monitoring tasks

The works council must ensure that laws, ordinances, accident prevention regulations, collective bargaining agreements and company agreements that apply in favor of the employees are observed and implemented.

In the case of laws with labor and social security content in favor of the employees, the works council must monitor that the given regulations are observed and complied with by the employer.

If the employer is bound by a collective bargaining agreement, the works council must also monitor compliance with collective bargaining standards, even if collective bargaining agreements apply to individual contracts.

The same applies to company agreements (BV), to which the employer is obliged, unless otherwise agreed in individual cases

(§ 77 Abs. 1 BetrVG).

design tasks

The works council does not only have to react to existing conditions. He also has design duties. Paragraphs 2 and 3 open the door to a lot of good ideas - you just have to develop them.

Below are some examples of design tasks:

The works council has the task of requesting and enforcing certain measures that benefit the company and the workforce from the employer.

This is a right of initiative for the works council, far removed from any right of co-determination. The employer must examine the works council's proposals and notify the works council of acceptance or rejection of the proposal.

Furthermore, the works council has to enforce equality between women and men. This applies in particular to hiring, employment, training, further education, further training and professional advancement.

Direct and indirect discrimination and discrimination based on gender are strictly prohibited. Art. 3 para. 3 of the Basic Law is decisive for this.

Job postings which, also with factual reasons, justifiably require a gender are controversial.

In addition, the works council must promote the compatibility of family and career. The works council must accept suggestions from employees and members of the youth and trainee representation (JAV) and, if necessary, negotiate with the employer in order to work towards a settlement. The employees concerned are to be informed regularly about the status of the negotiations and about the final result.

These suggestions can affect all operational matters. The works council must deal with the suggestions and check whether they can be discussed with the employer and, if necessary, carried out. This does not affect the employee's right of appeal according to §§ 84 & 85 BetrVG.

The JAV has to submit suggestions to the works council, not to the employer.

protective duties

The Works Constitution Act realistically names the severely disabled, older workers and foreign workers as persons in need of special protection. In other words, those employees who not only have a difficult time on the job market, but perhaps also in the company because they cannot, no longer or not so quickly carry out certain work, because they may not understand instructions correctly or have different living and working habits .

Measures for (severely) disabled people in the company

Measures for older workers

Measures for foreign workers

promotional tasks

After all, one of the works council's tasks is to promote gender equality and the compatibility of family and work. This is an enormous social task, to which the works council can contribute here.

Practical measures:

At the company level, this means that the works council must pay particular attention to the interests of women in all considerations of part-time work, flexible working hours, and a gradual restart after maternity and parental leave. Young employees and trainees are to be supported in such a way that they largely take their rights into their own hands and form their own representation (youth and trainee representation). Paragraph 8, promoting employment, clearly gives the works council the task of pressing for jobs to be retained, trainees taken on or new jobs created. Finally, occupational safety and environmental protection open up a further area of corporate co-determination, which the works council should not allow itself to be driven away from.