Law Queries

I am a part-time employee working alongside full timers. I have just found out that I am paid £1 an hour less than they are. I have raised this with my supervisor but have been told that I can't do anything about this because it is only women part-time workers who can take claims for equal pay.

If you are getting paid less than a full-time worker doing more or less the same job, you have the right to be paid at the same rate. It is true that at one time the only way that you could pursue claims of less favourable treatment was where the part-time worker was of one sex (usually a woman) and the full-time comparable worker was of the opposite sex. The law was changed in 2000 to give all workers, regardless of whether or not there was a gender difference, the right to be "no less favourably treated". If your employer still refuses to pay you at the correct rate you can take a claim to an employment tribunal.

More information: Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 and LRD booklet, Part-time workers - a legal guide for workplace reps