Part-time workers – what are the legal implications and legal risks for employers ?
Employment law is generally very complex, and there are a significant number of both English and European law statutory rules which employers need to be aware of generally. As regards part-time workers, the starting point needs to be the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (PTW Regulations). The most important principle established by this Act is that part-time workers are given the right to challenge any alleged less favourable treatment on the grounds that the treatment is due to their part-time status and subject to a defence being available to the employer that any such less favourable treatment can be objectively justified.
As suggested above, there is an overlap between the PTW Regulations and other employment rights and protections for employees. For example, part-time workers can still bring sex, race, disability, age or religion based claims just like any other employee and based on protection from various statutes, the most recent of which being the Equality Act. It can often be a question of tactics for an employee as to whether to bring a claim based on the PTW Regulations or other legal grounds which may also exist, or perhaps both.