Working Life > Working Hours > Part Time Work

Part Time Work: Reduced Working Hours

Definition, Explanation

Part-time work means doing a job with a shorter weekly working time than jobs done by equivalent full-time employees. Reduction of working hours is counted down from the working hours of equivalent full-time employees in the company, which may be 37.5 hours or 39 hours per week. Working time below that level is considered as part-time work.

Part-time work is done in various occupations and positions – even managers, field workers, project managers and project staff can work part-time.

However, in order for part-time work to be advantageous for the company, fulfilling the company’s needs, it has to be managed by both employers and employees with high flexibility and efficient scheduling. Women use part time work as an opportunity to take care of their children. Men are also beginning to value the advantages of part-time work, in order to integrate other interests they have, such as further education, family and hobbies, in the sense of a better work-life balance. Companies commonly use part time work as an instrument to avoid dismissals and re-employments.

According to §8 TzBfG – Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz (Law on Part-Time Work and Temporary Employment Contracts) your request for part time work must be complied with, if

• the employer has more than 15 employees,
• and you have been working in the company for longer than 6 months,
• and your part time work will not interfere with the company’s organisation, safety or work processes

Schemes of part time work:

• Reduced daily working hours
• Minijob up to 400 Euros monthly or marginal part-time work
• Midijob, within the range from 400.01 Euros up to 800 Euros or flexible working hours
• Jobsharing
  Employees can appoint working hours among one another flexibly
• On-call work, which means employees work when they are needed
  • Here, the duration of work must be determined in advance, or must be at least 10 hours per week, or at least 3 hours per week
  • The employee has to be given notice no later than 4 days in advance
  • Continued payment of wages in the case of illness and on public holidays, based on the wages of the last 3 months

Effects of part time work on

• wages
  pro-rata, based on the normal weekly working hours as stated in the employment contract
• holiday
  The number of holiday weeks of a part time worker is the same as the one of a full-time employee’s
• Bonuses such as holiday pay, Christmas money, annual bonuses
  Part time workers are entitled to receive pro-rata amounts, based on the standard number of weekly working hours as defined in the employment contract
• Elterngeld – parental allowance
  You receive Elterngeld as long as you work up to 30 hours per week within your parental leave. However, that income can reduce your parental allowance. Here, note the regulations for parental allowance (Elterngeld)
• Pension
  Reduced working hours result in reduced pension entitlements
• Continued payment of wages
  • In the case of illness
    In principle part-time workers are entitled to the same continued payment of wages as full-time employees, except when the employment is temporarily for 3 to 4 weeks, or you become ill within the first 4 weeks. In these exceptional cases, instead of continued payment of wages, you receive sickness benefits
  • on Holidays
    normal continued payment of wages, like for full-time employees
  • after a work accident
    If the person is employed with several employers, all of the employers have to continue to pay the wages
• Overtime or extra work
  Extra work must be paid. If extra work is done regularly, then the part time work becomes full time work
• Dismissal
  Dismissal protection of part-time workers is the same as for full-time workers and depends on the length of employment, respectively on the applying collective agreement
• Maternity protection
  Pregnant part-time workers are under maternity protection by law, and receive maternity benefits. Persons with a low income, which is an income below 390 Euros per month for the last 3 months, receive the maternity benefit from the statutory health insurance; persons who work in jobs without social insurance obligation and persons who are in a private health-insurance receive maternity benefits from the German Federal (Social) insurance Office
• Side job
  The employer can deny the employee working in a second employment, if
  • the second employment is in a competing business
  • or a self-employment creates a competing business for the current employer
  • the second employment bears the risk of overstraining the employee
  • the total number of working hours is more than 10 hours per day, respectively more than 48 hours per week
• Unemployment
  Unemployment benefit I amounts are based on the previous income (60% of it without a child, 67 % with a child). Therefore, part time work reduces the amount of unemployment benefits. In order to make part time work more attractive, the German government allows part time workers who have become unemployed to receive 100% of their part-time work wages as an unemployment benefit, if
  • they have worked more than 80 % of the full-time working hours for at least 6 months in a row during the last 3 ½ years,
  • the part time working hours were less than 80 % of the full-time working hours
• Social insurance and tax
  social insurance is usually compulsory for part-time workers are usual, except for Minijobs. The amount of tax depends on the employees’ income and tax class. Wages for part-time workers can be paid out without tax if the employee has a certificate of exemption. Marginal employees pay a flat-rate tax
• Accident protection
  Part-time workers are insured in statutory accident insurance on their way to work and back. Contributions are paid by the employers

Tips, Checklist

• A valid request for the reduction of working hours is an oral or written one, includes the desired number of working hours and is made at least 3 months in advance. The employer and employee should talk about the possibility of part-time work and find an agreement together, setting out working time
• Even as a part-time employee, you are entitled to further education. Use these possibilities to keep up-to-date in your profession
• As a part time employee, you must not be treated differently than a full-time employee. This also applies to job vacancies within the company
• If you work on-call, make sure that your working hours are defined as well as limited, e.g. to a maximum of 25 hours with a 20 hours contract
• Make sure you have a written contract that contains clauses according to the regulations of part -time work, social insurance, holidays, wages, working hours, and continued payment of wages, the granting of side jobs and other part time employment and the like
• If you are pregnant and have private health insurance, apply for maternity benefit with the German Federal (Social) insurance Office
• Think which tax class might be the most suitable for you as a part-time worker. You can ask your tax adviser
• Particularly for Minijobbers, it might be advisable to get a certificate of tax exemption from the local tax office and hand it to your employer. Then you do not have to pay tax

Articles

• How to Maximize Your Efficiency as a Part-Timer; HarvardBusiness.org, July 30, 2009

Last update: 08/13/2010