Our Policies Part Time Working
Index Introduction 3 Section 1: Part-time colleagues and their rights 3 - Key Legislation 3 - Rights of part-time colleagues 3 - Part-time contracts of employment 3 Section 2: Process for requesting new working arrangements 3 - Right to request flexible working 4 Section 3: Salary 5 Section 4: Annual leave 5 Section 5: Other benefits 7 - Company Car entitlements 7 o Reward Users 7 o Business Need User 7 - Pension / Life Assurance benefits 7 - Pay for Performance (Bands 6 4) 8 - Annual Bonus (Band 3 and above) 8 - Over-time 8 - Standby Payments 8 - Sick Pay 9 Section 6: Managing and supporting part-time colleagues 9 - Managing part-time colleagues 9 Section 7: Recruitment 9 2
Introduction The Kelda Group recognises the importance of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing equal support to both male and female colleagues who wish to change their hours of work to maintain a healthy work-life balance. This fact pack is a simple and user friendly guide to everything colleagues and managers need to know about part-time employment. These provisions apply to all employees of Kelda Ltd and its wholly owned group companies, except KWS Wales and Loop. The pack clearly outlines the rights of part-time colleagues, and details the implications of a change in working hours on key terms and conditions and benefits. After reading through the pack if you have any questions that have not been answered please do not hesitate to contact your Business Unit HR Team who will be happy to help. Section 1: Part-time colleagues and their rights Key legislation The Part -time Workers (prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 came into force on the 1 st July 2000. The regulations ensure that part-time workers are not treated less favourably in their contractual terms and conditions than comparable full-time workers, unless different treatment is justified on objective grounds. Rights of part-time colleagues Part-time colleagues have the right not to be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers. This means they should: receive the same rates of pay (pro-rata) not be excluded from training simply because they work part-time receive holiday entitlement pro rata to comparable full-timers have contractual maternity leave and parental leave made available to them in the same way as for full-time workers and not be treated less favourably when workers are selected for redundancy Part-time contracts of employment A part-time contract should be applied when the number of normal weekly hours is lower than 37 per week. Like a full time contract, it can be on an open ended or fixed term basis. Section 2: Process for requesting new working arrangements Where possible the Kelda Group will endeavour to meet individuals aspirations about their normal working arrangements. There is no legal right for an individual to be able to change his or her hours of work and this is a matter of discussion between an individual and their manager. However, managers should always look seriously at requests to work part-time hours, and where possible explore how this change could be accommodated. Managers need to think carefully whether there is a good reason for refusing a request, as careless / wrongful decisions could lead to potential cases of indirect sex discrimination if they can not be objectively justified. Right to request flexible working Individuals thinking about changing their normal working patterns may have a statutory right to request flexible working. The statutory right is to request flexible working and therefore an individual s application may not always be approved by their manager. There are many different forms of flexible working that cover the way someone s working hours could be organised during the day, week or year. Colleagues are entitled to make a statutory request for flexible working, if they:- Have worked continuously for 26 weeks for the Kelda Group and; 3
Have a child aged sixteen or under, or a disabled child under 18 Are a carer for an adult Have not made another application to work flexibly during the last 12 months. Where possible, an individual s manager should endeavour to accommodate their aspirations, however, there may be circumstances where it is not possible. Alternatively, there may be occasions where an individual may be able to work flexibly but the pattern they have requested may not be practical, so further discussion will be required to agree a new arrangement. If an individual s manager approves their application, the change to their contractual terms will be permanent and they will not have the automatic right to revert back to their previous pattern of work. For more information on requesting flexible working, please see HR Online Request flexible working If an individual is not eligible to request flexible working under the statutory provisions but would like to reduce or change their patterns of work, where possible their manager should endeavour to accommodate their aspirations. To avoid confusion and ensure a consistent approach is adopted, all individuals (regardless of eligibility). For further information or support please consult your Business Unit HR Team. Managers should always seriously consider all requests for flexible working or part-time hours and where possible should explore how these could be accommodated. When considering a request, managers need to think carefully whether there is a good business reason to refuse it, as a refusal could result in a claim for indirect sex discrimination. Section 3: Salary A full-time colleague's total weekly hours are 37. The formula used to calculate pro-rata salary for parttime colleagues is given below. Part-time salary calculation:- Full time salary 1929.29 = Hourly rate Hourly rate x p/t hours = Weekly rate Weekly rate x 52.1429 = PART -TIME SALARY Worked example David earns 24,000 and works 37 hours per week. He would like to reduce his hours to 30 hours over 4 days. 24,000 / 1929.29 = Hourly rate of 12.44 12.44 x 30 = new weekly salary of 373.19 373.19 x 52.1429 = new annual salary of 19,459.21 Section 4: Annual Leave Holiday entitlement is worked out on a pro-rata basis, taking into account the number of hours an individual works in a week compared with the hours worked by a full-time colleague working 37 hours per week. 4
An individual s holiday entitlement will always be calculated on the average day worked in a week and will be given in hours rather than days. When an individual books annual leave they will deduct their normal working day from their leave total e.g. If an individual s holiday entitlement is 145 hours per year and their normal working day is 5 hours, if they take 1 days leave they will deduct 5 hours from their annual leave total. All part-time employees are entitled to Bank/Public Holidays pro rata to their hours of work. Bank/Public Holidays are calculated at the start of the holiday year together with annual holiday entitlement. Normally, 8 bank holidays fall within each leave year. However, this can change on a year to year basis dependent on the fall of the Easter Break. If Easter falls late one year i.e. after the 1 st April, there will be 10 bank holidays in that leave year, followed the next year by 6. Business Unit HR teams will keep individual s informed each year of the changes. If an individual is contracted to work on a day when a Public / Bank Holiday falls and they are not required to work that day, they should deduct the number of hours they would normally work on that day from their holiday entitlement. Part-time Holiday Calculation average day x (annual holiday entitlement plus all = holiday entitlement (weekly hours 5) bank holidays that fall in holiday year) (in hours) Worked examples: Full year annual leave year Example 1 Sarah works 22 hours per week, over 3 days. She is a band 5 and is entitled to a pro-rata equivalent of 25 days leave. This leave year, there are 8 bank holidays. 22 / 5 x (25 + 8) = annual leave in hours = 4.4 x 33 = 145 hours Example 2 Chris works 30 hours per week over 4 days. He is a band 3b and is entitled to a pro-rata equivalent of 28 days leave. This leave year, there are 8 bank holidays. 30 / 5 x (28 + 8) = annual leave in hours = 6 x 36 = 216 hours Changing hours of work part way through a year, average day x (pro-rata holiday entitlement plus all bank holidays = holiday entitlement (weekly hours 5) due to fall in remaining part of the leave year) (in hours) Example 3 Annabelle plans to work 25 hours per week over 5 days effective from 1 st October. She is a band 6 and is entitled to a pro- rata equivalent of 25 days in a full year. From 1 st October 31 st March is 6 months = 12.5 days leave Bank holidays that fall between 1 st October 31 st March = 5 25/ 5 x (12.5+ 5) = annual leave in hours = 5 x 17.5 = 87.5 hours Any holiday taken will need to be recorded in hours and must be agreed in advance with an individual s line manager. 5
Section 5: Other Benefits Company Car Entitlements Part-time employees who are a Reward User or Business Needs User have the same choices available to them as full time employees i.e. car or car allowance / lump sum (or van if that is the most appropriate solution for a business needs user.) Reward Users (Bands 3 and above) i) Company Car If a company car is chosen, the contribution paid by the company will be reduced based on the proportion of full time hours worked, and the individual will be required to make up the balance by paying a higher contribution. Typically, the company s contribution will reduce by up to 100 per month, but the exact amount will depend on the make and model of the car. ii) Car Allowance The car allowance for Reward Users will be pro-rated to the hours worked e.g. the car allowance for a full time 3b employee is 2,520 per year someone working 18.5 hours per year would receive 1260 per year. iii) First Year - Protection Employees who receive a company car or car allowance on a Reward User basis, and who voluntarily reduce their hours with the agreement of the business, will retain their entitlement to the car benefit or car allowance based on their former hours for a period of 12 months following the change in hours. Business Needs Users If Business Needs User allocation is based on mileage (where it is agreed that a role cannot be correctly performed without the use of a vehicle other than a Company van), the mileage required for full time employees is around 5,000 miles per year. This will be pro rata for part time employees e.g. An employee who works 18.5 hours per week will be required to do around 2,500 business miles per annum. i) Company Car If a company car is chosen, the contribution paid by the company will be reduced based on the proportion of full time hours worked, and the individual will be required to make up the balance by paying a higher contribution. Typically, the company s contribution will reduce by up to 100 per month, but the exact amount will depend on the make and model of the car. ii) Lump sum and mileage rate The lump sum and mileage rate for Business Needs Users will be paid in full and will not be pro-rated to the hours worked. Pension / Life Assurance benefits If an individual is a member of a final salary pension scheme their future pensionable service will accrue at a slower rate than that of a full-time colleague if the number of hours they work is less than 1929.29 hours per annum. Pension deductions apply to contracted hours (but not to additional hours/overtime). If an individual changes from full-time to part-time hours, any previous pensionable service will not be affected by this change, but it means that each full year's pensionable service will take longer to accrue than it would if they were working full time throughout the year. (For further information on part-time service, colleagues should refer to Group Pensions on 754150 or externally on 01274 804150). For colleagues in a 'Money-Purchase' scheme, pension benefits are based on contributions, which are in turn based on the salary payments colleagues receive. 6
Life assurance benefit will be a multiple of an individual s actual salary, in accordance with their pension scheme. Pay for Performance (Bands 6 4) Quarterly Bonus Part-time employees will receive the quarterly award that reflects their hours of work. The table below shows examples for full-time employees and how these will be pro-rated for individuals who work less than 37 hours each week. Full-time 25 hours per week 20 hours per week Over-achiever 266 176 141 Achiever 160 108 86 The quarterly awards reflect the number of hours worked in the same way that basic pay is calculated for part-time employees. This is a principle that is adopted with other lump sum payments. Annual Bonus (Bands 3 and above) Part-time employees will receive an annual bonus that reflects their hours of work e.g. Full time individual working 37 hours receives 2000 annual bonus. An individual who works 18.5 hours will receive 1000. Over-time Individuals who work part-time do not have an automatic right to overtime payments once they have worked beyond their normal working hours. Only when part-time workers have worked up to the normal hours of a comparable full time employee or where they are working outside their contractual working window, will they have a right to over time payments. Any additional hours worked within the normal working week (Monday to Friday) up to normal full-time hours will be paid at single time. Hours of overtime worked in excess of 37 hours will be paid in accordance with the company over time rates as detailed on HR Online. Standby Payments Where an individual works part-time and is required to work standby, their manager should decide on an appropriate arrangement that suits the circumstances i.e. the individual may do a full standby rota, they might share a rota with someone else or they might do a "pro rata" share of the rota that matches the hours. The outcome would depend on what the individual can do and also what the rest of the team can cover. However, if a part-time employee is required to do more, pro-rata, than a full-time colleague, this could amount to discrimination unless it can be objectively justified. Standby payments will be pro-rated in line with the hours worked. Sick pay If an individual is ill on a day they are contracted to work, they will need to report their illness, and the sick pay provisions will apply. If an individual is not expected at work that day, they do not need to report their absence, and sick pay will not apply. Section 6: Managing and Supporting part-time colleagues Managing part-time colleagues If an individual reduces their hours of work, managers need to be mindful that their outputs will reduce proportionally. Often individuals feel that they are expected or try to deliver the same outputs as they did previously on full time hours, which is not realistic or acceptable. Both managers and individuals need to be realistic on what can be achieved in the new working week and priorities / expectations should be set accordingly. Section 7: Recruitment 7
When recruiting, managers should always consider applications from people who want to work part-time or job share. This will ensure that they do not limit the field of applicants and also that they recruit the best person for the job, without restricting talented individuals. The fact that a post is currently being done full time should not be used to prevent people who wish to work part-time from applying for it. There may be occasions where the hours the post necessarily requires may be incompatible with the hours an applicant desires or currently works. However, in these situations managers should consider supporting a job share partner or discuss with the applicant whether they would be able to work other hours in order to fit in with the demands of the job. 8