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Employment Germany

co-determination

Works Council has Right of Co-Determination Concerning Employer’s Twitter Account

By / 11 June 2019 / Social networks, Works Council

On September 13, 2018 the State Labour Court Hamburg (docket number 2 TaBV 5/18) ruled that works councils have a right of co-determination concerning the employer’s Twitter account in accordance with Sec. 87 Para. 1 No. 6 Works Constitution Act as Twitter is a technical device designed to monitor the behaviour or performance of the employees. The respondent in this trial is an employer which operates several cinemas in Germany. It created a Twitter account …

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Appointment of a Conciliation Committee dealing with the subject of a No Smoking Policy

By / 11 June 2019 / Works Council

Under German law, works councils have so-called co-determination rights on certain subjects. This means that an employer must reach an agreement with the works council on these matters, such as rules and policies for employee conduct. Works council co-determination is, however, excluded if there are binding and final statutory provisions dealing with a certain matter. If no agreement can be reached through negotiations between the works council and the employer, a so-called conciliation committee will …

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Co-determination right if the employer sets up and operates a Twitter account

By / 11 June 2019 / Social networks, Works Council

In a judgment dated 13 September 2018 the Higher Labour Court of Hamburg (docket number 2 TaBV 5/18) ruled that if the employer operates a Twitter account, at least on the basis of the reply function, the (general) works council has a co-determination right according to section 87 para. 1 no. 6 Works Council Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz). The co-determination right does not require that the technical facility is designed to monitor the performance and behaviour of employees. It …

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Obligation to provide the works council with salary data does not allow for anonymized lists

By / 11 June 2019 / Remuneration, Works Council

Under the Works Constitution Act, the works council has a right to access information regarding the gross salary of employees. Such information is provided to the works council in form of a chart including relevant compensation details. In a case decided by the Higher Regional Labour Court of North Rhine Westphalia – Hamm – (judgment dated 19 September 2017, docket number 7 TaBV 43/17), the employer had, after initial disagreement, provided the works council with …

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Restructuring of a business in Germany – an overview

By / 11 June 2019 / Employee Participation, Termination

Where restructuring measures comprising collective redundancies become necessary, the employer must fulfil a number of legal requirements to successfully implement such measures. While it is sometimes tempting to implement the necessary restructuring in a way that ignores the various legal requirements (e.g. co-determination of the works council etc.), there are only exceptional situations in which such a way does not lead to a total failure of the original plan. For the employer, unlike for the …

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The Works Council’s right of co-determination regarding the Employer’s Facebook presence

By / 11 June 2019 / Data Protection, Social networks, Works Council

The German Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) decided on 13 December 2016 that the Works Council has a right of co-determination when the employer’s Facebook page allows other users to post comments, which are related to the behaviour and performance of the employees. The employer operates a blood donor service. The doctors working at the blood donation events and all other employees wear name tags during their work. The employer’s Facebook page was established as a …

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