PART
TIME WORKERS DRAFT REGULATIONS
Summary
of Regulatory Impact Assessment
The Government
is committed to removing discrimination against part time workers
because it is unfair and inefficient. The Regulations will ensure
that part time workers are not treated less favourably than workers
doing the same job full time.
Options
The Government
is obliged to introduce legislation to implement the European
Directive 97/81/EC and Section 19 of the Employment Relations
Act committed the Government to produce Regulations.
Expected
benefits
Due to a lack
of information about workers, the estimates presented in the RIA
are based on employees. Benefits and costs may, therefore, be
understated. However, it seems likely that any underestimation
will be very modest and should not affect the estimates by more
than about 5%. There are approximately 6 million part time
employees in Great Britain - all of whom will benefit from
added security. We estimate that 1 million have a comparable full
time employee. Equal treatment could directly benefit 400,000
part time employees through increases in pay and non-wage benefits.
The financial value of this improvement is estimated to be £23.4
million per year. There should be wider benefits to employers
and society. Greater confidence about equal treatment could help
increase movement between full time and part time jobs (increasing
labour market flexibility) and increase attachment to the labour
market. Employers will gain if this results in an increase in
the labour supply. The economy and society will gain as a whole
if people are able to achieve a better balance between work and
family responsibilities.
Estimated
compliance costs for employers
Total recurring
costs are estimated to be £27.4 million per year. There
are two main elements of compliance costs: bringing pay and non-wage
benefit entitlements into line with full time employees where
there is currently less favourable treatment (£6.7 m and £20.0
m respectively). The right to receive a written statement of reasons
for less favourable treatment is also likely to generate a cost
to employers (£0.7 m).
Sectors
affected
Most employers
will not be affected at all by these regulations as equal treatment
is already common practice. A high proportion of establishments
in the financial sector had some difference in provision of non
wage benefits, although only 2% of all part time employees work
in this sector and only 15% of all employees in this sector work
part time. The sector where a high proportion of employees work
part time and where a high proportion had a difference in non
wage benefits is wholesale and retail.
Small
businesses
A high proportion
of part timers (46%) work in small workplaces. However, a relatively
high proportion of small establishments did not employ anyone
on a part time basis. Of those small establishments that did have
part time employees, a high proportion did not have full time
comparators. However, where there were comparators only 10% of
smaller establishments had a difference in non-wage benefits,
and would therefore have to review at their current arrangements,
compared with a third of larger establishments.
Other
costs
There should
not be a significant net change in the number of tribunal applications.
Previous
consultation
The Directive
implements an agreement between the Social Partners. The intention
to legislate was stated in the Fairness at Work White Paper. The
RIA makes use of a specially commissioned survey of a representative
sample of employers of all sizes and sectors. Enforcement If they
believe their rights have been infringed, workers will be able
to bring a complaint to an Employment Tribunal. The DTI and ETS
will monitor the cases brought.
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