Part-time contract

A part-time contract is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. They work in shifts but remain on call while off duty and during annual leave. The shifts are often rotational. Workers are considered to be part-time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week. According to the International Labour Organization, the number of part-time workers has increased from one-fourth to a half in the past 20 years in most developed countries, excluding the United States. There are many reasons for working part-time, including the desire to do so, having one's hours cut back by an employer and being unable to find a full-time job. The International Labour Organisation Convention 175 requires that part-time workers be treated no less favourably than full-time workers.

In some cases the nature of the work itself may require that the employees be classified part as part-time workers. For example, some amusement parks are closed during winter months and keep only a skeleton crew on hand for maintenance and office work. As a result of this cutback in staffing during the off season, employees who operate rides, run gaming stands, or staff concession stands may be classified as part-time workers owing to the months long down time during which they may be technically employed but unable to work.

"Part-time" can also be used in reference to a student (usually in higher education) who takes only a few courses, rather than a full load of coursework each semester.

By country

Australia

Part-time employment in Australia involves a comprehensive framework. Part-time employees work fewer hours than their full-time counterparts within a specific industry. This can vary, but is generally less than 32 hours per week.

Part-time employees within Australia are legally entitled to paid annual leave, sick leave, and having maternity leave etc. except it is covered on a 'pro-rata' (percentage) basis depending on the hours worked each week.

Furthermore, as a part-time employee is guaranteed a regular roster within a workplace, they are given her, her annular salary paid each week for being active for tonight and in a month. Employers within Australia are obliged to provide minimum notice requirements for termination, redundancy and change of rostered hours in relation to part-time workers [2].

As of January 2010, the number of part-time workers within Australia is approximately 3.3 million out of the 10.9 million individuals within the Australian workforce [3].

Canada

In Canada, part-time workers are those who usually work fewer than 30 hours per week at their main or only job. In 2007, just over 1 in every 10 employees aged 25 to 54 worked part-time. A person who has a part-time placement is often contracted to a company or business in which they have a set of terms they agree with. 'Part-time' can also be used in reference to a student(usually in higher education) who works only few hours a day. Usually students from different nations (India, China, Mexico etc.) prefer Canada for their higher studies due to the availability of more part-time jobs.

United Kingdom

See also: UK labour law

• Part-time Workers Directive
• Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1551)

United States

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, working part-time is defined as working between 1 and 34 hours per week. In 2007, 18.3 million Americans worked part-time.

Increasing use of part-time workers in the United States is associated with employee scheduling software often resulting in expansion of the part-time workforce, reduction of the full-time workforce and scheduling which is unpredictable and inconvenient.

Typically, part-time employees in the United States are not entitled to employee benefits, such as health insurance.

The Institute for Women's Policy Research reports that females are nine times likelier than males to work in a part-time capacity over a full-time capacity as a result of caregiving demands of their family members.

See also

• Temporary work
• UK labour law
• US labor law

External links

Worldwide

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has Full-Time/Part-Time Employment Statistics and Incidence Rates for select nations, based on national definitions.

Europe

• Eurostat has data on part-time employment by sex, age group, economic activity, occupation as well as information on the reason for taking up part-time work, and whether or not if it is voluntary for its member states.
• Síle O’Dorchai, Robert Plasman, François Rycx: The Part-Time Wage Penalty in European Countries: How Large Is It for Men?, IZA Discussion Paper Series No. 2591, January 2007

Canada

• Labour force survey estimates (LFS), part-time employment by reason for part-time work, sex and age group, unadjusted for seasonality
• Labour force survey estimates (LFS), part-time employment by reason for part-time work, sex and age group
• Part-time employment rates
• Reason for working part-time

United States

• Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status
• Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status, seasonally adjusted
• Employed and unemployed full- and part-time workers by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
• Persons at work 1 to 34 hours in all and in nonagricultural industries by reason for working fewer than 35 hours and usual full- or part-time status