What can I do to keep the same number of hours when extending the contract?

Questioner

Good evening, At the moment I have a certain contract for 34 hours, which will probably end soon. Now they want to extend my contract with less hours. However, my current contract does not state the number of months and no end date is indicated, nor was this clearly discussed. What are my rights to keep the same contract or at least request more hours?

Lawyer

If the end date of your employment contract is not determinable, then it cannot simply be said that the contract will end at some point. You would be wise to object to the announcement that the contract would end. It is wise to seek help from a lawyer who is well-versed in employment law. If desired, I can help you with this.

Questioner

The only thing my employment contract states is “employment contract has been entered into for a period of a number of months, the contract ends automatically, without notice being required at the end of the fixed term, namely on leaving service (last working day)” So that also means that they cannot change anything and they cannot change my hours either, if I read your response above.

Lawyer

This means that it is not clear when your employment contract ends and therefore also not clear when a new situation arises. This also makes it difficult to change agreements because it is completely unclear when this should happen. Of course, all this changes when it can be determined from another source how long the employment contract should last, for example an accompanying e-mail or other correspondence.