Your rights if you work part-time in further education

FE colleges rely particularly heavily on part-time teaching staff. Part-time lecturers can work anything from a couple of hours a week, perhaps in the evening, to substantial periods, sometimes with almost as much teaching as many full-time staff.

This section aims to answer some of the questions part-time lecturers ask about employment at FE colleges. Each college has its own employment policies, so the information given is general rather than specific.

The national agreement reached in the National Joint Forum on the Employment of Part-Time Employees (Word document) is intended to ensure that colleges meet the requirements of the Part-time Workers Regulations 2000 giving part-timers the right not to be treated less favourably than comparable full time employees as regard their contract of employment or any act, or deliberate failure to act, of the employers.

It is important to check the details of any policies with the college concerned. Some staff are employed through agencies such as Education Lecturing Services and they should look carefully at the section below on agency staff.

Fractional contracts The national agreement recommends the use of fractional contracts of employment for part-time work whereby pay and conditions of service are expressed as a fraction of those received by a comparable full time employee. (So, for example, in a 0.5 contract the part-timer works exactly half the number of hours of a full-timer and receives half of all entitlements such as holiday). Fractional part-timers should therefore check that the terms and conditions in their contract of employment accurately reflect the fraction on which they are employed.

Variable hours An increasing number of part-timers are employed on contracts which allow variation in hours worked over the term of the contract. The particular terms and conditions of such contracts will be determined at the local college. However, the national agreement says that it is desirable that such contracts should specify a minimum of contracted hours (ie they should not take the form of zero hours contracts).

Fixed-term (temporary) contracts Many part-time staff in FE are employed on fixed-term contracts. This means that, written into the contract, is a specified date on which it will come to an end.

It is important to know whether your contract is fixed-term or permanent. If it is for a fixed-term you need to be clear about the date on which it will come to an end. It will not be necessary for the college to give you any additional notice other than that in the contract itself (unless the college wish to bring it to an end before the specified date).

Pay and holidays Most part-time FE staff now receive their pay by credit transfer directly to bank accounts. Usually payments take the form of a fixed monthly sum spread over a year, or the length of the contract if it is for a fixed-term.

Part-time staff in FE are often employed on an hourly-paid basis. It is very important to establish with the employer:

• the method of calculation of the hourly rate, and
   
• what the hourly rate represents. While superficially it may be paid for the delivery of a number of hours teaching it will often include an element to pay for marking and preparation; the essential principle to be applied by the employer is one of equal pay for work of equal value. The hourly rate should be equivalent to a comparable full time employee. Under the 1998 Working Time Regulations all workers who work continuously for more than 13 weeks are entitled to a minimum of three weeks paid leave, and contracts of employment should specify this holiday entitlement.

Right to claim unfair dismissal and/or redundancy payments When a contract, even a fixed-term contract, comes to an end, there will have been a dismissal for the purposes of statutory employment law. When an employer dismisses an employee is must be for a fair reason, which can include redundancy.

Many FE colleges employ staff on fixed-term contracts which come to an end at the end of the summer term. Often the college does not know whether it will be offering new contracts until the autumn term when it is clear how many students have enrolled on courses. Staff in this position can sometimes claim a statutory redundancy payment. The sums of money involved are not huge and you must have been working at the college for at least two years.

If your fixed-term contract comes to an end and you are not clear whether it will be renewed you should contact your local NATFHE branch representative to see whether you are entitled to a redundancy payment.

Waiver clauses NATFHE continues to campaign against the use of waiver clauses in contracts. Please note that while clauses allowing the waiving of some redundancy rights are still possible legally, this is not the case in terms of unfair dismissal. The law on waivers is complex and will depend on individual circumstances. Members are advised to seek advice from the union.

Agency staff Some part-time FE staff find work through agencies such as Education Lecturing Services (ELS). Staff in this position may find that they are classified as being neither employees of the college nor of the agency. If you are not counted as an employee then you will not have rights to claim unfair dismissal or statutory redundancy payments.

This places staff in a much more vulnerable position when it comes to long-term security of employment.You should receive:

• written details of terms and conditions relating to your employment
• the kind of work which you will be supplied with, and
• the minimum rates of pay.

NATFHE continues to press for full rights for agency staff and legal cases are being pursued in regards to obtaining the right of ELS to obtain teachers pension rights.

All staff have the right to join NATFHE and agency staff should try to ensure that their voice is heard through NATFHE representation at the college. All staff are entitled not to be discriminated against on grounds of race and sex, and again this can help when arguing for improvements for agency staff at the college.

Members may, of course, contact their branch with any matters of casework. Under the Employment Rights Act (199) Individuals now have the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative at disciplinary and grievance hearings.