Working part-time?

Contents of this page:

• Working part-time
• Your new rights
• How the new law works
• Are you covered?
• What about your employment status?
• What rights are covered?
• Comparing yourself to full-timers
• Writing to your employer
• Pay
• Working hours
• Sickness
• Pregnancy
• Training
• Pensions
• Holidays
• Discrimination
• Questions and answers
• Useful contacts
• Unions today

Working part-time? Thanks to Europe there are new rights for part-timers. This page explains your new rights to:

• be treated the same as a full-time worker in a similar job
• have the same terms and conditions as a full-time worker doing the same job as you

and there's a short round-up of how other rights at work apply to part-timers.

Working part-time

One in four people at work are part-time. That's more than six million part-time workers in the UK, and the number has grown significantly in the last twenty years. Many more women are staying in work after having a baby, and many are returning part-time to make it easier to combine work with childcare. The evidence is that many more would like to make that choice.

Some men also work part-time, but usually for different reasons. Some are combining part-time work with studies or have reduced their hours before retiring. Others would rather work full-time, but are having to make do with one or more part-time jobs. And of course women without children can also work part time for these reasons.

Your new rights

If you are working part-time, then a new law aims to stop you being treated less favourably than your full-time colleagues. The new law is thanks to trade-union campaigning in Europe. This page gives a basic guide to these new rights and answers some common questions.

But employment rights are often very complicated, and before you challenge your employer you should take further advice. If you are in a union, they should be able to help. If not, other sources are listed at the end.

We have tried to make this page as accurate as we can, but it is only a short introduction and you should not take it as a comprehensive statement of the law.

How the new law works

If you are being treated less favourably because you work part-time, and your employer will not change your terms and conditions to bring them into line with full time colleagues, then you can take a case to an Employment Tribunal - a special and relatively informal court that deals with work issues.

Almost any term or condition of your job is covered by the new law, not just pay. So you can check whether you get the same holiday rights, pension rights, sick pay and access to training as your full-time colleagues. Of course some of these will be on a proportionate basis, normally called pro-rata.

In order to bring a case you need to show that:

• you are covered by the new law
• you have found a full-time worker - that the law allows you to compare yourself with - receiving better treatment than you
• the less favourable treatment is because of your part-time status

If your employer cannot justify the way you are being treated, you should win your case. It is then up to the employer to show that their treatment was acceptable.

Are you covered?

The good news is that most people who work part-time are covered by the new law.

You are covered:

• regardless of the hours you work
• even if you are temporary
• from the day you start work whether you are a worker or an employee

The new law does not decide whether you are a part-time worker by setting a minimum or maximum number of hours you need to work. As long as there are workers doing a similar job, working longer hours than you, and getting better treatment then you can bring a case.

You are also covered even if you are a temporary worker, working part-time.

You don't have to have been working for a set period to be protected. Even if you have only just started work you still have the right to no less favourable treatment.

What about my employment status?

Not everyone at work has the same status in law. The term 'worker' is normally applied to everyone who works for someone else in return for pay of some kind, while 'employee' is reserved for those who have a contract of employment. There is more about this vital difference in your job and the law.

Employees get a better deal than other workers when it comes to rights at work, but the good news is that in general the new part-time rights (like the minimum wage) apply to all workers including employees, home-workers, agency staff and the self-employed.

One exception is that the protection that employees have against unfair dismissal (see your job and the law) is extended to part-time workers dismissed for trying to use the new law.

But even if you do not have a contract of employment you are still protected against what the law calls detriment - such as being passed over for promotion - because you have claimed your rights or helped a colleague to claim under the new law.

If this happens to you, seek advice as you may well be able to claim compensation through an Employment Tribunal.

Comparing yourself to full-timers

To be able to claim your rights under the new law you have to show that your treatment has been less favourable than that of a full-time worker. But you cannot compare yourself with just any worker.

It has to be:

• a full-time worker, working for the same employer,
• in your own workplace working under the same type of contract as you; and
• doing the same or similar work to yours.

If there is no full-time worker at your workplace who matches this description, you can choose someone from another of your employers' locations.

So if you work part-time in a shop, where every shop assistant is part-time, and you find out that the full-time shop-assistants in the shop next door are better paid, then this is no help to you as they are not employed by the same employer. Nor would it help to find out your full time manager was getting better sick pay, because they are not doing the same or similar work to you.

But if you found out that someone employed by your employer, at another location, was working full-time in the same job as you but with a better hourly pay rate, then you may well have a case.

If you have been working full-time and shift to part-time work you can also compare your treatment with what you previously enjoyed when you were full-time. For example, if you have taken maternity leave and it is agreed that you return to the same job but part-time, you should be able to keep your existing terms and conditions, pro-rata to your working hours, unless your employer can justify the difference. You have this right to compare your situation to the one before you went on maternity leave provided you were not off for more than 12 months.

As long as there are full-time workers in your workplace doing generally the same work, you will be covered. If not, you will also be able to compare yourself with full-time workers at another location, provided they have the same employer as you and are doing broadly similar work to yours.

Writing to your employer

Once you have found the eligible full-time worker (your comparator) who is being treated better than you, you should write to your employer and ask why you are being treated differently. Before you do this however, you should talk it through with an adviser from your union or one of the sources at the end of this page. They may be able to help you write the letter.

Once your employer has your letter, they have to reply within 21 days. If they do not, a tribunal can take this as evidence that your rights have been breached.

There are at least four ways your employer can reply:

• they may say that there is no difference between the way you and your full-time comparator are being treated. You will need to look at their arguments carefully with your adviser. If you do not accept them, then you may have a Tribunal case.
• they may say that you have not chosen a valid full-time comparator. This is likely to be a legal argument that some difference in your employment status, your contract or the kind of work you do, means that you cannot use this person as a comparator. Again you will need to look at this closely with your adviser to see if it is worth challenging in a Tribunal. With any new law, it always takes a few cases to establish how the law will be applied in practice.
• they may accept that there are differences in the way you are treated but claim that your case falls into one of the narrow cases where the law does still allow discrimination. These are relatively rare, and again you will need expert advice.
  
• and of course, your employer may accept your case and improve your treatment or terms and conditions so that they are as good as your full time comparator. If they accept you are right, but then do not do anything about it, you are likely to have a very strong case at a Tribunal.

There is more about Tribunals and how they work in your job and the law. While you do not need to be legally represented to bring a Tribunal case, you are strongly advised to seek advice before making a claim. Discrimination cases in particular can become complicated legal arguments. There are also now more informal ways of resolving cases which have the advantage that you will not feed to go through the stress of a Tribunal case, but again you should take advice before accepting one of these.

What rights are covered?

Part-time workers are generally entitled to the same legal rights at work as full-time workers. In addition, if you are an employee, your contract of employment is likely to provide you with additional contractual rights better than the legal minimum.

The new law aims to ensure these rights are the same for both full-time and part-time workers. (If you do not have a contract of employment, as long as you can find a comparable full time worker, then any of the conditions enjoyed by your comparator should be available to you too.)

These may include:

• contractual maternity and parental leave;
  
• career breaks; and
  
• redundancy selection criteria.

Most of your contractual terms will be "pro rata" to the hours you work. For example if you work 24 hours a week and the full-time workers doing the same work are on 40 hours you will get 24/40ths (3/5ths) of their entitlement. Your weekly pay should be 3/5ths of theirs, your employer's contributions into your pension should also amount to 3/5ths of theirs.

Pay

You have the right to get paid on the same basis as comparable full-time workers. Usually this means getting the same hourly rate including any bonuses, profit or performance related pay, which the full-timer would get, but pro-rata to the hours you work. If you work during hours where full-time workers get paid shift pay, you may have a right to be paid it as well. You will not be entitled to enhanced overtime rates of pay unless you have worked the same number of hours as a full-time worker on basic rate pay. However, if you work more hours than you are contracted for, you should make sure you receive proportional extra pension, holiday and sick pay entitlements.

If there is no one in your work doing the same job as you, on a full-time basis, you may be able to use equal pay law to claim the same rate of pay as a full-time worker of the opposite sex doing a different job but where you can show that the 'value' of the jobs are the same.

Equal value is a complex area of law, but it basically means that you need to show that your job and the comparator job requires the same effort, responsibility, skills and decision-making. For example supermarket check-out operators have won a claim that their jobs were equal in value to men working in the company warehouse, speech therapists with hospital pharmacists, and domestic assistants in a hospital with male porters and groundsmen.

Everyone, full or part time, whether or not they are a worker or an employee, should be paid no less than the national minimum wage. This means that if you are aged 22 or over you should get at least £3.70 an hour and £4.10 from October 2001. If you are aged between 18 and 21 you have to be paid at least £3.20 an hour.

Working hours

You have the right to a break from work if your working day is longer than six hours, no matter how few hours you do each week. It is the number of hours that you work in the day which count. Your employer also has to consider giving you adequate breaks where the work you are doing is monotonous or the work rate is pre-determined, regardless of the hours you work in a day.

Sickness absence

As a minimum, you will get Statutory Sick Pay provided you are earning at least £72 a week in 2001.

If there is an additional occupational sick pay scheme in your work you should get the same contractual entitlement as comparable full-time workers. If your employer pays full pay to full-time workers off sick for six months, then you should also get your full pay, for your normal hours of work, for six months if you are off sick.

Pregnancy and parental rights

You get the same rights as full time employees. Your employer cannot give you less maternity or parental leave just because you work part-time.

You should get some maternity pay although what you get depends on your earnings. You also need to have been working for at least six months and have given your employer notice that you are pregnant and will therefore be taking maternity leave. If full timers that you could compare yourself with are getting a better deal under the company scheme you should also benefit. You can find more information at New Mum-to-be?

Training

You should not be excluded from any training provided by your employer just because you work part-time. Training should be scheduled as far as possible to allow you to take part. While on a training course (including a union course if you are a union representative) you should be paid the same as full-time workers who are also on the course if the length of the course means that it goes on past your normal working hours.

Pensions

You have the right to join any company pension scheme open to comparable full-time workers unless there are very good reasons why your employer can show that the costs of administering this would far outweigh any benefits to you.

Any pension you get should be pro-rata to the hours that you work

Holidays - what you can get

You have the right to:

• at least four weeks paid holiday a year; and
• pro-rata contractual leave, if this comes to more than the four weeks minimum.

Every worker has the right to at least four weeks paid holiday a year. It does not matter whether you are full-time or part-time you will get at least this, provided your contract is for at least three months.

If you are working part-time, but on every day of the week (ie working shorter days) you should get exactly the same number of days off a year. If you work fewer days in the week than full-time workers (not including any overtime) you have to get enough days off to give the same length of break. In other words if a full-time worker in a five-day week gets 20 days off (four weeks) a part-time worker working on three days a week would get 12 days leave, because this would also work out at four weeks.

Bank and public holiday entitlement will depend on what your contract says. Government guidance says that you should get time off pro-rata, but if this means you would, in practice, be working on days when other full-time workers are off (just because of the way your working days fall) your employer should consider letting you work at home, swap days or take a day's annual leave if you would prefer it.

Using discrimination law

Before the new law came into force, part-time workers could claim equal rights but only where the comparable employee was of the opposite sex. Women part-time workers could compare their treatment with that of male full timers, for example.

The advantage of the new law is that you do not need to prove sex discrimination (which can often be difficult to establish) to take a less favourable treatment claim. However, there will still be some cases where using sex discrimination law may be to your advantage. For example, if you cannot find a full-time comparator doing the same or a similar job, you may still be able to bring a sex discrimination claim where it is not necessary to have an actual comparator. You can also claim for "injury to feelings" under discrimination law, but not under the new law. Since some workers receive awards from tribunals for injury to feelings, it may be worth putting in a discrimination claim as well if the circumstances of your case would support it. Seek advice.

Questions and answers

I'm working for a small employer, does that make a difference?
No. It doesn't matter how large or how small your employer is. Even if only three or four people are working for your employer you still have the right to be treated no less favourably than any full-time workers doing the same work.

I only work 10 hours a week, does the law still apply to me?
Yes it does. It does not matter how few hours you work. You still should not be treated less favourably. Obviously you will get paid less than a full-time worker and will have fewer holiday days but these should only be relative to the hours you work. It does not mean that your employer can pay you at a lower hourly rate or give you proportionately fewer holidays.

What happens if I'm working for an agency?
You are still covered by the new law. It covers "workers" not just employees who have a contract of employment. You will be protected if you work for an agency or if you are a homeworker, a casual worker or self employed. You can find out more about your rights at Agency workers have rights too!

I think that I'm getting treated less well but I don't know for definite. What can I do?
You have the right to get a written statement from your employer, which explains the reasons for any difference in treatment. To get this you have to request it in writing. Your employer has to reply within 21 days of receiving your request. If you also think that sex discrimination is involved you can get your employer to answer detailed questions which will help you to establish whether you have a claim.

I've only just started working for my employer, can I still benefit from the new law.
It doesn't matter how long you have worked. Even if you have only been in the job a few days or weeks you still have the right to be treated no less favourably.

My employer wants me to work overtime but won't pay the overtime rate. Is this legal?
Unfortunately it is. You have the legal right to be paid an overtime premium only when you have done the basic hours of a full-time worker. You get paid basic only to that point, after which you would get the same overtime premium as the full-time worker would get.

Can I insist on a transfer to part-time work?
At present you cannot as the UK regulations do not provide for this. However, a European directive says that employers have to identify and review obstacles to part-time work and where possible eliminate them. Although the UK law does not specifically say this, under sex discrimination law a refusal to grant a request to work part-time can amount to unlawful indirect discrimination. You may also be able to use the fact that, in some circumstances, there is a legal right for new mothers to come back part-time for the first few months. Seek advice if you are in this position.

I've been told I can get my backdated pension rights. Is this true?
Yes. If your employer did not allow you to join the company pension scheme and you are still in work or left less than six months ago you will have the right to claim backdated pension rights, as the result of a ruling from the European Court of Justice in May 2000.

Full-time workers have had a cut in hours without losing pay. Will this affect me?
If comparable full-time workers are working less hours with no loss of pay this means that their hourly rate has gone up. Your rate should be increased by the same amount.

Because I work part-time my employer has said that I only qualify for half a service increment every year. Can this be right?
Your employer cannot make you work more years to get the same service increments that a full-time worker would get with fewer years. If a full-time worker gets an increment after a year, you should be treated the same. Your increment, however, will be pro-rata to the hours you work.

Useful Contacts

Maternity Alliance (advice to pregnant women and new parents) - 020 7588 8582 - www.maternityalliance.org.uk

New Ways to Work (advice on flexible/'family-friendly' working) - 020 7930 3355 - www.new-ways.co.uk

Discrimination Law Association (information on discrimination law and promotes access to representation for complainants) - 01933 225552

Health and Safety Executive (advice on pregnancy/maternity and health and safety) - 0541 545500 (Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 5 pm) - www.hse.gov.uk

Law Society (information on specialist solicitors) - 020 7242 1222 - www.lawsociety.org.uk

Law Centres Federation - 020 7387 8570 - www.lcf.org.uk

National Association of Citizens' Advice Bureaux - 020 7833 2181 - www.nacab.org.uk

Equal Opportunities Commission (advice and support on sex discrimination and maternity/parental rights legislation) - 0161 833 9244 - www.eoc.org.uk

Employment Tribunal Service Enquiry Line (information about making a claim) - 0345 959775

ACAS public enquiry points - general advice for workers and employers on legal rights - www.acas.org.uk

Birmingham - 0121 456 5856	Liverpool - 0151 427 8881
Bristol - 0117 946 9500	London - 020 7396 5100
Cardiff - 029 2076 1126	Manchester - 0161 833 8585
Fleet - 01252 811868	Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 0191 261 2191
Glasgow - 0141 204 2677	Nottingham - 0115 969 3355
Leeds - 0113 243 371

Inland Revenue (tax credits) - 0800 597 5976 - www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk (see also Tax Credits - your questions answered)

Benefits Agency (your local office will be in the phone book) - www.dss.gov.uk

Department of Trade and Industry - Further questions and answers on the Part-time Work Regulations can be found on the DTI website www.dti.gov.uk/er/ptqa.htm

Unions today - your friend at work

Many of the new rights described on this page have been won by union campaigning. And without union help and assistance many workers won't get the full benefit of the new deal at work.

Everyday unions help thousands of people at work. Last year unions won over £300 million compensation for their members through legal action. They won £1 million in equal pay claims - an average of £15,000 per member.

And of course unions help negotiate better pay and conditions.

But unions are not just there when something goes wrong. Union workplaces are safer, and more likely to help employees get on with better training and development programmes. Unions themselves provide training and services like legal advice.

And in the best workplaces employers and unions have put behind them outdated ideas of confrontation and work together in partnership.

Partnership employers recognise that staff morale and commitment are improved when they are treated well, have their views taken into account and enjoy job security. And in return staff take more pride in their work and are more ready to embrace the changes modern firms often need to compete.

Unions take on the bad employers, and work with the good to make them better.

To find out more about joining a union call the TUC know your rights line 0870 600 4 882.