The COVID-19 pandemic presents many employers and their local works councils with difficult-to-solve problems. Urgently required company agreements cannot be concluded, as negotiations with the works council previously require that the company parties sit down at one table.
The legislator is now remedying this with an important new regulation in the Works Constitution Act, which allows negotiations with the works council without the personal presence of those involved.
These new regulations apply to works council work, but also to the economic committee and settlement bodies. Negotiations interrupted by the Corona crisis can thus continue.
What's new?
Video and telephone conferences are now also possible in matters relating to constitutional law, which previously required personal attendance. The legislator has newly regulated this option in Section 129 of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG) for:
- Works council meetings / works council resolutions: The attendance list signed by hand is replaced by a simple, written confirmation of the participants to the chairman (for example, by email).
- Arbitration procedure
- Meetings of the Economic Committee
- Works meetings
The legislator has also made comparable regulations for European works councils and for the SE.
What is to be considered?
- Employee representatives can access online-based applications such as WebEx Meetings or Skype, which are already available in many companies.
- Individual participants can be switched on, or all participants can participate via video / telephone.
- Recording is not permitted.
- Third party participation must be excluded. On the one hand, attention must be paid to access to the video / telephone conference (encryption, access security) and to limited access to the rooms in which the participants sit. Each participant must ensure and, if necessary, ensure that there are no third parties in the room. If a third party enters the room, this must be communicated and the session may have to be interrupted.
When will the new regulations apply?
The Bundestag passed the law on April 23, 2020. The final consultations with the Federal Council are still pending. However, it can be assumed that the regulation will come into force as decided by the Bundestag.
The regulations apply retrospectively from March 1, 2020. If, in the meantime, works council resolutions have already been passed without the participants' personal presence, this legal uncertainty will be eliminated.
The new regulation is limited until January 1, 2021. Insofar as the legislature refrains from an extension, the regulation only applies until the end of this year. However, it should be difficult to get rid of a tried and tested instrument without good reasons, so that the regulation could be limited in time.
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