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Part-timers could claim equal benefits to full-time staff. By Dawn Smith

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2nd Mar 2006
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Part-time workers across the UK could be entitled to the same pension rights and benefits as full-timers, following a judgement this week by the House of Lords.

The Law Lords upheld an appeal by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), in a test case involving 12 retained (part-time) firefighters from Kent and Berkshire who had been battling for equal pension and other employment rights. The case centred on the exclusion of retained firefighters from the Firefighters' Pension Scheme and worse treatment under the sick pay scheme.

Previously, the Employment Tribunal had rejected the FBU's claim that retained firefighters should be entitled to the same benefits as full-time staff. That decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal, but in its landmark judgement on Wednesday, the Law Lords ruled that retained and whole-time firefighters are employed on the same "type of contract", and that the tribunal had focused too much on the differences between full-time and retained contracts when making its decision.

As well as paving the way for the UK's 15,000 retained firefighters to have access to equal pensions and sick pay rights, the Lords' decision means that part-time staff all over the UK will be able to use the new Part-Time Workers Regulations to compare their work with that of full-time colleagues, and bring claims for discrimination.

FBU solicitor Richard Arthur said: "This case will impact on hundreds of thousands of part-time workers who will be able to use the regulations to get equal treatment. It is a truly momentous decision."

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