Part-time and full-time employees – what’s the difference?

As an employer you may not always want to employ someone on a full-time basis.

A part-time employee may suit your current needs better.

But when is an employee considered to be ‘part-time’?

There is no clear definition in legislation of a part-time or full-time employee.

Here’s the definition:

A part-time employee is defined in law as an employee whose normal hours of work are less than the normal hours of work of an employee who is a comparable employee.

That’s clear right?

But what does comparable employee mean?

A comparable employee means a full-time employee that a part-time employee compares themselves with i.e. do the same work or work of a similar nature.

As definitions go this really isn’t great.

In reality, it tells you very little to help you really define a part-time employee.

So, what does it mean?

It means that it all comes down to the number of hours your employee works when compared to a full-time employee.

A part-time worker is someone whose usual weekly hours of work are fewer than the regular hours regarded as ‘full-time’ in his/her industry.

The maximum average working week for most full-time employees cannot exceed 48 hours.

Generally, most employers will require a full-time employee to work somewhere between 32 – 40 hours per week.

Therefore, any employee who works less than this average per week may be considered part-time.

Part-time jobs are known for having flexibility, such as the option to work just mornings or 3 days per week, for example.

While full-time employees are expected to work most, if not all, of the week.

This is why full-time jobs are often referred to as “9-to-5”.

But do different legal rules apply between the two types of employment?

The short answer is no.

The same legal protections apply.

Now this may be a little surprising to some of you.

Perhaps you thought that the employment rules applied to part-time employees would be different to any full-time employee.

But that’s not the case.

A part-time worker cannot be treated less favourable than a full-time employee in respect of any condition of employment such as pay and holidays.

But these entitlements are generally in proportion (pro-rata basis) to the entitlement of full-time employees.

So holidays and pay are calculated based on hours worked.

Part-time employees have statutory protections under the Protection of Employees (Part-Time) Work Act 2001.

For all intents and purposes, the only difference for you as an employer is that your part-time employee works less hours.

But that’s it … they are still entitled to Terms of Employment and all the protections that full-time employees benefit from.

They also have the same protections under unfair dismissal legislation.

So, if you are thinking of hiring a part-time employee believing that the legal protections they are entitled to are less, a word to the wise… they’re not!

There are two circumstances when a part-time employee can be treated less favourably than a full-time employee…

…and these are:

• Where it can be justified on objective grounds
• On pensions in limited circumstances

Objective grounds

If you have an objective ground for treating a part-time employee differently and that treatment is appropriate and necessary for achieving a business objective, then you can argue you are justified for a difference in treatment.

For example, if you deny a part-time employee health insurance when a comparable full-time employee has it, this may be justified because the cost of providing health insurance to a part-time employee is disproportionate.

Pensions

If a part-time employee normally works less than 20% of the normal hours of a comparable full-time employee, then you can treat that employee in a less favourable manner with regard to a pension scheme.

And then there’s overtime…

Your part-time employee is entitled to overtime pay if you full-time employee is paid overtime, after working their maximum hours per week.

However, you are entitled to have any part-time employee work the same number of hours as your full-time employee before you pay them any overtime.

So, if your full-time employee works a 39-hour week before being paid any overtime, then you can have your part-time employee work 39 hours before any overtime rate is paid.

If they usually work 20 hours, then you continue to pay the normal rate for any hours worked between 20 and 39 hours.

You can find our part-time employment contract here

Of course, you have other employment options as an employer.

These are covered in our useful guide employment contract or something else