Other VW employees are with theirs Lawsuits for payment of bonuses and wage increases failed for now. The Braunschweig Labor Court announced that the claims were completely rejected in two cases. In mid-October, the court rejected the first 23 lawsuits by former VW managers against the car manufacturer’s new austerity measures.
Specifically, the non-tariff employees – primarily from management circles – are demanding Volkswagen the payment of the second part of an inflation compensation premium of 1,000 euros and the passing on of a tariff increase of 3.3 percent. As part of its austerity program in the spring, VW decided to also involve managers. For those affected, there was no salary increase or bonus.
Court does not follow plaintiffs – with one exception
The chamber once again did not follow the plaintiffs’ arguments because any commitment made by the company was not binding for them. In the court’s view, there would have to have been effective contractual changes in writing for this to happen. A communication from VW from March 2023 was not sufficient for this, it said.
In an exceptional case, the court awarded the plaintiff a bonus of 1,000 euros. In this case, a different design of the employment contract would constitute a legally binding commitment from VW. But there is no wage increase in this case either.
Appeal announced
According to the court, the plaintiffs are almost all employees in early retirement. You have therefore already left working life as part of so-called time securities, but are still on the VW payroll. Most of the former managers who have been defeated so far have announced that they will appeal.
In addition to the lawsuits that have been heard so far, according to a spokesman, around 70 other similar proceedings are pending at the Braunschweig Labor Court.