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Christopher Williams
Member - 1 post
I would like to know what rights casual members of staff have that work only at times such as summer holidays and christmas as they do not have contracts but can work full time hours for up to four or five months a year and some have being doing this for about five years.
Do they have any rights and is there anything that should be taken into account when terminating their employment
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Jane Byford - Martineau Johnson
Online advisor - 9 posts
Dear Christopher
Thank you for your recent query.
Casual members of staff, if they are employees, have the same employment rights as permanent members of staff. They are entitled to receive statutory minimum notice on the termination of their employment, should be paid at least the national minimum wage, will be protected by the Working Time Regulations etc.
They should also be given written statements of the main terms and conditions of their employment within two months of commencing employment.
However, whether they have the right to claim unfair dismissal will depend on whether they have 12 months? continuous service. Even if there are gaps in service, continuity may be maintained if the intervals between periods of employment are short in relation to the combined duration of the contracts. Therefore, it is necessary to look backwards and if a casual employee has worked 6 months of the year for 10 years it may be arguable that his employment was continuous. Likewise an employee only engaged during term time may well be able to argue that their employment is continuous.
If an employee does have more than 12 months? service they you will need to have a fair reason for their dismissal and you will need to follow a fair procedure.
Yours sincerely
Jane Byford
Partner
Martineau Johnson
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