Is this lawful? Unequal pay

[snowman333]

I work in an industry with a lot of casual employees who work maybe 2 days a month. I work 3 days a week in an admin role but am also on a casual contract. My department is the only one with a mixture of casual and permanent staff.

Recently the permanent members of staff in my office were given a pay rise but this won’t be given to the casual staff. I do exactly the same job as the permanent staff members and until recently was paid the same as well.

I have complained to my manager but am not hopeful it will make any difference. Is there any action I can take? I’m a bit worried if I complain too much they will just terminate my contract. It is really upsetting me though especially as I am expected to train new entrants who earn more than me.

No there isn’t any formal action really. You’re employed differently, under different contracts, and casual workers have less rights in general. It’s quite common for there to be differences in pay between casual & permanent staff even if doing the same thing. It’s obviously best to be fair but where a business chooses not to be like this there isn’t much you can do other than ask.

Can you apply for one of the permanent roles?
If not, look for employment elsewhere, and let them know why

So I guess the 2010 Equality Act doesn't apply because it's a casual contract? I have worked there over 3 years and I treat it as a normal job, I don't just pick up hours here and there. I don't have a permanent contract as they're only for full time hours and I can only work 3 days a week at the moment.

I would but I would have to work full time and I can only work 3 days a week currently.

So I guess the 2010 Equality Act doesn't apply because it's a casual contract? I have worked there over 3 years and I treat it as a normal job, I don't just pick up hours here and there. I don't have a permanent contract as they're only for full time hours and I can only work 3 days a week at the moment.

Not in the way you want it to, no. There are lots of ways that permanent contracts differ from casual, for example it’s common that permanent staff will be entitled to company sick pay and enhanced maternity/paternity pay, casual workers typically aren’t. That’s perfectly allowed, different contracts, different terms of employment. There are benefits to being a casual worker in that hours can be more flexible, it works well for some people, but there is a trade off whether that is pay or entitlements etc

Phone ACAS for advice.

What protected characteristic do you think you are being discriminated against on?

If all permanent workers work full time whilst casual workers work part time then there may technically be a discrimination case here. Because part timers are significantly more likely to be female. So it could be indirect discrimination. Bloody difficult to prove though.

The Equality Act isnt about making sure everyone has exactly the same thing. It's about making sure that no one who falls under one of the 9 protected classes (age, sex, religion, sexuality......) is discriminated against either directly or indirectly because of their protected characteristic.

Being a casual worker isn't a protected characteristic unless you can find some way to demonstrate an indirect link to Sex, Pregnancy etc.

https://www.acas.org.uk/zero-hours-contracts

You have more rights after working there for 2 years. It doesn't sound like they are using a casual contract in the way it's intended if you do the same hours/days each week and have done for 3 years

I don't feel there's any discrimination as such, I just thought it might apply as we perform equal work in the same environment so for me it feels unfair that they get paid 8% more, especially as we've always been paid exactly the same before. I didn't realise this isn't what the act is for.

Depending on your employment status the Part Time workers Regulations may be relevant

https://www.acas.org.uk/part-time-workers

The Equality Act is about equality for people with named protected characteristics. You work on a different legal basis to the permanent employees and it's perfectly rational that the employer decides it cares more about the retention of its perm employees than its casual ones. As PP said, if, for instance, all casual workers are female and most permanent staff are male, there might be a case to be made for sex-based discrimination, but being on a casual contract is not a protected characteristic.

OP an equal pay claim is a.form of sex discrimination claim, it isn't relevant to unequal or unfair contracts unless the reason for the difference in pay is anpersons sex.

However the part-time workers regualtions say that part time workers should not be paid less than full time employees in the same role. This sounds more relevant for you.

It’s not relevant to the OP because that refers to where there are part time staff on the same contract & terms of employment.

OP is a casual worker, on an casual workers contract. She chooses to do that, it benefits her as it means she is able to get the part time hours, she could apply to be permanent and work full time & therefore get the pay rise. Casual workers get some benefits that permanent don’t, perfect example being more flexibility as in OP’s case, but they do have different rights to permanent staff.

Yeah I realise that now. It's just upset me a lot that they care more about the pemanent employees that started literally 3 days ago than me that's been there 3 years and is training them

Try not to take it personally, from a business perspective they want to keep their permanent staff, hence they typically get enhanced maternity/paternity/sick pay, and in your case a pay rise. It costs they more to replace permanent staff, and is more hassle, so a way to keep them is to make their package more attractive.

You mention you've been there 3 years and work 3 days a week. Is that always? Does your contract actually feel casual or do you work as regularly as the permanent staff?

It's a business decision, not a personal one. You have opted to retain a greater degree of flexibility in your relationship with them; they have opted to prioritise their investment into the staff that have stronger ties to them. Don't take it personally.

Thank you. I think I am taking it far too personally. They've offered me the permanant contract loads of times including today so I suppose they must value me a bit.

https://www.davidsonmorris.com/casual-worker/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-2

This says casual workers have the right

"To not be treated less favourably if they work part-time – that is, unless the treatment can be objectively justified. The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1551) stipulate that part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than full-time workers regarding their contract of employment or being subjected to any other detrimental treatment by the employer because they work part-time. This includes pay, overtime payments, holiday entitlement and holiday pay, sickness benefits, selection for redundancy, access to pension schemes and other contractual benefits."

I work there as regularly as the permanent staff. I think the casual contracts where I work are designed mainly for the people who work maybe 12 hours a month, there are hundreds of these people. In my office there are about 6 people on casual contracts and we just work there as if it's a normal office job. I feel like they've not taken us into consideration when giving the pay rise. I realise now that there's not much we can do apart from hope for the best.

Why have you refused a permanent contract?. I'm assuming you can be both part time and permanent and have more employment protections

Are you in a union? Are the other 5 workers who work regularly hours also annoyed?

It is up to you how far you go with this but i would suggest calling Acas and sound them.out on the possibility of the part time rwgs applying (I think they probably do), and whether this means that you should be paid the same as full time staff (I think you probably should) .

You could then raise it collectively with your colleagues with HR - strength in numbers!