New law on part-time work

New law from 11 December 2018 on part-time working hours: “Gesetz zur Weiterentwicklung des Teilzeitrechts - Einführung einer Brückenteilzeit”

This law came into effect on 1 January 2019 and applies to all employees under collective bargaining agreement (not Beamte/civil servants). This law may have limited applicability for staff employed in the library service centre (BSZ), since it is considered a small business run by the University of Konstanz.

As of 1 January 2019, staff who have been employed more than six months have the right to "Brückenteilzeit", that means, to reduce their working hours for a limited period of time. Previously  this right to a reduction in working hours did not entail the right to later return to the original number of working hours.

In order to take advantage of this “Brückenteilzeit”, the following conditions apply:

·         Minimum length: 1 year

·         Maximum length: 5 years

·         No changes to the original “Brückenteilzeit” agreement may be made (no extensions or reductions).

·         The request must be made in writing to the employer at least three months ahead of time and include information about which hours should be worked during the week.

·         The staff member and his/her employer must discuss the request with the goal of reaching an agreement. The staff member can request assistance from a member of the staff council.

·         If the request is denied, the employer needs to provide a written response detailing the reasons for the decision at least one month before the requested “Brückenteilzeit”. A request may be denied for work-related reasons, e.g. if the job can only be performed by one person.

·         If the employer does not deny the request in writing or the written notification does not arrive before the deadline, the period of part-time work begins as requested by the staff member.

·         The staff member must wait at least a year after returning to his/her previous amount of working hours to request another reduction in hours. If the request was denied, however, different periods of time apply.