AIBU to feel discriminated against as a part-time worker (9 day fortnight)

[NoJamSlags]

My employer is offering a 9 day fortnight (compressed hours 9 days a fortnight with the 10th day off). But only to full time staff. Has anyone else experienced this – is it not discriminatory to part time staff not to offer the equivalent? Not sure if I am being unreasonable querying this?

Are you job share or do you work your own pattern?

I work a 9DF. I work 74 hours in every 2 week period, as opposed to 37 hours per week IYSWIM.

As far as I am aware, none if our PT staff do this, but we are very flexible in accommodating requests for working patterns.

They probably haven't included it as it would be more bespoke arrangements. I would make a Flexi working request with what you would like to do and go from there.
My work has some people that work 4 days on 80% and others that do compressed hours and so 90% over 4 days another is switching to 90% of 5 days to finish earlier for school pick ups.

Put in a flexible working request to request working your hours over 4.5 days?

It never ceases to amaze me how some part time workers seem to be determined to place themselves in direct competition with their full time colleagues.

Let’s hope for the sake of the people you work with they don’t withdraw this offer for them just because they can’t make it work with the part timers.

Feeling “discriminated”, come on! Your employer has already made concessions for you to work part time and you have all the benefits that come with it. There’s no harm in asking but given you likely already have had more say in your working hours than those who work full time, for the sake of three hours I’m not sure this is a hill I’d die on.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

I’m not in competition with anyone. I just want to be treated the same as my colleagues. The kind of work I do means it costs my employer nothing for me to work part time, I don’t job share, no one has to cover my role if I’m not in. My employer has made no “concessions” for me to work part time. In fact, I save them money because I’m not being paid on the days I’m not in!

I think the benefit is pretty clear and that is why my employers are offering this option! Improved work life balance! Doing an additional hour per day is nothing, in fact I do that already on most days to ensure all my tasks are completed. My full time colleagues benefit from the additional hour daily, in that they get a day off fortnightly.

My own pattern 0.5 WTE

Then I’d ask, no harm in asking. They might ask you to outline reasons why, and might say no if they expect you to be in certain days as part of your pattern, but if you don’t ask you don’t get an answer.

If full time hours are 37.5 then you work 37.5 hours over two weeks, being 4 full days and 2 half days. You want to work the 37.5 hours over 4 full days and one half day is this correct? I’d be really specific when asking so say you’ll do 4 x 8.5 hour days and a 3.5 hour half day each fortnight. Rather than 4 x 7.5 hour days and 2 x 3.75 hours.

I do and I manage flexible working for our organisation.

You can only do compressed hours as a full time worker. That’s why it’s not offered to part time. As you are part time you just need to ask to change your part time working hours to achieve the same thing, pro rata.

We would give careful consideration to all requests. I certainly wouldn’t dismiss a request like this on the grounds you are part time, what you are asking for is just a new working pattern that fits into their new core hours. If they can manage every staff member working a 9 day fortnight then you having a 7.5 day fortnight on part time hours should be manageable.

To consider - Most part time staff are women, and most of these are working around childcare/elder care. Declining without a business reason could amount to indirect sex discrimination as it’s recognised that most caring responsibilities fall to women, who work part time to manage this. Good luck.

Thanks, I will ask - but I’ll wait until after the trial and it becomes formal policy. There is only one meeting a week that I need to attend, I chair the meeting and the timing is agreed on based on my availability. I choose my days, so again, this shouldn’t be a problem about being available on certain days.

Could you ask to be considered as part of the trial or is that not an option?

Yes, it is discrimination on the basis of being a part time employee. Employers cannot have different policies for full time / part time workers. So if, for example, FT workers are allowed to compress their hours over 5 days into 4 days, PT employees should be able to also compress their hours. It would be tricky depending on their total hours and number of days currently working - I currently work 11 hours over 2 days so wouldn’t be able to compress that into 1 day, but I could work 8 hours 1 day and 3 the next.

You cost your employer more than just what they pay you in salary, and some of those costs will be fixed. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be working part time but they would get better value from one FT employee than two PT.

If you want to be treated the same, go full time. Otherwise accept that this is a compromise you’ve had to make when you went part time. You benefit from an improved work life balance as it is.

I have worked places before where benefits have been removed because one person - who already had preferable conditions in her contract - wasn’t happy that others were given a small amount of flexibility.

She asked to have her contract changed so her office attendance could be set to 40% instead of the company standard of 50%. It was accepted without question but because it’s in her contract she was told she must meet that target. She complained because someone else worked from him for one extra day one month and only worked 47% in office. If she didn’t have flexibility, no one should.

As a result no one is afforded flexibility while she stands and gossips at the tea point and attends meetings she should have declined for most of her office days.

The OP will have had her pay adjusted for that though. Her colleagues will still get full time pay.

Declining without a business reason could amount to indirect sex discrimination
They have not declined, OP worked herself up into a froth without even asking because the term compressed hours only applies to FT workers.

Thanks, I think this might be where the confusion amongst management has arisen. What you have linked to is not the “definition” of compressed hours, but rather an example. Unison and the formal government consultation/legislation re flexible working define Compressed hours as “when the week’s work is compressed into a shorter time span. So, for example, you may currently work 40 hours over five days. This could be compressed into four days of 10 hours or three and a half days of 11 or 12 hours per day. Some employees arrange their working time over a nine day fortnight.”

I have worked compressed hours as a part time worker in many jobs before. In one particular job, it was standard, there were no full time workers and we all worked compressed hours. This is the first time I have seen the option only being offered to full time workers.

Because they are still working full time hours. Just fewer-but-longer days rather than shorter-but-more-frequent days.

Both are being paid for the number of hours they are working and nothing more nor less.

Part time work means there may need to be compromises and checks to ensure coverage. Or not. But that is why part-time workers need to go through HR.

For example:

1. job-share, the job might need to cover all the hours, so any adjustment needs to ensure full coverage remains;
2. part-time worker might have 12 hours one day and 6 hours another, but HR can't flex as it would go over 12 hours;
3. part-time worker is needed Tuesday-Thursday for specific meetings, so the business needs them to retain at least 2 hours on those days;
4. part-time worker might be slacking off and on a performance improvement plan, so the business might need them working the same days as a manager
5. other flex has been agreed based around part-time worker being in on Friday morning, so the business can't function without them unless everyone agrees to a swap Etc etc etc

If there is no issue, then your flexible working request is likely to be accepted.

Lol, are you ok? Nobody worked themselves into a froth. I’m asking for advice, you can give it without being rude. If you don’t have any advice, you can also stay quiet. As you can see from my post above, compressed hours are not only applicable to full time workers! That would make no sense would it? That would be discriminatory on the basis of working patterns.