PART-TIME EMPLOYEES g S.L.452.79 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.79
PART-TIME EMPLOYEES REGULATIONS
1st January, 2003
LEGAL NOTICE 427 of 2002.
Title.
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.
Applicability.
Cap. 452.
2. Saving the provisions of regulation 13, these regulations
apply to all part-time workers as defined by the Employment and
Industrial Relations Act.
Interpretation.
Cap. 452.
"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;
Cap. 318.
"principal employment" means that employment in respect of
which social security contributions are payable in terms of the
Social Security Act;
" 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;
"week" means a calendar week.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subregulation (1), terms and
expressions used in these regulations shall, unless the context
2 g S.L.452.79 PART-TIME EMPLOYEES
otherwise requires, have the meaning assigned to them in the Act.
Less favourable 
treatment of part-
time employees.
4. (1) Without prejudice to what is stated in regulation 6, 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) A part-time employee who is paid at a lower rate for
overtime than a comparable whole-time employee is or would be
paid in the same period shall not, for that reason, be regarded as
treated less favourably than the comparable whole-time employee
where or to the extent that, the total number of hours worked by the
part-time employee in that period, including overtime, does not
exceed the number of hours that the comparable whole-time
employee is required to work in that same period, disregarding
absences from work and overtime.
Right to receive a 
written statement.
5. (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.
Leave for part-
timers.
6. (1) Those part-time employees, whose part-time
employment is their principal employment, and who are employed
in such part-time employment for not less than twenty hours a
week, shall be entitled  pro rata  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:
Provided that where the maximum number of hours
permissible in terms of the recognized conditions of employment
PART-TIME EMPLOYEES g S.L.452.79 3
for a part-time employee is less than twenty hours a week, any part-
time employee in such employment shall be entitled  pro rata  to the
benefits in this regulation, if -
( a ) the part-time employment is the principal employment
of the employee; and
( b ) if the employee is employed for not less than fourteen
hours in any week.
(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.
Computation of 
pro rata  leave 
entitlement.
7. (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
number of hours being deducted from the  pro rata  leave
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.
Entitlement to 
participate in 
vocational training.
8. All part-time employees who are employed in such part-
time employment for not less than twenty hours a week or fifty per
cent of the normal working week, whichever is the lesser, within
the same class or category of employees, 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.
Duty of employer 
to inform part-time 
employees on 
whole-time 
opportunities.
9. 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.
Employee’s refusal 
to transfer to 
whole-time 
employment.
10. 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.
Unfair dismissal of 
part-time 
employee.
11. (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;
4 g S.L.452.79 PART-TIME EMPLOYEES
(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.
Complaints to the 
Industrial Tribunal.
12. (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
before the end of the period of three months, beginning with the
date of the less 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.
Exclusion. 13. 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 the Employment and Training
Corporation;
( 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.
More favourable 
conditions.
14. 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.
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