An employee whose employment relationship has existed for longer than six months can request the employer to reduce his contractually agreed working hours, Section 8 TzBfG. According to § 8 para. 2 Sentence 1 TzBfG, the employee must claim the reduction in his working hours and the extent of the reduction at least three months before it begins. If the employer does not comply with the legitimate request for part-time work, the employee can enforce the reduction of his working hours retroactively in court since June 1, 2004 in accordance with Section 311a of the German Civil Code (BGB). However, Section 8 TzBfG does not establish a right to the employer’s consent to a temporary reduction in working hours. With its judgment of September 12, 2006 (- 9 AZR 686/05 -), the Ninth Senate decided, in continuation of its previous case law, that there was no proper application by the employee to reduce his contractually agreed working hours in the sense of. § 8 para. 1, para. 2 TzBfG exists if he only demands a temporary reduction in his contractual working hours. The Ninth Senate rejected a reinterpretation of the application for a temporary reduction in working hours. As a rule, it cannot be assumed that an indefinite reduction in working hours corresponds to the employee’s presumed wishes. The employee obviously only wanted to accept the restrictions associated with a reduction in working hours, in particular the reduction in earnings, for a limited period of time.