There has been a substantial growth in part-time work in recent years. The Government has issued guidance on best practice in the use of part-time workers, covering issues such as widening access to part-time work and making part-time work more accessible ( Part-time workers ).
Employers who differentiate between full-time and part-time workers in their employment practices need to bear in mind two aspects of the law. One is indirect sex discrimination. The other is the need to comply with the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000.
A large majority of part-time workers are women. Employers who limit the benefits or opportunities available to part-timers may therefore be indirectly discriminating against their female employees on the ground of their sex, unless they can objectively justify their position.
The broad principle established by the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 is that an employer must treat part-timers of either sex equally with full-timers, unless it can objectively justify treating them less favourably. Treating part-timers less favourably is justified only if the employer can show that the treatment is aimed at achieving a legitimate objective, it is necessary to achieve that objective and it is an appropriate way of achieving that objective.
In order for a comparison to be possible under the Regulations between a part-timer and a full-timer, they must work under similar types of contract. For example, the Regulations do not allow a comparison between the terms and conditions of a part-time 'worker' (workers ) or apprentice and those of a full-time employee. Comparisons are possible, however, between employees working under fixed-term contracts and employees with open-ended contracts. The comparison must also be between workers doing the same or broadly similar work, taking into account, where relevant, their level of qualifications, skills and experience.
A different comparison applies for part-time workers whose hours have been reduced from full-time, or who were full-timers but have returned to work on part-time hours after less than 12 months' off work. They are entitled to the same terms as they had while full-timers, unless their employer can objectively justify treating them otherwise.
The principle of equal treatment applies to all terms and conditions of employment, although a part-timer's entitlement may need to be reduced to reflect the hours he or she works, where relevant. For example, if a full-timer who has normal hours of 38 hours a week is entitled to 65 working days' occupational sick pay, a comparable part-timer on 19 hours a week should be entitled to 32.5 days' sick pay, unless the employer can objectively justify giving the part-timer less. (In this example, both full-timer and part-timer are entitled to 13 weeks' sick pay, but the full-timer receives five days sick pay each week whereas the part-timer receives two and a half days' sick pay each week.) It is lawful, however, not to pay part-timers an overtime premium until they have exceeded full-time hours. Pay discrimination against part-timers is discussed elsewhere in this Guide (part-timers ).
The Regulations are not limited to contractual terms. They also require employers not to put part-timers at any other type of disadvantage compared with full-timers, unless they have objective justification for doing so. Government guidance therefore recommends that, in order to comply with the law, employers should ensure that part-time staff are not excluded from training opportunities simply because they work part-time, and that training should be scheduled so far as possible so that all staff, including part-timers, can attend. Similarly, part-time status should not of itself be a barrier to promotion. And part-timers should be treated in the same way as full-timers in a redundancy situation, on the basis of selection criteria that are objectively justified.
Part-timers who believe they may have been discriminated against because of their part-time status can ask their employer for written reasons for their treatment. If an employer fails to respond to a request without reasonable excuse, or provides a response that is evasive or unclear, and the part-timer then brings a claim under the Regulations, the employment tribunal that hears the claim is entitled to take the employer's conduct into account when deciding whether it has complied with the Regulations.
It is unlawful for an employer to penalise a worker for asserting or enforcing his or her rights under the Regulations, or for supporting someone else in bringing a claim. It is also automatically unfair to dismiss an employee on these grounds, regardless of the employee's length of service. This protection does not apply where a worker has alleged that his or her employer has breached the Regulations and the allegation was not only false but also not made in good faith.