Part-timer was treated unfavourably at school

If you’re a fixed-term worker you’re protected from suffering discrimination. If you’re a part-time worker, you’re also protected. But what is the legal position if you are a part-time worker on a fixed-term contract?

In Dorset County Council v Omenaca-Labarta UKEAT/0092/08/DA, an employee taught ICT and French three days a week on a contract due to expire in August 2006. Due to falling levels of pupils and a subsequent fall in funding, his employer proposed merging some teaching posts.

The school sought to lose 0.6 of a full-time teacher, which corresponded to Labarta’s hours. Rather than putting all the staff into a redundancy pool, the school simply decided not to renew Labarta’s contract. No consideration was given to axing a permanent member of staff and offering him increased hours.

He successfully brought a part-time worker discrimination claim in an employment tribunal. On appeal, the EAT confirmed that part-time workers on fixed-term contracts can compare their treatment with full-time colleagues on permanent contracts. However, although such a comparison can take place, it found that it is not necessary for those different kinds of workers to always be treated in the same way.

The fact that an individual is on a fixed-term contract can be relevant to deciding whether treating a part-timer less favourably is justifiable on objective grounds. In this case, Labarta had been unjustifiably treated less favourably than his full-time permanent colleagues.