An Employer’s Right to Reject an Employee’s Demand to Work Part Time

Much to the consternation of many employers, the German legislature enacted a statute in 2001 that gave employees the legal right to demand from their employer that the employee work only on a part-time basis. Though employers have been given some statutory legal arguments against such requests — most notably, employers can deny an employee’s request if operational reasons warrant such a denial — it was feared that courts would give only lip service to this argument. However, as of late, court decisions have clarified employers’ rights, and there has even been a tendency to limit employees’ rights to some degree.

On December 9, 2003, the Federal Labor Court held that an employee who asked to be put on part-time status could not force an employer to hire an additional full-time employee if another part-time employee was not available. The employee could also not demand that other employees work overtime so that he could work part time. The employee also tried to require the employer