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Ministers have expanded rules on part-time workers' rights to include the 100,000 part-time lecturers employed by agencies.

The Department of Trade and Industry published Part-time Workers' Regulations last week. From July, it will give part-time staff the same rights as their full-time colleagues. More than 400,000 part-timers in further and higher education will be affected.

The DTI withdrew draft regulations that would have excluded staff employed through agencies. Lecturers' union Natfhe had warned that employers were planning to exploit this loophole by sacking staff and re-employing them through agencies.