Part-time work

Case 6: The facts

A pre-retirement scheme under German law allowed individuals working for the Federal Labour Office to downshift from full-time to part-time work in the years leading up to retirement, with a guarantee of at least 83% of their full-time pay. Erika Steinicke had worked full-time, but after the birth of her baby she had transferred to part-time work. When she reached pre-retirement age she would have liked to reduce her hours, taking advantage of the minimum salary guarantee.

The ruling

The ECJ held that the rule allowing only full-time workers to benefit from the arrangement was discriminatory, as effectively it excluded proportionately more women than men. The court noted that the provision was said to be aimed at unblocking the labour market, but that it could have the opposite effect if workers did not opt for part-time work because they knew this would exclude them from the pre-retirement scheme.

Steinicke v Bundesanstalt für Arbeit [2003] IRLR 892