Equality and Human Rights Commission

Equal pay law can be used to challenge discrimination in pay and other contractual terms and conditions of employment against part-time workers

Part-time workers have the right to the same pay and benefits as full-time workers doing like work or work of equal value. Read more about Equal pay.

Discrimination in pay against part-time workers can occur in a number of ways. The most common are:

• being paid a lower hourly rate, or less than pro-rata salary, compared to full-time workers
• not having access to other pay benefits (such as occupational pension, bonuses, shift pay) compared with full-time workers
• not being given pro-rata pay benefits (such as holiday entitlement, sick pay, shift pay) compared to full-time workers.

This falls under equal pay legislation because women are much more likely to work part-time than men. This means that discriminating against part-time workers is likely to constitute sex discrimination against women, unless there is a clear and unbiased reason for it.

If a woman who works part-time makes a successful claim for equal pay with a full-time colleague, a male part-time worker can then make a claim for parity in terms and conditions with the woman. These are often known as 'piggyback' claims.

If the discrimination is plainly related to you working part-time and is not sex discrimination, you may have a claim under the Part-time Worker Regulations.