PART-TIME EMPLOYEES REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.79

PART-TIME EMPLOYEES REGULATIONS

1st January, 2003

LEGAL NOTICE 427 of 2002, as amended by Legal Notices 140 of 2007,

240 of 2008 and 117 of 2010 * ; and Act XXVII of 2016.

(1) The title of these regulations is the Part-time

Employees Regulations.

(2)

The purpose of these regulations is -

(a) to provide for the removal of discrimination against

part-time workers and to improve the quality of part-

time work;

(b) to facilitate the development of part-time work and to

contribute to the flexible organization of working time

taking into account the needs of employers and

workers.

Saving the provisions of regulation 13, these regulations

apply to all part-time workers as defined by the Employment and

Industrial Relations Act.

(1)

In these regulations -

"Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Act;

"leave" means vacation leave, sick leave, birth leave,

bereavement leave, marriage leave and injury leave and any other

leave to which a whole-time employee is entitled;

"ordinary hours of work" means the hours of work exclusive of

overtime;

"pro rata" has the meaning assigned to it by article 2 of the Act

Provided that

(a) when the employee is in part-time employment on a

variable time schedule, the weekly number of hours of

work shall be the weekly average number of hours of

work spread over successive thirteen week periods

commencing on the first of January of each calendar

year; and

(b) when the employee has not been in part-time

employment for a period of thirteen weeks the average

weekly number of hours of work shall be calculated

over the number of weeks in employment;

*In the case of part-time employees whose part-time employment is one in respect of

which social security contributions are not payable in terms of the Social Security Act,

who have been engaged as such prior to the date of coming into force of the Part-Time

Employees (Amendment) Regulations, 2010 - Legal Notice 117 of 2010 - and who are

still in their part-time employment on the date of the coming into force of the said

regulations, regulations 2 and 4 thereof shall commence to apply in their regard upon

the expiry of six months from the date of the coming into force of the said regulations.

"week" means a calendar week.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subregulation (1), terms and

expressions used in these regulations shall, unless the context

otherwise requires, have the meaning assigned to them in the Act.

(1) It shall be the duty of the employer to ensure that a

part-time employee is not treated less favourably than a comparable

whole-time employee -

(a) with regards to the terms of the employee’s contract of

employment; and

(b) by being subjected to any other detriment by an act, or

deliberate failure to act, of the employer solely

because of the employee’s part-time work

Provided that any different treatment may be justified on

objective grounds.

(2) Part-time employees shall be paid the same hourly rate

applicable to comparable whole-time employees

Provided that a part-time employee who in a particular

week works hours not exceeding the normal weekly hours of a

comparable whole-time employee, and is paid at the normal hourly

rate for such hours, shall not be considered as being treated less

favourably than a comparable whole-time employee solely because

the comparable whole-time employee is paid at a higher rate for

those hours worked in excess of normal weekly hours, so however

that

(a) if the part-time employee’s weekly hours of work

exceed the normal weekly hours of a comparable

whole-time employee, any such hours exceeding the

normal weekly hours of a comparable whole-time

employee, shall be paid at the same rate as that

applicable to comparable whole-time employees;

(b) any hours worked on Sundays and public holidays,

whether in respect of normal hours of work or for

hours in excess of normal hours of work of comparable

whole time employees, shall be paid at the same

hourly rates applicable to comparable whole-time

employees.

(1) 1t shall be the duty of the employer to provide a written

statement to an employee who requests such statement in writing

and who considers that his employer may have treated him in a

manner which infringes a right conferred on him by regulation 4.

(2) Such statement shall state the reasons for any difference in

treatment and shall be provided within twenty-one days from the

date of the request.

(3) A written statement made in terms of this regulation shall

be admissible as evidence in any proceedings under these

regulations.

(1)

All part-time employees shall be entitled pro rata inter

alia to -

(a) the minimum entitlement of all public holidays and

annual vacation leave, sick leave, birth leave,

bereavement leave, marriage leave and injury leave

applicable in terms of the recognized conditions of

employment and to such other leave established by

virtue of the Act;

(b) any entitlement to statutory bonuses and other income

supplements to which comparable whole-time

employees on similar duties with the same employer

are entitled in terms of the recognised conditions of

employment applicable to them.

(2) For the purposes of this regulation, the wage applicable to

the part-time employee shall be the hourly rate related to the

number of hours of work for which the employee is employed.

(1) The pro rata leave entitlement of a part-time employee

shall be computed in hours as a fraction of the total number of

hours of leave entitlement of a comparable whole-time employee.

(2) The pro rata leave entitlement of the part-time employee

shall be availed of as whole working days, with the equivalent

n u m b e r o f h o u r s b e i n g d e d u c t e d f r o m t h e p ro r a t a l e a v e

entitlement calculated in hours

Provided that when the residual hours of leave entitlement

are less than the part-time employee’s working day, the remaining

entitlement shall be availed of as part of a working day on one

occasion.

All part-time employees who are employed in such part-

time employment shall be entitled to participate in vocational

training programmes provided by or on behalf of the employer in

the same manner as whole-time employees at the same place of

work.

Every employer shall inform part-time employees about

the availability of whole-time work opportunities, and whole-time

employees about part-time opportunities to facilitate transfers from

full-time to part-time or vice versa within the same place of work.

Such information is to be given in a timely manner in order to allow

the employees to apply for the vacancy.

An employee’s refusal to transfer from part-time to whole-

time work and vice versa shall not in itself constitute a valid reason

for termination of employment, without prejudice to the justified

termination of employment as prescribed by the Act.

(1) A part-time employee shall be regarded as having been

unfairly dismissed if the reason for the dismissal or the grounds for

the dismissal are

(a) that the employee has

(i)

brought proceedings against the employer under

these regulations;

(ii) requested from his employer a written statement

of reasons under regulation 5;

(iii) given evidence or information in connection

with such proceedings brought by any employee;

(iv) otherwise done anything under these regulations

in relation to the employer or any other person;

(v) alleged that the employer had infringed these

regulations; or

(vi) refused (or proposed to refuse) to forgo a right

conferred on him by these regulations; or

(b) that the employer believes or suspects that the

employee has done or intends to do any of the things

mentioned in paragraph (a).

(2) Where the reason or principal reason for dismissal is that

mentioned in subregulation (1)(a)(v), or (b) so far as it relates

thereto, then subregulation (1) shall not apply if the allegation

made by the employee is false and not made in good faith.

(1) An employee may present a complaint to the Industrial

Tribunal that his employer has infringed a right conferred on him

by these regulations.

(2) Subject to subregulation (3), the Industrial Tribunal shall

not consider a complaint under this regulation unless it is presented

w i t h i n th e p e r i o d o f f o u r m o nt h s f r o m t he d a t e o f t h e l e s s

favourable treatment or the alleged unfair dismissal.

(3) For the purposes of calculating the date of the less

favourable treatment, where a term in a contract is less favourable,

that treatment shall be treated as taking place on each day of the

period during which the term is less favourable, but in any case

such period shall only start to run on the lapse of three months from

the date of publication of these regulations.

(4) Where an employee presents a complaint under this

regulation and the employer claims that the treatment is justified on

objective grounds, it shall be incumbent on the employer to prove

that the less favourable treatment is so justified on objective

grounds.

These regulations shall not apply to -

(a) holders of political office who are deemed part-time,

including Members of Parliament and local

councillors;

(b) persons who are following apprenticeship schemes or

schemes managed by Jobsplus;

(c) persons appointed on public sector boards,

commissions or authorities and, or who are so

appointed for an established term;

(d) persons who are holders of a judicial office.

These regulations shall be applicable without prejudice to

the introduction and implementation of more favourable provisions

in collective agreements and any other contract of employment or

employment relationship entered into between the employer and

the employee.