Part-time Workers

HC Deb 10 January 2002 vol 377 cc969-70W

Mr. Beggs

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations will apply in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the application of this directive to England, Scotland and Wales. [25919]

Alan Johnson

In Northern Ireland, implementation of employment legislation is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Responsibility for regulations on part-time workers rests with the Minister for Employment and Learning. I understand that the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 came into operation on 1 July 2000.

The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 came into force in England, Scotland and Wales on 1 July 2000 and ensure that part-timers are treated no less favourably than comparable full-timers in their terms and conditions unless this is objectively justified.

The measure ensures that Britain's six million part-timers can no longer be treated as second class citizens.