The Part Time Workers Essay Example for Free

The Part Time Workers Essay Introduction Working part time can be a good way of balancing ones work and personal commitments. Part-time workers have the right to be treated fairly in comparison to their full-time colleagues [icn.ch]. A part-time worker is one who works fewer hours than a full-time worker.  Theres no specific number of hours that makes one full or part-time. The reasons for working part-time vary from one individual to another. It may be that one simply wants to have a different work-life balance, or one may have caring responsibilities. Part time work means different things to different people. Part-time work may be defined as regular wage employment with hours of work substantially shorter than normal in the establishment concerned [direct.gov.uk]. It may mean working at night to some people or working during the day to others. This depends on the custom and practice of each work place. For example in developing countries night duty is viewed as a part time job whereas advanced countries adopt a system of part time employment where employees work per hour. Hence it can be implemented by day or night. The aim of this paper is to introduce the part time workers regulations 2000.This law was implemented [europa.eu] to facilitate the development of part time work on a voluntary basis. It also aimed at contributing to the flexible organization of working time in a manner that takes into account the needs of workers. It was amended in the year 2000 but came into force on 1st October 2002. Its aim was to prevent part time workers from less favourable treatment such as discrimination in redundancy, promotion, training, pension schemes and job benefits, pay and appraisal. Amendments to the part time workers regulations 2000 According to the policy of the relevant Australian government perspective [cpe.sa.gov.au], part time workers regulations were amended as follows: Part-timers must be treated at least as well as equivalent full-time workers, unless the reason why not can be objectively justified. An equivalent full-time worker is one doing a similar job on the same type of contract. 2) The regulations include temporary staff such as agency and casual workers but part time agency workers cant compare themselves to full time permanent workers. The regulations dont stop employers giving better terms to part-timers, perhaps to encourage a more balanced workforce, but the employer will need to be sure that doing this is not against other discrimination laws. 3) Part-timers must be treated at least as well as equivalent full-time workers, unless the reason why not can be objectively justified. An equivalent full-time worker is one doing a similar job on the same type of contract. 4) The regulations include temporary staff such as agency and casual workers but part time agency workers cant compare themselves to full time permanent workers. The regulations dont stop employers giving better terms to part-timers, perhaps to encourage a more balanced workforce, but the employer will need to be sure that doing this is not against other discrimination laws. 5) Employees wanting to work part time should discuss their requirements with their manager. If it is agreed that part time work can be arranged there should be a written agreement which includes the period of part time work, the actual hours of work, and the duties and responsibilities for the part time work arrangement. Any changes to these arrangements should be agreed to by both parties. 6) Employers are expected to give reasonable and positive consideration to requests to work part time. They should also provide objective justification of why vacancies are not suitable for conversion to part time.   They should develop a part time policy which ensures that employees are treated fairly and have equal access to general conditions of employment.   7) Appropriate management of part time employees is crucial. Managers need to consider ways of formally redesigning jobs to provide for part time work and ensure that part time employees are given equal access to training, development and promotional opportunities. Managers should check that the work load for part time employees is not the same as that of a full time employee and is commensurate with the hours worked [cpe.sa.gov.au]. RIGHTS OF PART TIME WORKERS Part-time workers rights are synonymous with analysing their rates of pay. In this regard, part-time workers must get at least the same hourly pay rate as a full-timer doing a similar job [eoc-law.org.uk]. This means that the part time bonus should be in proportion to the hours.   Ã‚  For example if a full time worker gets a  £1000 bonus, a part time worker working half the number of hours should get  £500. The employer should set the same working hours for enhanced overtime pay as for full timers. So the part timer might not get overtime pay until he/she has worked more than the normal hours of a full-time worker [eoc-law.org.uk]. Pension opportunities and benefits Employers should not discriminate between full-time and part-time workers over access to pension schemes [eoc-law.org.uk]. 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 the employer will have to decide whether or not to offer the benefit to everybody. Training and career development Part-time workers mustnt be excluded from training and career development opportunities [compactlaw.co.uk]. 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   [compactlaw.co.uk]. 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.   The employer should not round down the number of days given, because this would be unfavourable treatment, but fractions of a day might be given as hours. 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 [compactlaw.co.uk]. Selection for promotion and transfer, or for redundancy Being part-time cant be used as a reason for selection for transfer or redundancy, or refusing a promotion, unless it can be justified objectively [eoc-law.org.uk].   A part-timer who meets the promotion requirements have the right to be promoted. A part –timer who is transferred to the hardship areas should also get the same hardship allowances as a full-timer. Flexibility in working Its important to balance your work and home life. The right to ask for flexible working aims to help employers and workers agree on work patterns that suit everyone [compactlaw.co.uk]. Any working pattern adapted to suit one’s needs. Common types of flexible working are: Part-time: this is where one works less than the normal hours, perhaps by working fewer days per week. For example, if there are forty normal working hours in five days a week, one may choose to work for three days a week. This means that the part-timer will work for twenty four hours weekly. Flexi-time: in this case, one works at his/her convenient time. There is usually a core period during which one has to work. For example one can decide to do his/her duties in the night while another person prefers to work during the day. Annualised hours: your hours are worked out over a year (often set shifts with you deciding when to work the other hours). Compressed hours: working your agreed hours over fewer days Staggered hours: different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace. Job sharing: sharing a job designed for one person with someone else Home working: working from home   Effectiveness of part time workers regulations 2000 a) When reorganising workloads employers [direct.gov.uk] must be careful to ensure that part-time workers are not treated less favourably than full-time workers, unless the employer can justify the different treatment on objective grounds. This will mean for example, making a wider range of job types open to part-timers, such as levels of management. Part-timers should be given equal opportunity to seek promotion whether the post is full-time or part-time. The Department of Trade Industry recommend as best practice that employers periodically review whether posts they are offering could be performed by part-time workers and seek to maximise the range of posts designated as suitable for part-time work or job-sharing. b) Employers need to ensure that part-time staff are not excluded from profit sharing or share option schemes as such exclusion will be unlawful [direct.gov.uk]. However, if the exclusion can be objectively justified then it may be permissible, e.g. where a pro rata entitlement to share options by part-time staff would mean their share options would be so small as to be worthless, as it would cost more to realize the shares. c) Part-timers should have the same access to occupational pension schemes as full-timers, unless exclusion can be justified on objective grounds [direct.gov.uk]. d) It is no longer acceptable to choose to make part-time workers redundant before full-time workers. This would be unlawful under the Regulations and might also amount to sex discrimination if the majority of the part-time workers were women. The criteria for selecting jobs for redundancy must be objectively justified and not cause less favourable treatment between full-timers and part-timers [direct.gov.uk]. e) As far as perks such as health insurance, staff discounts, company cars and subsidized mortgages are concerned it may not be possible to divide these on a pro rata basis for part-timers and in that case an employer can decide whether or not to withhold these benefits from part-timers, but their decision must be capable of justification on objective grounds. If ways can be found to provide the perks then they should be provided [direct.gov.uk]. For example, in the case of a company car for full-timers an employer might calculate the financial value of this perk and give that value to a part-timer pro rata by other means such as a car allowance. f) Although there is no legal right for a worker to be able to change their hours of work the employment tribunals have in the past made rulings that where women returning from maternity leave are refused part-time hours that this could amount to indirect sex discrimination. As such employers must be sensitive to requests to work part-time and look at such requests sympathetically. Employers should consider establishing written procedures for considering requests by workers to change their hours [direct.gov.uk]. Conclusion The part time workers regulation 2000 has been effective in so far as it meets the purpose of this law which was to prevent part time workers from less favourable treatment has been achieved [direct.gov.uk]. It has facilitated the elimination of part time workers discrimination. It has also helped to improve the quality of part time work. It has also facilitated the development of part time work on a voluntary basis where the worker is allowed to make choice on the working time convenient for him/her. This law has also contributed to the flexible organization of working time in a manner which takes into account the needs of employers and workers. The law has also ensured that there is an agreement between the employer and the employee on various issues. These issues [direct.gov.uk] include: How the hours of work will be divided Communication strategy to be put in place Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each employee Continuity strategy to be put in place Review arrangements to be put in place. Part time workers in this country will therefore have a reason to work in an environment of increased security, both of personal rights and freedoms, and those related to employment. Works Cited Advantages of claiming under the Part-Time Workers Regulations http://www.eoc-law.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=2676 [Cited: 19 July 2007]    Amendments To The Part-Time Workers (Prevention Of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/workandfamilies/part-time/page19035.html [Crown copyright 2007]    Council Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 concerning the Framework Agreement on parttime working concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC. [ See amending acts ] http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10416.htm    Equal Opportunities Commision.   http://www.eoc.org.uk/default.aspx?page=15286 [Cited: 12 June 2007] Flexible working and work-life balance: an introduction http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/DG_10029491    Key Skills Development Through Part-Time Voluntary Work http://www.corporate.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/iiabf?ii_app=modcatprocname=displaymodulecrse_cd=01997acdmc_sssn_cd=04/05    Part-time work. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10027738    Part-time Employment http://www.icn.ch/pspart-time00.htm [Cited: 2000] Steps for introducing part time and job share arrangements http://www.cpe.sa.gov.au/policy.asp?a=viewid=15572view_id=15615o=idL1=854idL2=69idL3=idL4=       The Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 http://www.compactlaw.co.uk/free_legal_articles/part_time_workers_regs_2000.html    Why I Started a Virtual Company http://members.aol.com/nancyds/ess-telecom.html