Powered by Lexis+®
Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
CASE STUDY

“Although cost was an important factor, our relationship with LexisNexis, their responsiveness, flexibility, and the integration available with other products were key factors.”

Irwin Mitchell

Access all documents on Part-time worker

Part-time worker meaning

What does Part-time worker mean?
In practice, a part-time worker is someone who regularly works fewer hours or days than a comparable full-time colleague doing the same or similar work for the same employer. Across the UK and Ireland, the concept is used to allocate terms and conditions and to prevent less favourable treatment. In Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Part‑time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 protect “workers”; in Ireland, the Protection of Employees (Part‑Time Work) Act 2001 protects “employees”. Each regime assesses part-time status by reference to a comparable full-time worker and applies the pro rata principle where appropriate. Key features include: a right not to be treated less favourably as to pay, holiday, pension, sick pay, training, promotion and dismissal, unless objectively justified; and the need for a suitable comparator (typically someone with the same employer on the same type of contract doing broadly similar work). Part-time status is not a separate employment status and does not remove general statutory employment rights, although some rights depend on hours or earnings thresholds. Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, though the UK framework speaks of “workers” and the Irish framework of “employees”. The term is distinct...
Speed up all aspects of your legal work with tools that help you to work faster and smarter. Win cases, close deals and grow your business–all whilst saving time and reducing risk.

View the related Checklists about Part-time worker

CHECKLISTS
ERA 1996 s1–3 written particulars checklist: Day One items, instalments, cross‑referencing; plus ERA 2025 trade union statement update (Great Britain)

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: On starting employment, workers must receive specified information. A forthcoming entitlement will require that a worker is provided with a written notice of their right to join a trade union, issued at the same time as the section 1 statement of employment particulars. This will be introduced by proposed amendments to Part III of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as provided for in section 58 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025). The precise content of that notice, its format, and the way it must be issued will be set out in secondary legislation following consultation. Further particulars will outline the items to be included, the layout the notice should adopt, and the mandated method of delivery. To track the implementation of ERA 2025, see Practice Note: Employment Rights Act 2025—tracker. This Checklist sets out the requirements relating to a written statement of employment particulars under sections 1 to 3 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The entitlement to a written statement...

Read More Right Arrow

View the related News about Part-time worker

NEWS
Employment law weekly: 2024 case law and legislation highlights, Employment Tribunal Rules 2024, discrimination and TUPE updates, immigration trends, EHRC guidance, and 2025 horizon scanning

In this issue: Horizon scanning Status and worker categories Cross-border, international and jurisdictional issues Benefits Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc) TUPE and asset purchases Bribery, modern slavery, tax evasion and fraud Employment Tribunals Immigration IRLR Highlights—January 2025 Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Employment resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Employment Highlights 2024/2025 Horizon scanning Employment Law—looking back at 2024 and ahead to 2025: The Lexis+® Employment team provide a concise overview of the standout employment law changes across 2024 and signpost what to watch in 2025, including movement on the Employment Rights Bill, the forthcoming employer duty to prevent sexual harassment, the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, plus other impending legislation and significant cases. See News Analysis: Employment Law—looking back at 2024 and ahead to 2025. Status and worker categories MoD loses application to rehear army reservists pension bias case: In Milroy v...

Read More Right Arrow
NEWS
Whistleblowing dismissal detriment: EAT allows vicarious liability for co-worker’s act; Osipov applied, Wicked Vision conflict, Court of Appeal pending (Treadwell v Barton Turns Development) (Great Britain)

Treadwell v Barton Turns Development Ltd [2024] EAT 137 What are the practical implications of this decision? The practical effect is that uncertainty endures as to whether a claimant can contend both that a co-worker imposed the detriment of dismissal and that the employer bears vicarious responsibility for that misconduct, even though the employer could not itself be personally liable for the detriment of dismissal. Pursuing such a formulation assists the claimant owing to the approach to causation, and because compensation for injury to feelings is available on a detriment claim but not for an unfair dismissal claim issued directly against the employer. In this appeal, HHJ Barklem indicates adherence to the unambiguous language of paragraph 91 in Osipov, which points to vicarious liability being capable of arising in these circumstances. That conclusion directly clashes with Bourne J’s judgment in Wicked Vision, which reached the reverse view on the footing that paragraph 91 did not form part of Osipov’s ratio. The consequence is a continuing lack of clarity pending...

Read More Right Arrow
NEWS
Employment law weekly: Mercer on TULRCA s 146, whistleblowing detriment, confidentiality injunction, JCG 17th edition, food delivery right to work checks, levy transfers, ET/EAT updates, pensions pot for life

In this issue: Status and worker categories Employment tribunal equality claims Whistleblowing Individual rights arising from union membership Confidentiality, duties and restrictions: enforcement Employment tribunals Employment Appeal Tribunal Pensions LexTalk®Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Status and worker categories Food delivery companies to introduce right to work checks for substitute drivers The Home Office has stated that, following discussions with the UK government, Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats plan to curb misuse of driver account sharing by their drivers. Each platform has agreed to implement new procedures enabling verification that any substitute couriers have permission to work in the UK. All three companies have reiterated plans to roll out checks to confirm substitutes’ legal right to work. Deliveroo has already begun, adding right to work screenings for substitutes at the registration stage earlier this month. See: LNB News 30/04/2024 76. Department...

Read More Right Arrow

View the related Practice Notes about Part-time worker

PRACTICE NOTES
Tied agricultural worker accommodation: R(A)A 1976, HA 1988, RH(W)A 2016 and Renters’ Rights Act 2025: security, rent control and possession (England and Wales)

Introduction This Practice Note examines how dwellings (often called 'tied cottages') provided to agricultural workers as part of their employment terms are regulated under the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 (R(A)A 1976) as a 'protected occupancy', or the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) as an 'assured agricultural occupancy', or the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (RH(W)A 2016) as an 'occupation contract'. It also considers the effect and implications of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA 2025) on those lettings. Non-tied accommodation (ie lettings of farm houses and other dwellings on agricultural land) will generally be subject, as appropriate, to the provisions and requirements of the Rent Act 1977 (RA 1977), HA 1988, or RH(W)A 2016. Lettings under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 or the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 that include dwellings fall outside the scope of this Practice Note. These lettings are not affected by RRA 2025...

Read More Right Arrow
PRACTICE NOTES
Statutory annual leave carry-over in Great Britain: Working Time Regulations 1998, 2024 reforms, sickness, family leave and employer duties, with pre-2024 case law and termination pay

Statutory paid holiday In Great Britain, workers have a legal entitlement to 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833. It should be recognised from the start that this is made up of two components: a core entitlement of four weeks’ paid annual leave (often called ‘Euro leave’) (WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 13), and an extra 1.6 weeks’ paid annual leave (WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 13A) Different rules apply to irregular hours and part-year workers for holiday years beginning on or after 1 April 2024. For further details, see Practice Note: Statutory paid holiday—irregular hours workers and part-year workers. For the position in Northern Ireland, which has its own Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, SI 2016/49, see Practice Note: Employment law in Northern Ireland—Working Time Regulations and holidays. The basic four-week entitlement reflects the UK’s implementation of the EU minimum in Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC (the Working Time Directive),...

Read More Right Arrow
PRACTICE NOTES
Social Work England fitness to practise: triage, investigation, accepted disposals, interim orders, automatic removal, sanctions and appeals

Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 (CASWA 2017) created Social Work England (SWE) as the regulator for social workers in England, replacing the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The regulation of social workers was formally transferred to SWE from the Health and Social Care Professions Council in December 2019. SWE operates under the auspices and oversight of the Professional Standards Authority. As a result, the Professional Standards Agency is, in specified circumstances, able to refer a case to the High Court. See Practice Note: Professional Standards Authority. SWE was established to deliver a new and different approach to regulation. Accordingly, some variation can reasonably be expected between the approach of more established regulators and that of SWE. SWE aims to set the tone as a collaborative regulator, emphasising that it shares and reflects the values of those it regulates. On a practical level, for the fitness to practise process this translates into there being multiple opportunities for Registrants to engage at an early stage, together...

Read More Right Arrow

View the related Precedents about Part-time worker

PRECEDENTS
External DPO appointment terms—pro‑client amendments, warranties and Schedule for company‑to‑individual consultancy agreement under UK GDPR

Delete clause 3.6 of Precedent: Consultancy agreement—company and individual—pro-client and replace it with the following clauses 3.6 and 3.7: 3.6 How you organise your work is for you alone to determine, and you shall perform your duties as data protection officer (DPO) (as described in the Schedule) in an independent and self-directed manner at all times. You will not be given (and the Company [ and its Group Companies ] will not attempt to give you) any directions or instructions whatsoever concerning the performance or exercise of those duties. 3.7 Subject to clause 3.6, you shall give proper consideration to the reasonable requests of the [ Board OR Chief Executive ] from time to time and, where reasonably practicable, as appropriate, properly work and co-operate with any employee, worker, agent or other consultant of the Company [ or any Group Company ] in the provision and delivery of the Services. Insert the subsequent provisions in Precedent: Consultancy agreement—company and individual—pro-client as new clauses 3.14 and 3.15...

Read More Right Arrow
PRECEDENTS
Template ET3 grounds to resist agency worker antenatal appointment time off claim (England, Wales and Scotland)

[ Insert in para 6.1 of response form ET3: ] It is accepted that the Claimant is an agency worker with the First Respondent. It is accepted that she began an assignment with the Second Respondent on [ insert date ]...

Read More Right Arrow
PRECEDENTS
Employment Tribunal ET1 grounds: agency worker claim for unreasonable refusal of time off to accompany partner to antenatal appointment (against hirer and agency)

Insert in para 8.2 of claim form ET1: Engaged by the First Respondent, a temporary work agency, the Claimant is an agency worker. He began assignment with the Second Respondent on [ insert date ]...

Read More Right Arrow

View the related Q&As about Part-time worker

Q&As
Holiday carry over if leave not prevented: permitted by contract?

Under WTR 1998, workers get 5.6 weeks’ annual leave each year: a basic entitlement of four weeks’ leave (20 days for a standard full‑time worker) implementing article 7 of the Working Time Directive (WTD) an additional 1.6 weeks’ leave (eight days for a standard full‑time worker) created by domestic law only Understanding this distinction is important because: European Court of Justice case law concerns the WTD alone, so it applies only to the basic four weeks’ paid leave holiday pay is calculated differently for: the basic four weeks, and the additional 1.6 weeks The general rules as to the right to carry forward accrued holiday entitlement are that: the basic four weeks must be taken in the leave year earned and cannot be carried over (though an employer may choose to allow it) a relevant agreement may allow the additional 1.6...

Read More Right Arrow
Q&As
Payroll-only daughter, shareholder director: employee or worker?

If a business claims to hire and remunerate an individual with a wage to reduce the tax burden of the business itself or a director/shareholder, while the individual in reality undertakes no work and supplies no services, this would appear to constitute tax evasion. Where a solicitor knows this is happening, they should adhere to the procedures prescribed in the firm’s policy on preventing the facilitation of tax evasion in such circumstances...

Read More Right Arrow
Q&As
RLMT: If salary range added, must the 28‑day job advert restart?

Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) When placing a vacancy under the resident labour market test (RLMT), a sponsor must retain a screenshot of the website taken on the day the advert first goes live, unless the advert itself shows the date it was posted, in which case the screenshot can be produced at any point while the listing remains valid. See Practice Note: Resident Labour Market Test. If the wording of the advert is altered, the screenshot held by the sponsor to meet the above requirement will not match the actual particulars of the role (including the remuneration package). This inconsistency could lead, on audit, to a finding that the RLMT process was not followed. To minimise the risk of non-compliance on this matter, it is advisable to repost the advert, capture the requisite screenshots on the first day it appears as required by the RLMT, and refrain from changing the advert’s contents throughout the minimum 28-day period...

Read More Right Arrow