Unfavourable Treatment of Part-Time Workers

An EAT ruling has clarified some points about the treatment of part-time workers.
Under the Part-Time Worker Regulations 2000 a part-time worker should not be “treated by his employer less favourable than the employer treats a comparable full-time worker….if the treatment is on the ground that the worker is a part-time worker.”
The case of a part-time shorthand teacher illustrated both parts of this provison when she claimed that she should be paid for preparation time as full-time teachers are.¬† There was no comparable full time teacher of shorthand, and the EAT ruled that a ‘hypothetical generic full time teacher’ was not a valid compairson, and the case was not upheld.
However, the EAT did state that in order to make a successful claim it is not necessary for the part-time status of an employee to be the only reason for less favourable treatment, but that it is an ‘effective and predominant cause”.