In principle, the employees of every organisation with five members of staff who are entitled to vote have the right to set up a works council. Members of staff must be aged 18 or over to be entitled to vote. Temporary workers (Leiharbeitnehmer) are entitled to vote if they have been working in the organisation to which they are temporarily assigned for longer than 3 months.
Works councils only exist where there are enough dedicated employees who are willing to set one up. All members of staff who stand for election and have worked for the organisation for at least 6 months can be elected to the works council. Nationality and place of residence are irrelevant in this context.
Please note: Temporary workers cannot stand for election to the works council in the organisation to which they are temporarily assigned. However, they can do so in the temporary work agency which employs them.
The size of the works council depends on the number of employees entitled to vote in the organisation.
The members of the works council are elected democratically by the workforce using a specified electoral process. It is therefore advisable to seek support from the trade unions when preparing to set up a works council. You can do so by contacting your trade union or, if you are not a trade union member, the local office of the German Trade Union Confederation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund), where you will be told who you should talk to.
A collective agreement is an agreement between a trade union and an employers’ association or an individual employer. Collective agreements cannot be concluded by a works council (Betriebsrat) or a group of employees. The collective agreement regulates the working conditions for the employment contracts to which it applies.
The working conditions regulated in collective agreements include, in particular, pay levels, working time, holiday leave, entitlement to bonuses, etc. In addition, collective agreements also contain provisions on breaks, probationary periods, notice periods and time limits for the enforcement of rights.
There are several types of collective agreement:
In addition to free legal advice and legal representation, as a trade union member you enjoy the following benefits: