Contents
Why the distinction counts
Anyone who has agreed 40 hours full-time and works 44 performs four hours of overtime but no extra work in the statutory sense: the daily limit of eight hours is not exceeded where the time is spread over six working days.
Anyone who has agreed 20 hours part-time and works 28 performs eight hours of overtime. That too is not extra work under the Working Hours Act. The difference becomes relevant in practice for collectively agreed premiums, which often only apply from the statutory or the collectively agreed full-time threshold.
The principle of equal treatment for part-time work
A rule under which premiums are only paid from the full-time threshold disadvantages part-time staff, because they reach that threshold less often. The Federal Labour Court has repeatedly measured such clauses against section 4(1) TzBfG and held them ineffective where there is no objective justification.
In practice that means: a premium tied to the individually agreed working time is the safe route.
Ordering and tolerating
Overtime does not arise merely because somebody stays longer. It has to have been ordered, approved or tolerated, or to have been necessary to complete the work owed. Anyone suing for it has to plead and prove that.
The recording duty changes nothing about that. On 04/05/2022 (5 AZR 359/21) the Federal Labour Court expressly held that it does not reverse the burden of proof in overtime proceedings.
Example: part-time work at 25 weekly hours
- Agreed: 25 hours, worked: 33 hours in one week.
- Overtime: 8. Extra work under the ArbZG: none, the daily limit was observed.
- A collectively agreed premium from 38 hours does not apply.
- Under section 4(1) TzBfG such a clause is open to challenge, because it disadvantages part-time staff.
Common mistake
The two terms get used interchangeably in a works agreement. At the latest in the first dispute over a premium it is unclear what was meant, and the interpretation goes against the party that drafted it.
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026