At a glance
- The European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave a judgment on the treatment of part-time workers under the Framework Agreement on part time work and the Equal Treatment Directive.
- The ECJ identified both inadmissible less favourable treatment of part-time employees and indirect discrimination based on gender.
On 29 July 2024, the ECJ dealt with a reference for a preliminary ruling submitted by the German Federal Labour Court on part-time worker rights.
In the underlying proceedings, the relevant company's collective agreement stipulates that overtime pay should only be granted for hours worked in excess of the monthly working hours of a full-time employee in a calendar month. The employer in question employs significantly more women than men on a part-time basis. Two women working part-time claimed overtime pay and compensation for unlawful discrimination. The ECJ identified both less favourable treatment of part-time employees and indirect discrimination based on gender.
The ECJ held that national legislation which allows overtime pay only for part-time workers who work beyond the standard hours set for full-time workers in similar positions, constitutes ‘less favourable’ treatment of part-time workers within the meaning of the Framework Agreement on part time work.
Further, the ECJ held that such provision also constitutes indirect discrimination on grounds of sex. The Federal Labour Court had stated in the submission that the proportion of women in the group of full-time employees was also significantly higher than the proportion of men. The ECJ clarified that if the regulation disadvantages significantly more women than men among part-time employees, it is not relevant that there are significantly more men than women among the full-time employees at the same time for the discrimination to be recognised.
The ruling is in line with an ECJ ruling from October 2023. At that time, the ECJ ruled that part-time employees can claim overtime bonuses if they exceed their individual working hours, even if the relevant collective agreement only provides for such bonuses if the normal working hours for full-time employees are exceeded.
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