Working Part-Time During Community College – Know Your Rights!

Are you working and paying for community college at the same time? We understand. In fact, most community college transfer students have a part-time job.

It’s almost impossible these days for students to get by without working some sort of part time job, that is, if you are one of the lucky few able to find such a job.  For those of you funding your way through community college with a part time job, below is a summary of your legal rights as a part time worker:

• Your employment status as a part-time worker is protected by the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000. For ease, let’s call them “the Regulations”;

• You cannot be treated less favourably than other workers who are employed on a full-time basis.  This means you should be treated the same as a full time worker unless the employer can justify treating you differently and less favourably;

• So, unless your employer can give objective justification for doing so, your employer should:

• Give you the same contractual terms as a full-time employee;
• Provide the same working practices and facilities as a full-timer;
• Allow for identical pension provisions as a full-time worker;
• Most importantly, pay you the same hourly rate as a full-time employee.

• If you complain to your employer about less favourable treatment under the Regulations, or if you help someone else to do so, you cannot be treated less favourably than someone who has not done those things.  This type of treatment is called “victimisation”;

• Your employer can take a “pro rata” approach to pay and benefits, which means that you would get the same proportion of pay and benefits as compared to a full-time worker based on your hours worked.  For example, a full-time worker gets 26 days’ holiday per year.  A part time worker who works 60% of the full working week will get 60% of the annual leave, i.e. 15.6 days’ holiday per year.

• If a full-time employee gets increased overtime pay once s/he has worked in excess of 40 hours per week, a part-time employee also has to work in excess of 40 hours per week to get the same increased overtime pay.

If you think your employer is treating you less favourably than one of the full-time workers, you should ask your employer for a written statement of the reasons for that treatment. If you are unhappy with the reasons given, or the employer fails to provide such a statement, you may commence proceedings in the Employment Tribunal; a claim must be lodged within 3 months of the less favourable treatment complained of. If you succeed, the Employment Judge may order that you be paid compensation and/or order your employer to take action to address the less favourable treatment.

About The Author:

Chris Stevenson is the Marketing Manager at leading personal injury solicitor Russell Jones & Walker. Currently with over 500 staff the firm has a nation-wide network of offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Wakefield.