Employee’s Right to Part-Time Work

According to the Employment Contracts Act an employee is entitled to take partial childcare leave in order to take care of their child until the end of July of the year in which the child's second school year at school ends. The employer cannot refuse to agree on or grant such leave unless the leave causes serious inconvenience to the production or service operations that cannot be avoided through reasonable rearrangements of work. Partial child care leave is further handled in section [Partial Child-Care Leave].⁠

According to the Working Hours Act if an employee wishes, for other social or health reasons, to work less than the regular working hours, the employer must seek to arrange work so that the employee can work part-time. The employee is not entitled to unilaterally shorten the working hours and the employer has no obligation to arrange part-time work. However, the employer has to make an effort to organise the possibility of part-time work and at least negotiate the possibility of part-time work. If the employer can’t arrange a chance to work part-time, the employer is obligated to explain their reasons behind it. If it’s possible to organise part-time work, the employer and employee must sign an agreement on part-time work [Agreement on Part-Time Work]⁠.

If an employee is over 55 years old, the employer has a statutory obligation to organise possibility for part-time work if the employee requests to work parttime. The special needs of employer’s business and work arrangements shall be observed in connection of such arrangements. If an employee wishes to work fewer than the regular working hours in order to retire on part-time pension, the employer shall seek to organise the work so that the employee may work part-time. The employee is not entitled to unilaterally shorten the working hours, but employer shall by organising the work try to arrange a possibility for part-time work and at least negotiate on the possibility to work part-time. If it’s not possible to arrange part-time work, the employer is obligated to explain the to the employee why it refuses to do so.

If it is possible to organise part-time work, the employer and the employee should sign an agreement upon part-time work [Agreement on Part-Time Work]⁠.