Part-timers working same hours as full-timers for part-time pay

[Snaptheirfingers]

This is a Covid-19 situation. We are key workers (UK civil servants). Our normal work can't take place at the moment. So we are doing other jobs in similar roles to cover those off shielding and to keep us working.
The issue is that I work 3 days a week and am being asked to work 1 or 2 days a week on my normal pay, so a bonus of a paid day off though I never know when it is until the evening before. My colleagues who are full-time employees are also being asked to work 1 or 2 days. They get their normal pay too. We are just on the minimum wage so I worked 2 days this week and would have earned about £100, my colleague also worked 2 days and got £250. I know this is short lived we may be back to our normal jobs and days next year but it doesn't seem fair! A fellow part-timer raised this with her line manager and has suffered as a result (not being selected for interview for a promotion).

It IS unfair. They are pro-rating your reward, but not the work you do to earn it. I would take it up with HR unless you feel your position is especially precarious.

I would have thought that the UK Civil Service would know better and want to set an example of fairness.

This type of thing happened in my workplace, not quite the same but similar. I work 27 hours (three shifts per week) and get a small amount of pay.
The other two in my role get full time 40 hour pay as they work much longer hours, although they also do nights (although they are sleeping unless get called upon, which isn't every night).

After lockdown, no need for any night duties, so we are each doing 27 hours per week...just the same for me, at my pay rate. But for the other two, their pay stayed at their 40-hour rate even though they are only doing 27 hours themselves.

I queried it but was told that the other two had sacrificed their overnight rates....I didn't know they got £60 per night EXTRA on top of their normal rate for the overnight, so they were quite down on their weekly amount. Still didn't make sense to me but I shut up.

Then we were all furloughed anyway and haven't gone back. I think we will stay furloughed all summer, I shall be lucky if there's a job to go back to.

I think in the current situation, it isn't possible to make things exactly fair for everyone, we all just have to do our best. Some people have no job at all, or else their business has folded, so we should be grateful for what we manage to get...

Lyralalala
Thank you! Ok that makes sense now.

I understand where you're coming from OP I would probably feel a bit gutted as well and it is a bit unfair. However I do think you'll probably have to suck it up to make sure you don't cause any bad feeling that might affect anything in the future

That's life. Some people I work with work week on and week off. Some are working ft from home. Some are working ft in work every week as we need people in. Its needs of the job and what people do

@Dovefeather

Swings and roundabouts

Unusually it’s the full timers picking up the slack for the part timers.

Usually it's the full timers picking up for the fact that bosses seem to think part timers should do a full timers worth of work, rather than the part-timers slacking in any way

I would be more worried about only getting paid £100 for a 3 day week.
Weird.

@Dovefeather

Swings and roundabouts

Unusually it’s the full timers picking up the slack for the part timers.

Sorry, what slack would the full-timers be picking up? The part-timers are paid for fewer hours, they don't get to slope off a few hours earlier

Im in a similar situation. My whole office is working 3 days a week however I am the only person who is contracted to work 3 days a week. We are all being paid 90% of our salary. So that means everyone else is being paid for working 36 hours (40 hour week here) a week and only working 24. I am being paid 21.5 hours a week but working 24.
Part time workers do lose out in these situations although I think we have to accept it in these extraordinary circumstances and try not to compare our situation to others too much.

I usually work 20 hours per week. I am now on rota to work two full days per week (So 14 hours), colleagues who usually work 35 hours per weeks are also working two days. They are getting three days off with pay I am getting 6 hours......

Agreeing with lyralala - part-timers are paid p/t so any slack being picked up by full-timers is because of understaffing.

Instinctively it does not feel right. I think you could raise it nicely with HR.

I work part time and our sick policy is that (before company sick pay kicks in), you get deducted 1/365 of your annual salary per day off sick. So if myself and a full time colleague both took a day off sick, they would lose out on more money. Is that fair?

Another benefit is because of the tax and national insurance thresholds, my take home pay per day is more than a full time colleague's.

Hmm...

I’m a civil servant and super busy and not complaining. It’s all hands on deck right now.
How come you’re a civil servant on minimum wage?

Unusually it’s the full timers picking up the slack for the part timers
I think the poster got this right the first time.
It's generally accepted people who work part time work more than their allocated hours

I'd be annoyed by this. You are working the same as a full time member of staff currently is and you should expect the salary to reflect that. I don't care if I sound grabby

Maybe stop peering into your neighbours bowl op, you would be much happier.

YANBU
I am same -work part time but an now working 4 shifts a week as are full time colleagues -yes we are all in this together and yes I am not losing pay , but this has gone on for 3 months -I am working the same as other colleagues yet they take home £400 more than me! Not sure it is right whether I am losing out or not!

Civil service is usually very keen to be fair to part time employees, so on that basis I would consider asking for the rota to be pro rated. If you wrote civil service meaning something else so as not to be outing, I'm not sure I would ask. Depends on the corporate culture. And also where you are in your career. If you are counting down to retirement, why not? If not, use it for a competency in your review.

You are still working one day less for the same pay you usually receive, the rota is annoying but surely the inconvenience is worth a days pay essentially? There are lots of things 'unfair' about this situation, lots of people have been working full time whilst colleagues have been at home on full pay, for example. I don't think your situation is outrageous, you are still on your regular money, as are they. It wouldn't be fair to cut their money as government workers aren't entitled to furlough, and they have bills to pay
it would also be hard to justify paying someone more for essentially no reason when private businesses are laying off staff and likely to go bust. When things are back to normal they will be working full weeks, you will not be. You can speak to your manager, hopefully they will get everyone in to work their usual hours so no one is moaning.

@Jaxhog

It IS unfair. They are pro-rating your reward, but not the work you do to earn it. I would take it up with HR unless you feel your position is especially precarious.

I would have thought that the UK Civil Service would know better and want to set an example of fairness.

Reply they are being fair

They're saying they will pay you 100% of the work you agreed to do.

The full timers just agreed to do more work

You should certainly not just be grateful like others have suggested. Part-time workers are protected too and you cannot be discriminated against/or treated differently for working part-time. Currently you are being treated differently for working part-time. So you are not taking the piss and are well within your rights to ask that it is pro-rated.

Are you in a union? You should contact them first. If not then, HR.

Good luck!

I think your point is that normally you'd know by Friday this week exactly what days you'd be working next week.
This would allow you to plan and fit in all the other things you have to do around your work rota.

What is now happening is you don't know when you will be needed until the evening before.
Meaning you cannot plan to shop on Tuesday next week because you won't know till Monday evening whether you will have to work Tuesday or not.

Whereas a full timer would assume they are working every day and so not have anything outside of work booked for Monday to Friday, but get told the night before they got a bonus day off.

I would explain the reason you work part time is you have other commitments to fit in during the working week, and ask politely if it is possible you could be told the previous week what 3 days you will or might be working just as you would have before CV-19, and thus could arrange your commitments outside of work around your rota.
Then you would expect to be told tomorrow that next week you would work any 2 of Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for example. Meaning you could plan your other commitments for Wednesday and Friday in advance.

I imagine the person sorting the work days is a full timer who has no idea of the impact on your non working days if you don't know till the day before whether you'll be expected to work or not.

Anyone berating OP needs to give their heads a wobble. YANBU, OP.

Yes, it's a global pandemic, but that doesn't give them the green light to shit on half of their staff. And yes, OP technically hasn't 'missed out', but why would anyone be happy that someone else was getting paid more than they were for the exact same hours of work. I mean, us women weren't exactly happy about men getting paid more for the same hours and job role- it's the same premise, isn't it?

Simply put, if you're on a FT contract with reduced hours, you should either take a pay cut to reflect that, or take on more hours than those on a PT basis, with both parties keeping their original pay- pro rata. I highly doubt OP wants to see colleagues (I assume many are friends, too) losing out on money, but just simply wants the set up to be fairer. Which is completely understandable.

I also don't understand why so many people use the argument of 'so many other people have it worse', either. I highly doubt you half of you thought about Billy the homeless man who has a fiver to his name when you were going head to head against Mary for the big promotion. You hardly went and thought to yourself, 'oh, I won't try and get the job where I will earn more money and therefore have a better quality of life, because I should be grateful for what I have and settle at that. Other people have it much worse than me"

Common sense has entirely went out the window these days. Oh, and just as a friendly reminder- half of these businesses will have absolutely no worries in laying off their staff once furlough and whatnot dries up. I wouldn't give so much sympathy and leeway to businesses where, no matter what you like to think, you're simply a number there to do a job.

YANBU. The full time employees should work more than you because you made an agreement to work fewer hours than them for less pay. It's not particularly jammy imo.