At a glance
- The European Court of Justice gave a judgment regarding a request for a preliminary ruling received from the German Federal Labour Court.
- It was ruled that under clause 4.1 of the Framework agreement on part-time workers, that part-time workers must not be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable full-time worker.
- An exception applies when unequal treatment is justified on objective grounds.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave a judgment regarding a request for a preliminary ruling received from the German Federal Labour Court. The request concerned the interpretation of clause 4.1 of the Framework Agreement on part time work (Framework Agreement).
Under clause 4.1 of the Framework Agreement, part-time workers must not be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable full-time worker solely because they work part-time. An exception applies to this when the treatment is justified on objective grounds.
On 19 October 2023, the ECJ ruled that clause 4.1 of the Framework Agreement must be interpreted to mean that where national legislation requires part-time workers to have worked the same number of hours as full time workers, when undertaking the same activity, in order to receive extra payments, this would be considered as less favourable treatment under the clause.
This ruling is likely to have an impact on a large number of companies and collective agreements that only offer overtime payments if full-time employees exceed their normal working hours. The unequal treatment in these agreements would be unlawful unless differential treatment is justified on objective grounds, decided on a case-by-case basis.
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