Brückenteilzeit („bridge part-time”, § 9a TzBfG) lets you reduce your working hours for a fixed period of one to five years — and then return automatically to your previous contractual hours, without applying, without negotiating, and without depending on a vacancy. It is the answer to the biggest weakness of regular part-time under § 8 TzBfG, which is a one-way street: once you reduce, you have no right to your old hours back. For anyone reducing hours for a life phase — small children, a care situation, further education — rather than permanently, Brückenteilzeit is almost always the safer instrument. You need no reason at all; the employer needs solid operational reasons, or in mid-sized companies a full statutory quota, to say no.
Who is entitled
The conditions under § 9a(1) TzBfG:
- Tenure: your employment relationship has existed for more than six months.
- Company size: the employer regularly employs more than 45 employees (per head, excluding trainees, counted across the legal entity — not the individual site).
- Defined period: you must request the reduction for a fixed period of at least one year and at most five years. Collective agreements can set different ranges.
No reasons are required. You do not need to justify the reduction, and the employer may not demand justification or make approval conditional on one. The volume of the reduction is your choice — from a token reduction to a marginal-hours arrangement.
How to apply: mechanics and deadlines
The mechanics mirror § 8 TzBfG (§ 9a(3) TzBfG refers to them):
- Text form — email suffices; verbal requests do not count.
- Three months before the desired start date.
- State the extent of the reduction, the period (start and end date), and ideally the desired distribution of hours.
The employer must discuss the request with you, and must communicate a rejection in written form (signed original) no later than one month before the requested start. If it fails to do so, the fiction of consent applies: the Brückenteilzeit takes effect exactly as requested — volume, period and distribution. An email refusal generally does not satisfy the written-form requirement.
When the employer can refuse
Operational reasons — the same test as § 8
The employer can reject for operational reasons (betriebliche Gründe) under the standard of § 8(4) TzBfG: a documented organisational concept, a genuine conflict with your requested hours, and sufficient weight of the impairment. Courts apply the same strict three-stage test as for regular part-time — generic staffing complaints do not survive it.
The Zumutbarkeitsgrenze: quota for employers with 46–200 employees
Mid-sized employers get an additional, purely numerical defence (§ 9a(2) TzBfG). They may refuse if, at the requested start date, a set number of employees is already on Brückenteilzeit — roughly one per started block of 15 employees:
| Company size (employees) | Employer may refuse if already on Brückenteilzeit |
|---|---|
| 46–60 | 4 or more |
| 61–75 | 5 or more |
| 76–90 | 6 or more |
| 91–105 | 7 or more |
| 106–120 | 8 or more |
| 121–135 | 9 or more |
| 136–150 | 10 or more |
| 151–165 | 11 or more |
| 166–180 | 12 or more |
| 181–195 | 13 or more |
| 196–200 | 14 or more |
Only employees on § 9a Brückenteilzeit count towards the quota — regular § 8 part-timers, parental part-time and Altersteilzeit do not. Employers above 200 employees have no quota defence at all. In our experience, employers frequently miscount; always ask for the names-and-numbers basis of a quota refusal.
During and after the bridge period
- During: while on Brückenteilzeit you cannot demand a further reduction or an early increase of your hours under §§ 8, 9 or 9a TzBfG (§ 9a(4) TzBfG). Changes remain possible by agreement.
- After: on the end date, your contractual hours revert automatically to the pre-reduction level. No application, no employer discretion, no vacancy requirement. If the employer does not schedule you accordingly, it owes you pay for the full hours under default-of-acceptance rules (Annahmeverzug).
- Blocking periods: after returning, you can request the next Brückenteilzeit at the earliest one year after the return (§ 9a(5) TzBfG). After a refusal for operational reasons, a new request is possible after two years; after a refusal based solely on the quota, after one year.
Brückenteilzeit vs. regular part-time (§ 8): the decision matrix
| § 8 TzBfG (regular part-time) | § 9a TzBfG (Brückenteilzeit) | |
|---|---|---|
| Company size | more than 15 employees | more than 45 employees |
| Duration | indefinite | fixed, 1–5 years |
| Way back to old hours | none — only vacancy priority under § 9 TzBfG | automatic on the end date |
| Reasons required | none | none |
| Employer defences | operational reasons | operational reasons + quota (46–200 employees) |
| Best for | permanent lifestyle change | life phases: childcare, care, study, recovery |
Rule of thumb: if there is any realistic chance you will want your hours — and your full salary — back, choose Brückenteilzeit. Employees who reduced under § 8 and later hit a wall trying to scale back up are a recurring pattern in our consultations, particularly before parental leave ends. Note that Brückenteilzeit is your own choice and fully paid pro rata — unlike Kurzarbeit, where the employer cuts hours and the Agentur für Arbeit partially compensates.
Worked example
A consultant in Bonn, 4 years’ tenure, €6,300 gross on 40 hours, at a company with 130 employees. She requests Brückenteilzeit by email in early January: 28 hours (Monday–Thursday) for exactly three years starting 1 May. Pro-rata salary: €6,300 × 28/40 = €4,410 gross.
The employer wants to refuse. Options: (1) Operational reasons — none hold; her projects are team-staffed and a maternity cover consultant is available. (2) Quota — with 130 employees, the employer may refuse only if at least 9 employees are already on Brückenteilzeit; HR confirms there are 3. The employer nevertheless sends an email refusal on 20 April. Too late (less than one month before 1 May) and wrong form. The fiction of consent applies: from 1 May she works 28 hours at €4,410.
Three years later, on 1 May, her contract reverts automatically to 40 hours and (after intervening raises) €6,750 gross. When the employer claims her role „no longer exists full-time” and keeps scheduling 28 hours, we assert Annahmeverzug: she owes 28 hours of presence only if the employer refuses the rest — but is paid for 40. The employer relents after one payroll cycle and back-pays the difference of €1,638 gross.
Frequently asked questions
Can my employer refuse Brückenteilzeit without giving any reason?
No. Unlike you, the employer needs grounds: operational reasons meeting the § 8(4) TzBfG test, or — only in companies with 46–200 employees — the statutory quota. A bare „no” that arrives in proper written form at least one month before the start date prevents the fiction of consent, but it is challengeable in court, and unfounded refusals regularly lose.
Can I end Brückenteilzeit early if my situation changes?
Not unilaterally. The period is fixed both ways — you cannot demand an early return, and the employer cannot force one. Early changes require mutual agreement. During the bridge you also cannot stack a further statutory reduction on top (§ 9a(4) TzBfG). Choose the length conservatively; two shorter bridges (with the one-year gap) can beat one long one.
Can I extend the bridge period or convert it into permanent part-time?
Only by agreement or a fresh request. A seamless second Brückenteilzeit is not possible — the law requires a one-year gap after your return. What works: agreeing a contractual extension with the employer, or filing a § 8 TzBfG request for permanent reduction to start when the bridge ends (the blocking periods of § 8 and § 9a run separately).
Does the 45-employee threshold count part-timers and other sites?
Yes and yes. Count per head across the whole legal entity, excluding only trainees. An international company with 30 employees in Germany and 400 abroad is counted by its German workforce as employer — if the German entity employs the staff, the German headcount decides.
What happens to vacation, bonus and pension during the bridge?
Everything scales pro rata temporis under § 4 TzBfG: salary, bonus target, company pension contributions. Vacation days depend on your weekly working days, not hours — a 28-hour week spread over 4 days converts 30 days on a 5-day week into 24 days with unchanged total time off.