Employee Rights for Part Time Workers

What is a part-time worker

A part-time worker is someone who works fewer hours than a full-time worker. There's no specific number of hours that makes someone full or part-time, but a full-time worker will usually work 35 hours or more a week.

Pension opportunities and benefits

Employers should not discriminate between full-time and part-time workers over access to pension schemes. Other company benefits (such as company cars, employee discounts, and health insurance) should be given pro rata if possible. If this is not possible then your employer will have to decide whether or not to offer the benefit to everybody.

Training and career development

Part-time workers must not be excluded from training and career development opportunities. Wherever possible, training must be organised at times that suit most workers, including part-timers.

Holidays

All workers have the right to a minimum amount of annual holiday. From 1st April 2009 the statutory minimum entitlement is 5.6 weeks holiday a year, based on your normal working week. For example, if you work:

• 20 hours a week, your statutory holiday entitlement is 5.6 20-hour weeks
• three days each week, you have the right to 16.8 days' holiday - that's 5.6 weeks of three days each

Many employers give more than the statutory minimum amount of holiday. Under the regulations part-timers should be treated no less favourably; this normally means that a part time worker will get a pro rata proportion of what the full-time workers get.

Your employer can't round down the number of days given, because this would be unfavourable treatment, but fractions of a day might be given as hours.

Your employer can control when you take your holiday so they can make you take bank holidays from this entitlement when they coincide with your working days.

Opportunities for career breaks

Some employers let employees take career breaks. If you're a part-time worker, you have the right to the same opportunities.

Sick pay, maternity, adoption and paternity leave and pay

Part-timers are entitled to the same rights to sick pay and maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay, and parental leave as full-time staff. If companies give more than the statutory entitlement, part-timers must also get these contractual benefits.