The Part Time Workers Essay Example for Free

The Part Time Workers EssayIntroductionWorking voice quantify jakes be a good counsel of balancing wizs work and personal commitments. Part- clip role players have the right to be treated fairly in comparison to their total- condemnation colleagues icn.ch. A underemployed worker is one who works fewer hours than a full- beat worker.Theres no specific number of hours that makes one full or leave-takingtime. The reasons for functional die-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 intimately 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 all(prenominal) work place. For example in havei ng countries night duty is viewed as a part time job whereas innovative countries adopt a system of part time employment where employees work per hour. Hence it kitty be implemented by day or night.The obtain 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 to a fault aimed at contri more thanovering 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 interposition such as discrimination in redundancy, promotion, training, subvention schemes and job benefits, pay and appraisal.Amendments to the part time workers regulations 2000According to the policy of the relevant Australian government perspective cpe.sa.gov.au, part time workers regulations were amended as followsP art-timers must be treated at least as well as similar full-time workers, unless the reason why not force out be objectively justified. An equivalent full-time worker is one doing a similar job on the equivalent type of contract.2) The regulations include temporary staff such as room and casual workers but part time agency workers cant comp atomic number 18 themselves to full time permanent workers. The regulations dont stop employers giving better term to part-timers, perhaps to encourage a more balanced workforce, but the employer willing 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 compargon 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 purpose 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 violate middling 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 price of admission 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 commensu mark with the hours worked cpe.sa.gov.au.RIGHTS OF break in TIME WORKERSPart-time workers rights are synonymous with analysing their rates of pay. In this regard, part-time workers must withdraw 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. 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 t ycoon 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 benefitsEmployers should not discriminate between full-time and part-time workers over access to pension schemes eoc-law.org.uk. Other party benefits (such as lodge 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 pop the question the benefit to everybody.Training and career developmentPart-time workers mustnt be excluded from training and career development opportunities compactlaw.co.uk. Training must be organised at multiplication that suit most workers, including part-timers.HolidaysAll workers have the right to a minimal 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 mean s 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, toleration and paternity leave and payPart-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 redundancyBeing 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.Flexi bility in workingIts important to balance your work and home life. The right to ask for flexible working aims to do employers and workers agree on work patterns that suit everyone compactlaw.co.uk. Any working pattern adapted to suit ones needs. Common types of flexible working arePart-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 20 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 decision making when to work the other hours).Compressed hours working your agreed hours over fewer daysS taggered hours different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace. subcontract sharing sharing a job designed for one person with someone elseHome working working from homeEffectiveness of part time workers regulations 2000a) 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 luck 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 ensur e that part-time staff are not excluded from profit sharing or function option schemes as such elimination 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 forwards 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 per ks 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 re quests 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 includeHow the hours of work will be dividedC ommunication strategy to be put in placeClearly defined roles and responsibilities for each employeeContinuity strategy to be put in placeReview 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 CitedAdvantages of claiming under the Part-Time Workers Regulationshttp//www.eoc-law.org.uk/Default.aspx? rascal=2676Cited 19 July 2007Amendments To The Part-Time Workers (Prevention Of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000http//www.dti.gov.uk/employment/workandfamilies/part-time/page19035.htmlCrown copyright 2007Council Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 concerning the Framework savvy on parttime working concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC. See amending acts http//europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10416.htmEqual Opportunities Commision.http//www.eoc.org.uk/default.aspx?page=15286 Cited 12 June 2007Flexible workin g and work-life balance an introductionhttp//www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/DG_10029491Key Skills Development Through Part-Time Voluntary Workhttp//www.corporate.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/iiabf?ii_app=modcatprocname=displaymodulecrse_cd=01997acdmc_sssn_cd=04/05Part-time work. http//www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10027738Part-time Employmenthttp//www.icn.ch/pspart-time00.htmCited 2000Steps for introducing part time and job share arrangementshttp//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 2000http//www.compactlaw.co.uk/free_legal_articles/part_time_workers_regs_2000.htmlWhy I Started a Virtual Companyhttp//members.aol.com/nancyds/ess-telecom.html