Lower overtime rate may amount to sex discrimination

Paying overtime at a lower rate than the normal hourly rate may discriminate against women part-time workers, the ECJ has ruled.

Ursula Voss, a part-time teacher in Germany, was employed under the national civil service terms and conditions. These provided for overtime to be paid to teachers who worked more than three additional hours a week and could not take time off in lieu.

But the overtime rate was lower than the hourly rate for working normal hours, meaning that Voss — who had worked an extra four to six hours a month for five months — earned less than a full-time teacher would have received for working the same hours.

The ECJ ruled last month that, unless the pay system can be justified, its operation will amount to unlawful sex discrimination if a considerably higher proportion of women than men are working as part-time teachers.

Voss v Land Berlin Case C-300/06