Karl Chircop, MLP main spokesman for social protection, said the launch by the government of a register for part time workers was an admission of a crisis in the employment sector.

Half the jobs being created were part-time, he said. There are 47,516 people who work part-time, after an increase of 3,561 part-time jobs in one year. The number of people with a full-time and a part-time job had gone up by 1,312. The number of those having only a part-time job had gone up by 2,014.

Dr Chircop said the part-time work phenomenon held sway over the employment sector and the government was impotent against problems which part-time workers faced. Part-time workers were being denied leave and other pro rata conditions which employers should be giving them. The Labour Party deplored the way the government was washing its hands of the problem.