«Temporary part-time workers» (by the application of zero hours short-time working, Kurzarbeit Null, following the implementation of a social plan redundancy measures), and adquire rights paid annual leave

Comment to the Judgement of the ECJ, Fifth Chamber, dated 8 November 2012, in Joined Cases C-229/11 and C-230/11, Alexander Heimann (C-229/11), Konstantin Toltschin (C-230/11) and Kaiser GMBH

Abstract

The extension of the employment contracts, following the implementation of a social plan, by means of the suspension, by reducing to zero the working time (Kurzarbeit Null), of the employee obligation to work and the employer’s obligation to pay the salary: ¿is comparable to the reduction of a worker’s obligation to work resulting from a contractually agreed move (conversion) from a full-time to a part-time employment?; ¿does it imply a reduction of the paid annual leave comparable to which a worker is entitled to during a part-time employment, pro rata temporis rule?