The Works Constitution Act 1972 (german: Betriebsverfassungsgesetz, ), abbreviated BetrVG, is a German federal law governing the right of employees to form a

works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...

History

In the Stinnes-Legien Abkommen 1918, at the collapse of the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

following World War One an agreement between trade union confederation leader

Carl Legien Carl Legien (1 December 1861 – 26 December 1920) was a German unionist, moderate Social Democratic politician and first President of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Biography Legien was born in Marienburg, Province ...

and industrialist leader

Hugo Stinnes Hugo Dieter Stinnes (12 February 1870 – 10 April 1924) was a German industrialist and politician. During the late era of the German Empire and early Weimar Republic, he was considered to be one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Europe. ...

, it was agreed that capital and labour would cooperate on an equal foot in all aspects of economic management. This was written into the Weimar Constitution, article 165. To implement this principle, in 1920 the legal predecessor '' Betriebsrätegesetz'' (Works Councils Act) mandated consultative bodies for workers in businesses with more than 20 employees. All voting rights and work councils for labour were, however, abolished by

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in 1933, and replaced with Nazi controlled management bodies.E McGaughey, 'The Codetermination Bargains: The History of German Corporate and Labour Law' (2016
23(1) Columbia Journal of European Law 135
/ref> After World War Two and the defeat of fascism, work councils were revived by collective agreements promoted under Control Council Law No.22 (''Kontrollratsgesetz No. 22)'' in 1946. This enabled unions to create work councils with binding rights in management, as well as collectively bargain. Subsequently, the agreements for work councils were codified in the Works Constitution Act, passed on 11 October 1952.

Trade unions in Germany Trade unions in Germany have a history reaching back to the German revolution in 1848, and still play an important role in the German economy and society. The most important labor organization is the German Confederation of Trade Unions (', or ...

wanted much more. In 1972 the ''Betriebsverfassungsgesetz'' was updated and reissued, and forms the current basis of the law. In 2001 the ''Betriebsverfassungsgesetz'' strengthened the rights of workers marginally, and in 2021 the ''Betriebsrätemodernisierungsgesetz'' (Works Council Modernization Act) was planned to adjust co-determination over

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

in the workplace, allow digital meetings amongst other reforms.

References

External links

*Legal text by BMJV �
GermanEnglish translation
German labour law Works council {{statute-stub

History

See also

References

External links