The judgment arose in the case of a German pilot employed by Lufthansa CityLine GmbH under a part-time employment contract. According to the contract, the employee was entitled to additional remuneration if he exceeded a certain threshold of working hours on a monthly basis. An identical threshold was provided for full-time pilots.

Following a reference for a preliminary ruling from the German Federal Labour Court, the Court of Justice recalled that EU law does not allow part-time employees to be treated less favourably than full-time employees, unless the difference in treatment is justified by objective reasons. At the same time, according to the CJEU, German legislation allowing the entitlement to additional remuneration to depend on exceeding the same number of working hours, irrespective of full-time or part-time employment, must be considered incompatible with EU law.

Although the CJEU's analysis relates to German law, the ruling may have an impact on the entitlements of part-time employees employed in other EU countries, including Poland. This is because under Polish law, the number of working hours exceeding which entitles a part-time employee to an overtime allowance is determined by the parties in the employment contract.