UK Employment Alert No. 136: Part-timers and Bank Holidays
April 10, 2007
Background
The Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (the Regulations):
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prevent less favourable treatment of part-time workers (compared to full-time workers);
- if the only reason for such treatment is because they work part-time and the treatment is not objectively justifiable.
The Facts
M worked part-time for CBSL. M worked Wednesdays to Fridays.
CBSL’s policy was that employees were allowed to take bank holidays off work if the bank holiday fell on a day when he/she ordinarily worked. M was therefore allowed to take bank holidays off if they fell on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. However, if a bank holiday fell on a Monday or a Tuesday, this did not affect M’s working week and he did not receive time off in lieu.
At least four bank holidays in the UK fall on a Monday. M brought a claim alleging that CBSL’s policy in relation to bank holidays amounted to less favourable treatment which was due to his part-time status. He claimed that this was a breach of the Regulations.
What did the Court decide?
The Court of Session held that CBSL’s policy was not in breach of the Regulations.
The Court emphasised that the Regulations are only breached if the individual is treated less favourably solely because he or she is a part-time worker.
In this case, the Court found that M had not been less favourably treated solely because he worked part-time. The reason he was not allowed to take time off in lieu of Monday bank holidays was because he did not work on Mondays. The Court found that CBSL would have treated a full-time employee working Tuesday to Saturday in the same way.
What this means for employers
This is a useful decision because it reminds us of the relatively narrow scope of the protection given to part-time workers.
Employers are prohibited from treating such individuals less favourably simply because they work part-timer. However, if employers have legitimate business practices, which treat part-timers and full-timers differently but which are unrelated to the fact that the individuals are part-time, these are unlikely to amount to a breach of the Regulations.
From a practical perspective employers should re-visit contracts and policies to ensure that they are worded appropriately and reflect both the employer’s intention and actual working practices.
In this case, it was extremely useful to CBSL that their contracts of employment stated that employees were entitled to public holidays or time off in lieu of public holidays only “…. where these fall on your normal working day….”
