About Part-time Employment Contract
This type of contract is distinguished by having a working period of less than 40 hours per week. The number of hours and days worked shall be agreed between the employer and shall be stipulated in the part-time employment contract.
In this article we will explain the conditions necessary to make a contract for part-time work and the rights and duties of workers who have this type of ties with the employer.
Those who have a part-time contract must strive to be aware of the specific characteristics of their contract in order to assert their rights.
In addition to this type of contract, there are currently several other forms of hiring.
1. Situations justifying the conclusion of a part-time contract
The employer may choose to make a part-time contract where his operational needs so warrant.
Contrary to what some people believe, there is no specific legislation detailing situations for part-time employment. It is therefore up to each employer to decide whether or not to hire people using the part-time contract of employment, or not.
This type of contract is widely used in the following situations:
- Reinforcement for seasonal activities such as restaurants or hotels in high season;
- Reinforcement for activities that have daily or weekly “peaks” of work, such as hypermarkets that hire temporary workers to reinforce their base teams on weekends or other more labor-intensive times.
It is thus evident that in most situations the part-time contract serves to adjust the companies’ ability to respond at times of greater demand.
We can give common examples of situations in which this type of hiring is widely used, the height of Christmas. At this time of year, large commercial areas often reinforce their workforce by hiring temporary jobs.
Another example of easy perception is the summer season, especially in areas of great tourist demand like the Algarve. Summer hotels and restaurants are obliged annually to strengthen their teams to cope with the exponential growth of customers who register during the summer.
2. What is the duration of the part-time contract
Like other types of contracts, the duration of part-time contracts must be defined in the written contract and can be subsequently renewed in accordance with the same rules for renewal of a fixed-term contract.
It should be noted that the part-time contract may be changed at any time to a fixed-term contract by signing an addendum to the original contract.
The passage of a part-time contract for a fixed term may be made for a predetermined period or be definitive.
3. How do renovations work?
As in fixed-term contracts, automatic renewals of the contract are made and can be revoked by either party, provided that the legal deadlines for pre-announcements of termination of the contract are respected.
4. How does termination of fixed-term termination work?
Whenever there is a situation of redundancy it is necessary to send a letter of dismissal, regardless of whether it is an initiative of the employer or the worker.
The letter of dismissal must respect standards, know all about a letter of dismissal here and see some examples of letters of dismissal.
The legal deadlines that must be respected for sending the letter of dismissal are the following:
If on a part-time contract renewal:
- Employee employer – 15 days before the end of the contract
- Worker – 8 days before the end of the contract
If out of a contract renewal:
- If contract is less than 6 months old – 15 days before departure
- If contract is more than 6 months old – 30 days in advance of leaving
5. How do holidays and holiday and Christmas allowance work?
A worker with a part-time contract has both the right to take leave as well as any other, and the legislation indicates that this type of contract is entitled to the full 22-day full-time holiday.
With regard to holiday and Christmas allowances, they are also entitled to these allowances, while respecting exactly the same standards as a full-time worker.
Thus, we can conclude that a part-time worker has exactly the same rights and duties as a full-time worker, and the only differentiating factor between them is the number of hours worked.