Conciliation committee (works council)

A conciliation committee (German: Einigungsstelle) is a formal arbitration mechanism defined in German labour law for mediating certain conflicts internally between a group, central or local works council and the employer. The Works Constitution Act defines the conciliation committee in sections §76–76a.

When a works council and an employer have a difference of opinion or a legal dispute, there are two ways escalate the dispute legally. The first is through the various labour courts. The second way is through the conciliation committee, which is not open to the public.

If the employer and works council cannot agree on enforceable co-determination issues, the conciliation committee can award a legally binding works agreement in accordance with section §87(2) of the Works Constitution Act.[1]: 18  It can also make binding decisions about the works council itself, individual employee claims and the works council's economic committee.

Structure

The conciliation committee comprises a neutral chairperson, usually a labour judge and an equal number of assessors chosen by each the employer and the works council, usually two or three people. In more complex cases, a larger number is justified. If the employer and works council are unable to agree on the chairperson, a labour court will appoint one instead under sections §76(2).[1]: 59–64 

If either the works council or the employer disagrees with the decision of the conciliation committee, they can apply for a legal review by a labour court on the grounds that the conciliation committee exceeded its discretionary power.[1]: 59–64 

Scope

If negotiations between the works council and the employer fail, the conciliation committee makes a binding award. This can take the form of a works agreement on enforceable co-determination topics or, in the case of mass layoffs, a social plan.

The committee can also make decisions specific to the works council itself, such as the size of the group, central or local works council, which individual works council members should be released from work, and the time and place of works council consultation hours.

The conciliation committee can resolve individual matters including employee complaints about the handling of workplace harassment claims and holiday planning. It can also be used in other cases by mutual agreement between the employer and the works council.[1]

Most of the works council's information rights are enforced by labour courts, with the exception of finance committee's information rights, which are enforced by the conciliation committee due to the practical sensitivities around business secrets under §109.

In practice

2,000 works councils were interviewed in a 2017 survey by the Economic and Social Research Institute (WSI) of the Hans Boeckler Foundation. Around 15 percent of all companies with a works agreement had a works agreement that was awarded by a conciliation committee. In larger companies, this probability rises to 25 percent.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Die Betriebsvereinbarung [The Works Agreement]. IG Metall. 2020.
  2. ^ Baumann, Helge; Mierich, Sandra; Maschke, Manuela (2018). "Betriebsvereinbarungen 2017 – Verbreitung und (Trend-)Themen" [Works Agreements 2017 – Distribution and (Trend) Topics]. WSI-Mitteilungen (in German). 71 (4). Hans Boeckler Foundation: 317–325. doi:10.5771/0342-300X-2018-4-317. hdl:10419/224233. ISSN 0342-300X.

External

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