Summary

National legislation which makes the payment of additional remuneration for part-time workers and comparable full-time workers uniformly contingent on the same number of working hours being exceeded in a given activity give rise to less favourable treatment of part-time workers, which is contrary to EU law, unless such treatment is justified on objective grounds.

Questions

1. Must Clause 4.1 of the Framework Agreement on part-time work be interpreted as meaning that national legislation which makes the payment of additional remuneration for part-time workers and for comparable full-time workers uniformly contingent on the same number of working hours being exceeded in a given activity, such as a pilot’s flight duty, must be regarded as ‘less favourable’ treatment of part-time workers within the meaning of that provision?
2. Must Clauses 4.1 and 4.2 of the Framework Agreement on part-time work be interpreted as precluding national legislation which makes the payment of additional remuneration for part-time workers and comparable full-time workers uniformly contingent on the same number of working hours being exceeded in a given activity, such as a pilot’s flight duty, in order to compensate for a workload particular to that activity?

Ruling

1. Clause 4.1 of the Framework Agreement on part-time work must be interpreted as meaning that national legislation which makes the payment of additional remuneration for part-time workers and comparable full-time workers uniformly contingent on the same number of working hours being exceeded in a given activity, such as a pilot’s flight duty, must be regarded as a ‘less favourable’ treatment of part-time workers within the meaning of that provision.
2. Clause 4.1 and 4.2 of the Framework Agreement on part-time work must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which makes the payment of additional remuneration for part-time workers and comparable full-time workers uniformly contingent on the same number of working hours being exceeded in a given activity, such as a pilot’s flight duty, in order to compensate for a workload particular to that activity.