Bank Holiday Mondays / Part Time Workers

The Court of Session has affirmed the EAT's decision (see bulletin 19/4/06), holding that an employer who does not give a part-time employee pro rata days off work to reflect Monday bank holidays is not discriminating under the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000.

Mr McMenemy worked on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. His employer allowed people to have bank holidays off, but only if they actually worked on the bank holiday. Mr McMenemy claimed that amounted to less favourable treatment on grounds of his part-time status, as most bank holidays fall on a Monday.

The Court of Session, construing the Regulations and the underlying Directive, held that the treatment must be solely on grounds of the worker's part-time status (paras. 2 and 6). It held that, because the employer would have treated a full-time worker who did not work on a Monday in the same way, Mr McMenemy had failed to establish causation. Accordingly, his appeal was dismissed.

McMenemy v Capita Business Services Ltd

[Thanks to Brian Napier QC, who successfully acted for Capita, for telling me about this decision ]