage her to complain to Ian, so one morning she asks him why she is paid less than Sarah and why she wasn’t offered the chance to be trained.
Ian says that no offence is intended, but part-timers are less committed than full- timers and that’s why full-timers get a little more pay. He decided to only train the full-timers because they are in the shop more than the part-timers.
Three months later Ian tells Jane that the shop isn’t doing as well as he had hoped and that he has to make her redundant to save money. Jane asks why he has chosen her, and he explains that because the full-timers are the main bread winners in their families and because Jane’s job is a second income, he felt it was fairer to let her go. Jane thinks Ian dismissed her because she complained about her low pay and lack of training.
Ian has a total belief that he has acted fairly and done nothing wrong (although he is pleased to have got rid of a complainer). Unfortunately for Ian there is a piece of legislation called the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000. Under these regulations, part-timers have the right not to be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers unless the treatment can be objectively justified. This means that part- timers should:
- receive the same rates of pay as full-timers;
- receive the same hourly rate for overtime once they have worked more than the normal full-time hours;
- receive holiday entitlement pro rata to comparable full-timers;
- not be excluded from training simply because they work part-time;
- not be treated less favourably when it comes to selecting who is in a redundant job;
- not be treated less favourably for contractual sick pay, maternity pay or parental leave purposes;
- have the same entitlements to pensions and perks, such as bonuses, health insurance, staff discounts etc on a pro rata basis.
Even though Jane cannot claim unfair dismissal because she has not worked at the shop for a year, an employment tribunal will allow her to make a claim on the basis that she has been treated less favourably than a full-time worker.
Employees who believe they are being badly treated compared with comparable full- timers have a right to request a written statement from their employer which gives reasons for their treatment. Employers have to provide the statement within 21 days of the request.
The lesson for employers – don’t regard part-timers as being less important than full-timers and don’t leave yourself open to claims by discriminating against them.
Published 27/09/2006.
