Right to part-time work in Germany: entitlement & application

An employee who wants to switch from full-time to part-time can negotiate this directly with their employer. Both sides may agree to change the working hours at any time. If no agreement is reached, the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG) grants under certain requirements a legal right to part-time work. The law defines who qualifies, how to apply, and when the employer must accept or reject the request. Other statutes also grant part-time rights in specific situations, such as during parental leave or while providing care. You can find out more about this in the following article.

The most important information at a glance:

• A reduction in working hours can be freely negotiated between the employee and employer at any time and agreed upon mutually.
• There are a number of legal regulations governing rights to part-time work: The Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG) regulates a right to a reduce working hours for all employees. Young parents or persons caring for family members may be entitled to part-time work, as may severely disabled employees, etc.
• According to the TzBfG, every employee who works in a company with more than 15 employees and whose employment relationship has lasted longer than six months has the right to an indefinite reduction in working hours, provided that there are no operational reasons to the contrary.
• The requirements for part-time work in the case of parental or care leave are set out in special laws (such as the BEEG, Care Leave Act, Family Care Leave Act, etc.).

Mutually agreed reduction in working hours

If an employee wishes to switch from full-time to part-time work or further reduce part-time hours, he can enter into negotiations with the employer at any time, regardless of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG). Employees and employers can amend the existing the agreed working hours at any time by means of a mutually agreed arrangement.

Before an employee enters into negotiations on part-time or applies for it, he should consider practical issues, which might arise out of part-time work:

• With part-time work not only the working hours are reduced, but the remuneration as well. The work volume remains the same. Of course, an employee does not intend to do the same work for less remuneration. Therefore an employee has to be aware, which effect his part-time work will have in the context of his specific workplace: Does a colleague take over the working time? Are there new recruitments? Or are there no changes at all? etc.)
• No part-time should be applied for, when the employer plans retrenchments or if there are other reasons for dismissals (e.g. frequent sick periods or serious misconduct). In this case, part-time and a reduced salary would have a negative impact on severance pay and unemployment benefits.

Practical tip: Whichever decision an employee takes, an employee must know that he can not be discriminated against based on his wish to work part-time (§ 5 TzBfG/§ 612a BGB). This includes the prohibition to dismiss him based on his request for part-time work.

Legal right to part-time work

If the parties to the employment contract cannot agree on a change in working hours, the TzBfG regulates when the employee has a legal right to part-time work. Here are the four conditions for an indefinite right to part-time:

1.) Eligible

Every employee, including senior executives, can request a reduction in their working hours from their employer. Trainees are excluded (Section 8 TzBfG).

2.) Employment relationship has existed for more than 6 months

The employment relationship must have existed for more than 6 months at the time of the application (Section 8 TzBfG).

Only the legal existence of the employment relationship is relevant, not the actual performance of the work. If the employee had previously been employed by the same employer without any interruption, this period is included in the 6-month waiting period. If there was a temporary interruption between the different employment relationships, the courts also takes these periods into account as long as there is a close connection. There is no fixed time limit here. In the case of an interruption of 10 months, the Federal Labour Court denied this connection.

3.) Employer employs more than 15 employees

An right to part-time work or a reduction in working hours only exists if the employer regularly employs more than 15 employees (Section 8 TzBfG):

• When counting employees, each employee counts as one person, regardless of the amount of time they work. Part-time employees are not only taken into account on a pro rata basis.
• If an employer has several businesses or branches, all employees of these businesses/branches are counted together.
• Trainees, interns or temporary workers are not included in the calculation.
• ‘Regularly employed’ means that when counting employees, it is not only the date of the application that is decisive, but also a certain period before and after that date which reflects the usual employment situation of the company. Example: If, at the time of the application, more than 15 employees were employed for a short period of time solely due to a large order, then only the usual number of employees applies. Or vice versa.

4.) Last application was submitted at least 2 years ago

A further requirement is that the employee has not submitted an application for part-time work or a reduction in working hours within the last 2 years (Section 8 (6) TzBfG).

Submitting an application

Since the employee is entitled to a reduction in their working hours and to the distribution of the remaining working hours, a single application should be submitted covering both requests.

Requirements regarding content

The application must be specific in terms of content. An employee cannot simply request a general reduction of, for example, 30% to 40%. It should be formulated so clearly that the employer can decide with a simple ‘yes’ (according to the Federal Labour Court). Note: The employer is not required to respond to an application that is vague in terms of content. Nor is the employer obliged to point out the deficiency to the employee. The same applies to applications for the distribution of working hours.

The application must include a date for the start of the reduction and may not be submitted for a temporary reduction in working hours.

It is recommended that the request itself include a date, as certain deadlines (see below for the procedure) are calculated based on the date the request is submitted and the date it is received.

Formal requirements

The employee must submit the request at least three months before the desired start date of the reduced working hours.

The application must be made in writing (“Textform“), i.e. (1) it must be a legible statement. (2) The applicant must be named. (3) The statement must be submitted on a durable medium. This includes paper, emails or devices for storing digital data (such as USB sticks, etc.).

The end of the application must be clearly recognisable. An original signature is not required. A scanned signature or a simple closing salutation is sufficient.

Finally, the application must reach the employer or an authorised representative.

Procedure and decision after submission of the application

If a proper application for part-time work or a reduction in working hours has been submitted, the employer must discuss the desired reduction in working hours with the employee with the aim of reaching a mutual agreement (Section 8 (3) TzBfG).

Obligation to agree

The employer must agree to the request if there are no operational reasons to the contrary. An operational reason may exist if the reduction in working hours

• significantly impairs the organisation,
• workflow or
• safety of the business or
• incurs disproportionate costs.

Three-step test

These are all undefined legal terms. In the event of disputes as to whether an operational reason for rejection exists, the courts will decide on a case-by-case basis. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has developed a ‘three-step test’ for this purpose:

1. What is the “operational concept” with regard to working time in the specific workplace?
2. Does this operational working time actually conflict with the employee’s request? Is it reasonable for the employer to make changes to operational processes in order to accommodate the employee’s wishes?
3. The mutual interests of the employer (company working time regulations, operational processes, etc.) and the employee must be weighed up. Does the request to reduce working hours significantly impair the company’s interests?

Examples from case law regarding rejection or approval

Here are just a few examples when a reason for refusal is accepted or rejected:

• The employer has the entrepreneurial freedom to determine the size of the workforce. If the request for part-time work would mean that the existing workforce would no longer be able to fulfil the required work capacity, this would constitute a reason for refusal.
• The same considerations apply if the working hours are tied to specific machine running times or shift systems and these can no longer be maintained due to the request for part-time work.
• Operational reasons were accepted if the job had to be filled by a person with specific professional qualifications at all times. Example: Kindergarten teachers and continuous supervision of the children by this person.
• The lack of (qualified) replacement staff can be a reason for rejection.
• Overburdening of the employer due to too many requests for part-time work: If several employees wish to make use of their right to part-time work, this may prevent all requests from being approved. The employer has the right to select employees based on objective criteria (e.g. date of application, etc.).

In addition, a collective agreement may stipulate specific grounds for refusal. The employee should therefore check (or have someone check) in their individual case whether an applicable collective agreement specifies specific grounds for refusal. If these do not exist, this indicates that the employer is obliged to grant approval. In individual cases, it is always advisable to consult a lawyer specialising in employment law.

Employer must communicate decision

The employer must inform the employee of their approval or rejection at least one month before the desired start of the reduction in working hours. The notification must be in writing (“Textform“) (see explanations on submitting applications above). No reasons are required.

No notification means consent

If the employer does not notify the employee of a rejection, the request is automatically approved.
The reduction and distribution of working hours then take effect as requested (deemed consent, Section 8 (5) TzBfG). This also applies if the employer has communicated its rejection verbally.

However, deemed consent only applies if all basic requirements are met. These include the waiting period and the minimum number of employees in the company.

Relationship to other part-time entitlements

In addition to the right to part-time under the TzBfG, there are a number of other statutory and collective agreements giving a right to part-time work.

Important: When submitting the application, the employee must specify the desired form of part-time work. This choice determines the requirements for right to part-time work. Here are just a few examples:

Right to “bridge part-time work”

Section 9a TzBfG grants employees with over six months of service the right to reduce working hours temporarily. This reduction must last at least one year and can extend up to a maximum of five years.

However, this requires that more than 45 employees are employed.

The employer may reject the application if operational reasons prevent this. An application may also be rejected if too many employees have already reduced their hours through bridge part-time work.
This applies if, for example, four out of 45–60 employees or five out of 61–75 have reduced their hours.
Further thresholds are listed in Section 9a of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG).

In all other respects, the provisions of Section 8 TzBfG, which was discussed above, applies accordingly.

Right to part-time work during parental leave

According to Section 15 of the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG), employees are entitled to part-time work during parental leave. This right is subject to different requirements and deadlines.

Here is a brief overview:

• More than 15 employees must be employed,
• the employment relationship must have existed for more than six months,
• the reduction must not be less than 15 and not more than 32 hours per week on average per month for at least two months,
• there must be no urgent operational reasons against it,
• notification must be made in writing and
• notification must be given 7 weeks (for parental leave until the child reaches the age of 3) or 13 weeks in advance (for parental leave between the child’s 3rd birthday and the end of their 8th year).

Right to part-time work for caregiving purposes

Employees may be released from work in whole or in part if they care for a close relative in need of care in their home environment (care leave). This right only applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Further details on how to apply can be found in Section 3 (3) ff. of the Care Leave Act.

Enforcement of rights

If there is a dispute between an employee and an employer about the right to part-time work or a reduction in working hours, the employee can take legal action at the competent labour court. There is no time limit for filing a lawsuit.

The employee must continue working under the previous schedule during ongoing labour court proceedings. This applies until the case is finally decided in the employee’s favour.

Since labour court proceedings can take a long time, the employee also has the option of initiating summary proceedings (interim injunction). However, the requirements for this are particularly high. It is advisable to seek legal advice, at least for an initial consultation, in order to obtain a lawyer’s assessment.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)