The Works Council : Germany

The works council represents the interests of employees vis-a-vis their employers. A works council may be elected in all private companies employing at least five people. Employees under 18 as well as trainees under 25 may elect representatives of their own.

All employees can vote from the age of 18, but only those who have worked for the firm for at least six months are eligible for election to the works council. This also includes periods during which the employees worked in another branch of the same company. Foreigners, too, are entitled to vote and hold office.

Members of the works council normally perform their duties on a voluntary basis without pay in addition to their normal work. However, large firms with 300-600 employees must release one member and firms with 601 or more employees several members of the works council from their jobs to do council work full-time.

At the corporate level a central works council may be established, at the group level a group works council.
In government authorities at the federal, state and local levels as well as in other public institutions, the federal or state Staff Representation Act applies instead of the Works Constitution Act. The equivalent employees’ organization is the staff council, whose duties and powers are similar to those of the works council.

Executive staff are not represented by the works council. In firms with at least ten executive staff, an executives committee may be elected pursuant to the Executives Committee Act. As in the case of the works councils, such executives committees may be formed at the corporate and group level (central or, respectively, group executives committee) as well as at the works level. An executives committee may only be formed if on the first ballot the majority of the executive staff are in favor. They may also choose to elect a corporate executives committee instead of one or more works executives committees.