Part-Time Work

Entitlement to overtime premiums regarding part-time employment

By Dr. Henriette Norda LL.M. / 12 January 2019 11 June 2019 / Part-Time Work

According to a judgment of the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) dated 19 December 2018 (docket number 10 AZR 231/18), part-time employees can be entitled to the payment of overtime premiums with regard to working hours that go past the agreed part-time hours but do not exceed the working hours of full-time employment. In the case in question, the Plaintiff was a part-time employee for the Defendant. A framework collective agreement, which contained regulations on, i.a., overtime premiums and the possibility to determine annual working hours, applied to her employment relationship. Annual working hours had been set for the Plaintiff, …

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Right of part-time employees to return to full-time

By Dr. Kai Bodenstedt LL.M. / 3 December 2018 11 June 2019 / Part-Time Work, Working time

The German parliament has recently passed a law which amends the current Part-Time and Fixed-Term Act and will likely enter into force on 1 January 2019. Under the new law (so-called bridge-part-time-work), employees have the right to work part-time for a period of one to five years (“Part-Time-Period”) and return to full-time after the Part-Time-Period has expired. This right only applies if (i) at the time of the application the employee has been employed by his current employer for more than six months and (ii) the employer (e.g. the respective employing entity) employs more than 45 employees in Germany in …

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Good news for parents? – Interpretation of social plan severance provisions

By Rodrigo Weihermann / 9 October 2018 11 June 2019 / Discrimination, Equal Treatment, Parental Leave, Part-Time Work, Remuneration, Uncategorized

If, in a social compensation plan, the severance payment calculation is based solely on the gross monthly basic salary of a single reference month, the decisive salary of employees who work part-time in that month during their parental leave, is the gross monthly basic salary which they would have been entitled to under their employment contract if they had not been on parental leave (i.e. if they had not worked part time. This is what the German Federal Labour Court decided in its judgment of 15 May 2918 – docket number 1 AZR 20/17. The Court held that the system …

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Return from part-time to full time employment – new legislative initiative planned to become effective in 2019

By Dr. Henriette Norda LL.M. / 24 April 2018 11 June 2019 / Legislation, Part-Time Work

Not long ago, the former German government failed to implement a right to return from part-time to full-time employment for employees. In May 2017, former German Secretary of Employment, Andrea Nahles, had to admit that her party’s plan to strengthen employee rights had not been implemented. Just recently, the tide has turned: After the new government was formed, the Social Democratic Party and its new Secretary of Employment, Hubertus Heil, were able to announce a fresh approach to the part-time legislation. The Ministry of Employment has now provided a draft law to be presented to the German cabinet. This draft …

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The right to extend working hours – sec 9 Act on Part-Time Work and Fixed-Term Employment (TzBfG)

By Tom Stiebert / 22 February 2018 11 June 2019 / Part-Time Work, Standard contractual terms and conditions of employment, Working time

Many employees want flexibility at work; often, this means there is a desire to work part-time (less than 40 hours a week). However the reverse case is also not uncommon; an employee wants to increase his working hours, particularly to earn more money. Both cases are covered by German law. However, there is a claim (currently) only in respect of shortening the working time (sec. 8 TzfG). With an extension the conditions are different. Sec. 9 TzBfG stresses here that a request for extension should be taken into account when filling a vacant position. Thus, if a worker is employed …

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Employment Germany

Part-Time Work