Part-time work – What employees should know

Around eleven million Germans work part-time. Classic part-time workers are young mothers – but now every fifth part-time worker is a man and the trend is rising. The reason for this is the better compatibility of work and family, which is becoming increasingly relevant for both sexes. After all, the job is not always everything in life.

Legal regulations on part-time work

At the beginning of 2001, the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG) came into force. Since then, the Part-Time Employment and Fixed-Term Employment Act has been the central body of regulations for atypical employment relationships. One of the declared aims of the law in § 1 is to promote part-time work and to prevent discrimination against part-time and fixed-term employees, particularly with regard to pay. In addition, § 6 states that employers shall enable their employees, including those in managerial positions, to work part-time. Thus, under certain circumstances, an employee can demand a reduction of his or her working hours with the help of the TzBfG. Under certain conditions, the employee is even entitled to convert his full-time position into a part-time position.

Requirements for the application of part-time work

In order for the TzBfG to be applicable to the individual employment relationship at all, certain prerequisites must be met. As a rule, the employer must employ more than 15 employees. Part-time employees are counted as full-time employees here, but trainees do not count. Furthermore, the employment relationship must have existed for more than six months.

What employees should consider

The employee must notify the employer of the desired reduction in working time at least three months before the intended start. In addition to the desired number of hours, he must also indicate the desired distribution of weekly hours over the individual working days. As a rule, it is the employer’s decision on how the working time is to be distributed. However, if there is a concrete request for a reduction of working hours to part-time, the employer must take this into account accordingly. In the TzBfG, the employee was granted more rights in this regard. If, however, the employee does not provide precise information on the concrete reduction of hours and distribution of working time, it is entirely up to the employer to decide how part-time work is to be implemented.

The application for part-time work must refer to an unlimited reduction of working hours. The TzBfG does not allow for a time-limited part-time job to be enforced. The application can be made orally by the employer. However, it is advisable to record the request for part-time work in writing for purposes of evidence. It is not necessary to substantiate the application, but it is generally recommended.

Does the employer have to agree to the request for part-time work?

After the application has been made, a joint amicable arrangement should be reached between the employer and the employee. However, if there are no operational reasons which prevent the employee from working part-time, the employer must agree to a reduction in working hours. An operational reason exists in particular if the reduction of the working time to part-time would significantly impair the organisation, the workflow or the safety in the company or would cause disproportionate costs.

The employer must inform the employee in writing of the decision on the request for part-time work at least one month before the desired start of the reduction in working hours. If the employer does not reject the employee’s intention in writing in due time, the working time shall be reduced to the extent desired by the employee, even if the employee has given an oral rejection. If the employer rejects the employee’s request for part-time work in due time, the employee may file an action with the Labour Court for the employer’s consent to the reduction of working time. It has been shown here that case law sets high standards for the rejection of the desire for part-time work. Experience shows that the decisions are employee-friendly.

However, the strong legal position of the employee only relates to the reduction of working hours. So if the employer wants to increase to a full-time position again, he has no such claim. However, the employer must take the employee’s wish into account and give preferential consideration to the employee when filling a corresponding vacant position if he is equally qualified.

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Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

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