.jpg)
Case law: less favourable treatment of part-time workers - 06/06/2008
The case concerned a local authority that employed a number of lecturers, either on a full-time or part-time basis. In response to funding cuts, the authority had to make savings, and chose to allocate contractual work to teaching staff on a 'best fit' basis. Essentially, this meant that the full-time lecturers were given work to occupy all of the time that they were paid for, while hours worked by the part-timers were reduced to the guaranteed minimum of one-third of their total output in the previous year.
The part-timers' contracts expressly allowed their employer to vary their hours in this way, but full-timers' contracts made no comparable provision.
The part-timers argued that their contractual terms were less favourable on grounds they were part-time, which amounted to discrimination by reason of their part-time status. The employer argued it was not because of their part-time status that their hours were reduced; it was because they were employed under a contract that allowed it.
The employment tribunal found that there was no such discrimination, because previous case law suggested that any discrimination had to be solely on the grounds of part-time status and not where it was only in part for that reason.
However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) allowed the claimants' appeal, ruling that, once it was found that the part-timer was treated less favourably than a comparator full-timer, and being part-time was one of the reasons, that would suffice to trigger the relevant legislation.
As a result, discrimination against part-timers is now judged on the same basis as other discrimination claims (such as race, sex or disability claims), none of which require the discrimination to be solely down to the discriminatory factor.
Recommendation
Employers, who will naturally want to avoid paying staff for doing nothing, need to be very careful in their approach to any reorganisation involving part-timers.
Related Resources
in the Muckle LLP Resource Centre
