Part-time is not second-class: Britain's top court sides with its workers

Warren Augustine drives a private-hire car part-time — and like every driver at Data Cars Ltd, he paid the same flat weekly fee to use the company's booking system, no matter how few hours he worked. That meant every hour he drove cost him more than it cost a full-timer. His claim failed at every level until it reached the UK Supreme Court, which has now ruled unanimously in his favor: to prove unfair treatment, a part-time worker's hours need only be an 'effective cause' of the disadvantage — not the only cause. The decision, under the 2000 Part-time Workers Regulations, widens protection for the roughly one in four British workers who work part-time, across retail, care, hospitality and beyond.