Bernd Osterloh
The cuts also affected the former works council chairman.
(Photo: dpa)
Three Volkswagen works councils have successfully defended themselves in court against salary cuts as a result of a judgment by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). The Braunschweig Labor Court sentenced the car manufacturer in two cases on Wednesday to reverse the financial disadvantage of the two plaintiffs. The plaintiff was also successful in another case in Emden, as a court spokesman said.
In mid-January, the BGH, Germany’s highest criminal court, overturned the acquittals for four VW personnel managers in a breach of trust case before the Braunschweig Regional Court. In its written justification, the BGH also cashed in on the works council remuneration based on the model of the so-called “hypothetical career”.
Rather, a works council salary “is to be measured according to the remuneration of comparable employees with customary development”. Exactly this passage affects a higher double-digit number of employee representatives at VW.
According to Handelsblatt information, the group had reduced the salary of its works councils by up to 4,000 euros a month. Several employee representatives complained against this, for example in Braunschweig, Emden and Salzgitter. 20 lawsuits were received from Braunschweig alone. In the first instance there were now three defeats for VW.
A spokesman for the group works council welcomed the decision of the labor courts “as a first clarification very much”. From the spokesman’s point of view, the labor courts understood the controversial BGH ruling from the beginning of the year with regard to the hypothetical career of works councils “that such a career is still possible in principle”.
In a statement, Volkswagen also appreciates the judgments, including the possible implications for the remuneration models. The AG welcomes these “first clarifications from the labor court, since the scope and limits of the decision of the BGH criminal senate are classified in this way by the labor courts as the competent specialist jurisdiction.” The VW statement expressly includes the possibility of remuneration according to the hypothetical career.
Both sides hope that this and other proceedings will result in more legal certainty, predictability and reliability when it comes to how works councils can be properly paid. The hypothetical career is a popular remuneration model for numerous works councils in German industrial companies, not only at VW. In this context, observers from outside have also criticized the legal provisions that have been in force for many years as being too vague.
With agency material
More: Due to a salary cut after the BGH ruling – dozens of works councils want to sue VW.