Following a judgement in the House of Lords, part-time workers across the UK could become entitled to the same pension rights and benefits as full-time workers.

The test case involved 12 part-time firefighters who had been seeking equal pension and other employment rights. The case was based on the exclusion of retained firefighters from the Firefighters' Pension Scheme and worse treatment under the sick pay scheme.

In the judgement it was ruled that retained and whole-time firefighters are employed on the same "type of contract".

As well as opening the way for all of the UK’s retained firefighters to have access to equal pensions and sick pay rights, the 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-timers, and bring claims for discrimination.

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