Engaging Casual Staff at Christmas
Author(s)Reggie Lloyd
Many employers engage casual staff over the Christmas period for a fixed period of time or as part timers. Employment law offers protection to persons engaged on a fixed term and part time basis. The Fixed Term (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 and the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 make it unlawful for staff employed for a fixed term or on a part time basis to be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees, unless the treatment is objectively justified. The Regulations mean that an employer must compare the terms of permanent and temporary staff and ensure that there are no differences in those terms; if there are, there needs to be an objective reason for the difference.
The persons engaged can be employees or workers – the distinction is important, as workers do not have the same legal rights as employees. All seasonal staff, unless they work in the excluded sectors or are genuinely self-employed, will have the same rights as permanent staff regarding holidays, working hours and rest periods under the Working Time Regulations 1998. Part time workers are entitled to holiday pay on a pro rata basis.
If an employer pays full time employees holiday pay for Public Holidays in addition to their statutory (4 weeks) entitlement, it is arguable that part timers should also be paid for Bank Holidays on a pro rata basis even though they are not obliged to work on that particular day.
This year Christmas and Boxing Day fall on Tuesday and Wednesday, which are Public Holidays. A full time employee would be entitled to 2/5ths of a week’s wages, so if he earned £200 per week he would be entitled to £80.00 holiday pay for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. A part time employee who works 1 day a week would still be entitled to 2/5ths of his week’s wages (£40.00) and thus be paid £16.00 for the same period even though his normal day of work is not Monday or Tuesday.
If you have questions on staff employment over the Christmas period or any other employment law related topics, Reggie Lloyd at Birkett Long Solicitors will be pleased to help. Call him on 01206 217300 or send an email to reggie.lloyd@birkettlong.co.uk
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