Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 22 April 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Landesgericht Innsbruck — Austria) — Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols v Land Tirol

(Case C-486/08) (1)

(Social policy - Framework agreements on part-time work and on fixed-term work - Disadvantageous provisions provided for by national legislation for contractual public servants working part-time, on a casual basis, or under a fixed term contract - Principle of equal treatment)

(2010/C 161/11)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landesgericht Innsbruck

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols

Defendant: Land Tirol

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Landesgericht Innsbruck — Interpretation of Clause 4(1) and (2) of the Annex to Council Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 on part-time work concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC (OJ 1998 L 14, p. 9), of Clause 4 of the Annex to Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP (OJ 1999 L 175, p. 43), and Article 14(1)(c) of Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (OJ 2006 L 204, p. 23) — National legislation governing workers employed under a private law contract excluding from its scope certain categories of workers, part-time, casual or those employed under a fixed-term contract — Disadvantageous provisions foreseen concerning the right to annual leave, for staff changing from full-time work to part-time work and for staff taking parental leave for two years — Principal of equal treatment of men and women workers, of part-time and full-time workers, and of workers employed under a fixed-term contract and workers employed under a contract of indefinite duration

Operative part of the judgment

1. Relevant European Union law and, in particular, Clause 4.2 of the framework agreement on part-time work, concluded on 6 June 1997 which is annexed to Council Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 concerning the framework agreement on part-time work concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC, as amended by Council Directive 98/23/EC of 7 April 1998, must be interpreted as precluding a national provision such as Paragraph 55(5) of the Law of the Province of Tyrol on contractual public servants (Tiroler Landes Vertragsbedienstetengesetz) of 8 November 2000, in the version in force up to 1 February 2009, under which, in the event of a change in the working hours of a worker, the amount of leave not yet taken is adjusted in such a way that a worker who reduces his working hours from full-time to part-time suffers a reduction in the right to paid annual leave he has accumulated but not been able to exercise while working full-time, or he can only take that leave with a reduced level of holiday pay.

2. Clause 4 of the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded on 18 March 1999, which is annexed to Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP, must be interpreted as precluding a national provision such as Paragraph 1(2)(m) of the Law of the Province of Tyrol on contractual public servants of 8 November 2000, in the version in force up to 1 February 2009, which excludes from the scope of that law workers employed under a fixed-term contract of a maximum of six months or on a casual basis.

3. Clause 2.6 of the framework agreement on parental leave concluded on 14 December 1995, which is annexed to Council Directive 96/34/EC of 3 June 1996 on the framework agreement on parental leave concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC, as amended by Council Directive 97/75/EC of 15 December 1997 must be interpreted as precluding a national provision such as the last sentence of Paragraph 60 of the Law of the Province of Tyrol on contractual public servants of 8 November 2000, in the version in force up to 1 February 2009, under which workers exercising their right to parental leave of two years lose, following that leave, their right to paid annual leave accumulated during the year preceding the birth of their child.

(1) OJ C 44, 21.2.2009.