Part-time workers

Case 6: The facts

In this long-running case, a group of retained (part-time) firefighters claimed that they were not given the same rights to pensions and other benefits as their full-time colleagues, and that this was contrary to the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 .

The Court of Appeal rejected their claims on the grounds that, although they were employed under the same type of contract, they did not do the same or broadly similar work as their full-time comparators.

The ruling

The House of Lords ruled in favour of the retained firefighters. Agreeing with the Court of Appeal that they worked on the same type of contract, the Lords also said that they were engaged in the same kind of work as their full-time comparators.

It held that, when deciding whether work is the same or broadly similar, tribunals should focus on the similarities in the work rather than the differences.

Matthews & others v Kent & Medway Towns and Fire Authority & others [2006] UKHL 8