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I am not sure how to deal with the recent change at my current workplace. All employees have been offered new contracts. Here in Germany, it is common for it-companys to have a weekly work time of about 40 hours. To make our company competitive against other employers, they decided to lower our working time from 42 hours to the more common 40 hours: at the same salary. Sounds like a good deal: you get the same money for working less time (so salary-per-hour is raised with the new contracts). But the people working part-time are excluded of this: they have been offered the same amount of hours for the same amount of time. So the salary-per-hour stays the same while every full-time-employee gets a raise.

As a part-timer I am really unsure, how to handle this situation. I expected either the weekly work-hours or the salary to be adjusted… I feel disadvantaged compared to the other employees working full-time.

Furthermore, there are other changes in the new contracts like an extra day of holiday and overtime will be cutted at a given amount. But in my eyes, these new rules are not deal-breaking. Some are nice, some are cumbersome. But all in all, it's a tie. But my attention lies on the salary, so at the given terms, I don't think, I will accept the new contract.

What are your ideas and opinions to approach my manager airing my displeasure?

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  • "while every full-time-employee gets a raise" Nobody got a raise, as far as I can read. They'll just be working 2 hours less per week. Good and fine for them but that's not a raise, unless it's often to do (paid) overtime. – ypercubeᵀᴹ Mar 26 '18 at 21:59
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    @ypercubeᵀᴹ They are being paid the same amount of money to work less hours, so they are being paid more per hour for their work, so it is a raise... – Draken Mar 27 '18 at 6:43
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    Sorry but no. Raise is an increase in salary. They do not get that. They won't go home with more money in the end of the month. There is no rate per hour for employees that are paid monthly salary. They do get to work less, true. But the only raise they get is virtual. You are just stretching the definition of raise here. – ypercubeᵀᴹ Mar 27 '18 at 8:29
  • Salary workers do not work on a "per-hour" basis. That argument doesn't make sense because a salary worker wouldn't be able to start working more than 40hrs/week and complain to HR that they're underpaid. Think about the benefits a full-time vs a part-time employee receives - would you consider that unfair? – koksamosa Feb 27 at 17:56
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As with most salary discussions, you need to make this about the value you provide and not about what is happening with someone else.

However, I think full-timers could just as easily say that they should be getting a better hourly rate based on their larger commitment to the company, and that this adjustment is overdue.

In general, you should not compare yourself to others who are in a different situation. Unless there is a law that says part-timers must be paid at the same rate as full-timers (which I doubt, but maybe) there is no reason to assume that the company must or will treat you the same.

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Unless you felt like you were getting a poor deal before then I don't think you have much to be put out about. Sounds to me like the full timers were getting the bad deal before and now its the case that they are getting more what they should have been getting all along. You haven't lost anything, and in real terms nothing changes for you since you state that the salary is your main focus. Part timers and full timers generally aren't directly comparable.

If you aren't happy with your pay or other compensation because it's a bad package in of urself then certainly you should either attempt to negotiate a better one or leave, same as you would normally.

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