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News of Atypical Work in Germany: Recent developments as to fixed-term contracts, temporary and part-time work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Marlene Schmidt

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Recently, the German law governing atypical forms of work has been amended in several respects. The Beschäftigungsförderungsgesetz 1985 (BeschFG 1985 - Act on the Improvement of Employment Opportunities), regulating part-time work (Teilzeitarbeit) and (partially) fixed-term contracts (befristete Arbeitsverhältnisse), has been replaced by the Gesetz über Teilzeitarbeit und befristete Arbeitsverträge (TzBfG - Act on Part-Time Work and Fixed-Term Contracts), in force since 1 January 2001, and implementing Directive 97/81/EC on Part-Time Work and Directive 99/70/EC on Fixed-Term Contracts. The legislator, however, did not confine himself to implementing EC law but regarded the obligation to implement the Directives as a stimulus to amend the right of part-time work and fixed-term contracts fundamentally. In doing so, he fixed a level of employee protection much higher than required by the Directives. The legal rules for temporary work (Leiharbeit) have not yet been fundamentally changed. But the Job-AQTIV-Gesetz (Job-AQTIV-Act) has amended it in a way at least partially anticipating the presumably soon to be adopted Directive on Temporary Work. Both acts, the Act on Part-time Work and on Fixed-Term Contracts as well as the Job-AQTIV-Act, aim at a reduction of the numbers of unemployed and the creation of employment opportunities. This article sketches and briefly comments on the new rules for fixed-term work, temporary and part-time work.

Type
Research Article
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 3 , Issue 7 , July 2002 , E4
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 by German Law Journal GbR

References

(*) Amended and revised version of a presentation given at the Conference “The Ne-cessity of Qualified Flexibility in Job-Creation Policies”, organised by the Con-federazione Nazionale dell’ Artigianato e della Piccola e Media Impresa at Reggio Emilia (Italy), 14 June 2002.Google Scholar
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