Workers returning part-time after absence
4.—(1) This regulation applies to a worker who—
(a)was identifiable as a full-time worker in accordance with regulation 2(1) immediately before a period of absence (whether the absence followed a termination of the worker’s contract or not);
(b)returns to work for the same employer within a period of less than twelve months beginning with the day on which the period of absence started;
(c)returns to the same job or to a job at the same level under a contract, whether it is a different contract or a varied contract and regardless of whether it is of the same type, under which he is required to work for a number of weekly hours that is lower than the number he was required to work immediately before the period of absence.
(2) Notwithstanding regulation 2(4), regulation 5 shall apply to a worker to whom this regulation applies (“the returning worker”) as if he were a part-time worker and as if there were a comparable full-time worker employed under—
(a)the contract under which the returning worker was employed immediately before the period of absence; or
(b)where it is shown that, had the returning worker continued to work under the contract mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) a variation would have been made to its terms during the period of absence, the contract mentioned in that sub-paragraph including that variation.
(3) The fact that this regulation applies to a worker does not affect any right he may have under these Regulations by virtue of regulation 2(4).