Employee representation

Employee representationn within your organization

Employees have the right to co-determination within your organization under certain circumstances. This right is legally established in the Act on Works Councils (WOR) and is dependent on the number of employees in your organization. A correct application of co-determination rights promotes not only transparency and support but also prevents legal disputes.

What form of co-determination is mandatory?

The size of your organization determines which form of co-determination you must organize:

• Personnel meeting (PV): mandatory for more than 10 employees. This meeting must take place at least twice a year and covers, among other things, the general state of affairs, strategic plans, and policy choices.
• Personnel representation (PVT): possible for 10 to 50 employees, mandatory upon request by the majority of the staff. The PVT has limited information, advisory, and approval rights.
• Works council (OR): mandatory for 50 or more employees. The OR has extensive rights, including the right of approval for regulations concerning working hours, working conditions, personnel policy, and privacy.

Advisory and approval rights: when must you involve co-determination?

As an employer, you are obliged to involve the OR or PVT in significant decisions. Consider the following:

• Mandatory advisory decisions: reorganization, merger, significant investments, change of corporate structure.
• Mandatory approval regulations: pension, absenteeism policy, working and rest times, evaluation systems, privacy regulations.

A careful co-determination process increases the chances of support within your organization and prevents decisions from being reversed by the Enterprise Chamber or sub-district court.

Our expertise

We assist employers with:

• Establishing and managing co-determination structures (PVT, OR).
• Drafting advisory requests and approval requests.
• Negotiations with co-determination bodies.
• Procedures at the sub-district court or Enterprise Chamber.

Additionally, we also advise works councils and personnel representations on their rights and opportunities.

Would you like to ensure that you comply with the WOR and prevent conflicts? Then contact one of our specialists for practical legal advice on co-determination.