Rights for Part-time workers

It is important to know your employment rights as a part-time worker as you have the right not to be treated less favourably than your full-time colleagues on all terms and conditions of employment.

This includes:

Pay: -  You have the right to equal treatment in terms of all forms of pay, including expenses, bonuses and performance related pay other pay related benefits, including profit related pay schemes.

Overtime: - As a part-time worker your employer can apply the same hours threshold to you as to a full time worker. So you may only be entitled to overtime pay once you have worked in excess of the normal hours of a full-time worker.

Holiday entitlement: - You will be entitled to the same holidays as full-time workers, calculated on a pro-rata basis. Your employer cannot round down the number of days you are given as this would be less favourable treatment, but fractions of days may be given as hours.

Bank holidays and public holidays: - If you work fixed days each week and your employer gives staff additional time off for bank holidays or public holidays, your employer should also provide you with additional time off even where normal working pattern does not always coincide with public holidays.  If your employer does not adopt such a practice, you might be placed at a disadvantage. For example, because most bank and public holidays fall on a Monday, those who do not work Mondays will be entitled to proportionately fewer days off.

In such cases, your employer should provide you with additional days off calculated according to the number of hours you work.  An employer may not be required to give you additional time off if you work on shift patterns under which full time and part-time employees are equally likely to be scheduled to work on bank holidays.

Pensions: - Part-time workers have the right to join any occupational pension scheme that is provided by the employer and which is open to comparable full-time workers, unless they can objectively justify not providing you with access. 

Sick leave and pay: - You will entitled to the same sick leave and pay entitlements as full time staff. This includes both contractual and statutory sick leave and pay entitlements.

Family or carers' related pay and leave: </Strong> Part-time workers are entitled to the same rights to maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay and parental leave as full time staff. If your employer provides more than the statutory entitlements, as a part-time worker you must also receive these entitlements, calculated on a pro rata basis, reflecting the hours you work.

Redundancy: - It is unlawful for the employer to treat you less favourably because you work part time when selecting people for redundancy. You are also entitled to equal treatment on redundancy pay which will usually be based either on your annual salary or wages.

Other workplace benefits:- You should not be excluded from workplace benefits if full time colleagues benefit from them. This includes for example, access to car parking, staff canteens, crèches, childcare provision, health care, travel loans, staff parties and staff discounts. 

Training: -Training should be scheduled as far as possible to allow part-time workers to participate. Whilst on a training course (including a union course) you should be paid the same as a full-time colleague on the course if the length of the course means that it goes on past normal working hours