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Rights for Part Time Employees

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Rights for Part Time Employees

A definition of what is known as a part time employer according to Daniels and Macdonald (2005, pg 92) “someone who works fewer hours than of what a company standard is which full time employers work. Part time workers have the same statutory right of their full time employees.” Growth in part time workers within companies as been evident within the European Union.
In Europe part-time workers are significantly increasing according to Brewster and Hegewisch (1994, pg 173). “One in seven people in Europe are working part time and this as enabled employment growth in the last decade” therefore individuals gain benefits as there are more jobs.
The reasons why individuals may prefer to work part time then full time may be because they may have other commitments such as balancing their work and home life which is known as work- life balance. Work life balance is where an individual can balance their social life and home life with their work life, all activities can be worked side by side. According to sparrow and cooper (2003) In Beardwell and Clayton (2007) work life balance concerns organisations that enable employees’ autonomy; this suggests that employees can split their work life with their other commitments outside of the workplace.
Part time employees cannot be treated less favourably because they work less hours then the company standard even if they are not a part of the company’s day to day duties as long as that employee is employed by that company they then have to be treated the same way as their full-time employees regardless of their status. In some cases the organisations can treat less favourably on objective grounds meaning that for instance, if the employee works 20 per cent less of those compared to the comparable full time employee then the company can treat them less favourable with justification to this.
So that the part time employee had the same advantage as the full-time employees within the company they should have a job specification which clearly identifies the company requirements for successful work contribution. The company should allow the part time employees to have the same opportunities in growing and developing their knowledge and understanding throughout employment within the company allowing them to progression. The employers should send their part time employees as well as their full-time employees to training on a regular basis and give appraisals. The company must give the part time employees the same benefit to be able to be promoted as well as their comparable full time employees. Comparable, in context with the part time working, meaning that a full- time employer whom is employed by the same employer doing the “same or broadly similar work under the same type of contract”. Daniels and Macdonald (2005, pg 92)
Part time employers are entitled to company benefits such as occupational pensions, annual leave and staff discounts. They have the same rights as their full time employees to be able to have access to company benefits. In some cases if the employer can justify that a particular benefit cannot be divided between the part time employees, such as if the employee wanted to take paid annual leave then they can but only for the number of days they are allowed, for example if a part- time employee works three days per week then they can take 18 days paid annual leave.
An organisation can withhold a company pension only on objective grounds which mean that they must give justification indicating acceptable reasons why that part-time employer is being treated less favourably to those full time employees for the company pension. But this treatment does not prevent the part time employee from entering an agreement with their employer allowing them to be able to apply for pension scheme.
They are entitled to overtime, if a comparable full time employee exceeds their maximum hours and gets paid overtime. Employers can specify that part time employees can claim for overtime only if they have worked the same hours of which a full time employee as worked before they can be claim.
When considering parental leave for part-time workers, under the part-time workers (prevention of less favourable treatment) regulations act 2000. They should have the same equal rights as their full time employees.
According to Daniels and Macdonald (2005, pg 92)under the employment rights act 1996 in order to receive paid parental leave the employee needs to be working for the company for a minimum of six months continuous service.
Also under the part- time workers act, part time workers have the right to request a written statement which gives explanation on treatments that they may think are breaching their rights within the act. Once the statement has been received, the employer must respond within 21 days of that statement being received, they must respond back with their own written explanation of why the employee is treated in this particular manner.
Employers have the right to treat employees differently if they have different contract types, in one case between Matthew and others Vs Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority, which involved 12,000 retained fire fighters, which were members of the brigades Union claimed that under the part time workers act they were being treated differently to their full-time colleagues. They made claims of not getting pay increases for taking up additional responsibilities, and calculations of their sick pay were unfairly done compared to their full time colleague. They were also excluded from company pension scheme. All claims were dismissed because the part time employees were under a different contract compared to their full time colleagues, they didn’t do the same or broadly similar work either.
All employees should be treated fairly regardless of their employment status but as from the case, it identified that if justification can be made to employees being under a different contract then employers can treat them differently. But all justification needs be made on objective grounds. As mentioned earlier employees can ask for a written statement outlining reasons to why they are being treated differently with objective grounds. The response needs to be within 21 days of receiving the request. If employees can clearly identify that treatment within their company is different between employment types, they can bring the law into this in accordance to the part time workers act.

Bibliography
Brewster, C., and Hegewisch, A., ed., (1994). Policy and Practice in European Human Resource Management. London : Routledge
Daniels, K., and Macdonald, L., (2005). Equality, Diversity and Discrimination: A Student Text. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Mullins L.,(2007). Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Matthew and others Vs Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority (2004) IRLR 698 Sparrow, P.R and Cooper C.L (2003). The Employment Relationship. In Beardwell and Clayton, T.(2007) Human Resource Management : A Contemporary Perspective 5th ed, Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. (Pg 148) http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?r.s=sc&r.l1=1073858787&r.lc=en&r.l3=1074411848&r.l2=1079568262&r.i=1074412004&type=RESOURCES&itemId=1074411968&r.t=RESOURCES http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/types-of-employment/part-time-employment/employment_rights_of_part_time_workers http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2006/07/05/36201/maternity-and-paternity-leave.html

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