Part-time Employment

A part-time employee is one who is required under his/her contract of service with an employer, to work for less than 35 hours a week.

Part-time employees (except managers, executives, domestic workers and seamen) are also covered under the Employment Act.

Wages are set by market forces and should be determined by mutual agreement between the employees and their employers

A part-time employee's contract of service must specify his/her:

• Hourly basic rate of pay¹;
  
• Number of working hours for one day or one week;
  
• Number of working days for one week or one month; and
  
• Hourly gross rate of pay², with the description and amount of each allowance payable separately itemised.
  

¹ ‘Basic rate of pay', as defined in the Employment Act, includes wage adjustments and increments but excludes allowances however described.

² 'Gross rate of pay', as defined in the Employment Act, includes all allowances except:

• Overtime/bonus payments;
  
• Annual wage supplements;
  
• Reimbursements for special expenses;
  
• Productivity incentive payments; and
  
• Travelling, food and housing allowances.
  
  

A part-time employee is entitled to 1 rest day in a week if he / she is required to work for at least 5 days in a week

Payment for work done on a rest day should be calculated as such:

a)   Work done at employer's request:

-   One day's pay at the basic rate of pay, for work up to (and including) half the part-time employee's normal hours of work for one day; or

-   Two days' pay at the basic rate of pay if the part-time employee works more than half and up to his/her normal hours of work for one day.

b)Work done at employee's request:

-   Half day's salary at the basic rate of pay, for work up to (and including) half the part-time employee's normal hours of work for one day; or

-   One day's pay at the basic rate of pay if the part-time employee works more than half and up to his/her normal hours of work for one day.

A company should pay for overtime work as follows:

• For work that exceeds a part-time employee's normal daily working hours but not the normal hours of work for a similar full-time employee:
  
  Payment should be at the part-time employee's basic hourly rate of pay for each hour or part thereof; or
  
  
• For work that exceeds the normal hours of work for a similar full-time employee:

1. For each hour or part thereof up to the normal hours of work for a similar full-time employee:
   
   Payment should be at the part-time employee's basic hourly rate of pay; and
   
   
2. For each hour or part thereof that exceeds the normal hours of a similar full-time employee:
   
   Payment should be at 1.5 times the part-time employee's basic hourly rate.
   

A part-time employee is entitled to paid public holidays.

A part-time employee's public holiday pay should be pro-rated, based on his/her number of hours of work as compared to those of a similar full-time employee.

 

No. of working hours per year of a part-time employee --------------------------- No. of working hours per year of a similar full-time employee

x

No. of days of public holiday of a similar full-time employee with equal length of service

x

No. of working hours in a day of a similar full-time employee

Example: Assume that a part-time employee's regular weekly working hours are 22 and a similar full-time employee's working hours are 44, the part-time employee's annual entitlement to paid public holidays is : 

22 hours x 52 weeks --------------------------- 44 hours x 52 weeks	x	11 Public Holidays	x	8 hours
= 44 hours of pay for all 11 public holidays

For every public holiday therefore, the part-time employee should be paid :

 

44 hours -------------- 11 days

=

4 hours

Instead of paying a part-time employee for the holidays, the employer and the part-time employee (except for those who work at least 5 days a week and between 30 hours and 34 hours a week) may agree to encash the public holidays and incorporate this into the hourly gross rate of pay. Any such agreement should be clearly reflected in the contract of service.

The formula for encashing public holiday is :

 

Annual entitlement to public holidays of the part-time employee (in hours) -------------------------------------------------- Weekly working hours of that part-time Employee x 52 weeks

x

Hourly gross rate of pay

Hence, the hourly gross rate of pay which incorporates the enchashed public holidays is $5.19.

Payment for Work Done on a Public Holiday

A part-time employee should be paid the following if he/she is required to work on a public holiday:

1. The basic rate of pay for one day's work;
   
2. The amount he/she is entitled to for a public holiday; and
   
3. One day's travelling allowance if payable under his/her contract of service.
   
   

Annual Leave

A part-time employee who has completed three months of service is entitled to paid annual leave in proportion to the yearly entitlement of a similar full-time employee, on the basis of his/her working hours.

The leave entitlement is calculated as follows: 

No. of working hours per year of a part-time employee --------------------------- No. of working hours per year of a similar full-time employee

x

No. of days of annual leave of a similar full-time employee with equal length of service

x

No. of working hours in a day of a similar full-time employee

Example: Assume a part-time employee is required to work 4 hours a day for 5 days in a week (20 hours a week) and a similar full-time employee is required to work 8 hours a day for 5.5 days a week (44 hours a week) and the leave entitlement of the full-time employee is 7 days in respect of the first year of service. The entitlement to paid annual leave after 3 months of service (in respect of his first year of service ) for the part-time employee is :
 

20 hours x 52 weeks --------------------------- 44 hours x 52 weeks	x	7 days	x	8 hours per day
= 25.5 hours

Instead of granting a part-time employee paid annual leave, the employer and the part-time employee (except for those who work at least 5 days a week and between 30 hours and 34 hours a week) may agree to encash the earned annual leave in the form of a higher hourly gross rate of pay. Any such agreement should be clearly reflected in the contract of service.

The formula for encashing annual leave is as follows : 

Annual entitlement to annual leave of the part-time employee (in hours) -------------------------------------------------- Weekly working hours of that part-time Employee x 52 weeks

x

Hourly gross rate of pay

Example: Assume that the hourly gross rate of pay is $5 , the encashment of leave to be added to the hourly gross rate of pay will be :

25.5 hours ----------------------------- 20 hours x 52 weeks

x $5

= $0.12

i.e. the hourly gross rate of pay which incorporates the encashed annual leave is $5.12.

Sick Leave

A part-time employee who has completed three months of service is entitled to paid sick leave in proportion to the yearly entitlement of a similar full-time employee, based on his/her working hours.

The sick leave entitlement is calculated as follows:
 

No. of working hours per year of a part-time employee --------------------------- No. of working hours per year of a similar full-time employee

x

No. of days of sick leave of a similar full-time employee with equal length of service

x

No. of working hours in a day of a similar full-time employee

Example: Assume that the part-time employee works 20 hours a week and a similar full-time employee works 44 hours a week, the part-time employee's outpatient sick leave entitlement will be calculated as follows :

20 hours x 52 weeks ----------------------------- 44 hours x 52 weeks	x 14 days	x 8 hours
= 50.9 hours of outpatient sick leave entitlement per year.

Or, if hospitalisation is required :

20 hours x 52 weeks ----------------------------- 44 hours x 52 weeks	x 60 days	x 8 hours
= 218.2 hours (this include the 50.9 hours outpatient sick leave) of hospitalisation leave entitlement per year.

Sick leave cannot be encashed.


Maternity Leave

A part-time pregnant female employee is entitled to the same maternity benefits and protection as a full-time pregnant female employee as long as she satisfies the qualifying conditions under the Employment Act or the Children Development Co-Savings Act

The payment will be based on the number of days she is contracted to work at her gross rate of pay.

The formula to calculate the basic hourly rate of pay of a monthly-rated part-time employee for the purpose of paying overtime:

The formula is as follows : 

Hourly basic rate of pay

=

12 x Monthly Basic rate of Pay -------------------------------------------------- 52 x No. of hours worked in a week

The rate of payment for overtime work is not less than 1.5 times the employee's hourly basic rate of pay. If the hourly basic rate of pay is $4.50, then the rate of payment for overtime work = $6.75 per hour.

The formula to calculate the basic rate of pay for a monthly-rated part-time employee for the purpose of paying salary for work on rest-day and public holidays:

The formula is as follows :
 

Basic rate of pay for one day

=

12 x Monthly Basic rate of Pay -------------------------------------------------- 52 x Number of days a part-time employee is required to work in a week