Arbeitsrecht: Betriebsrat als Standortrisiko – Arbeitgeber fordern Reform
Vom Software-Update bis hin zur Umstellung der Produktion redet der Betriebsrat mit. Das bremst den Strukturwandel und wirft Deutschland im Wettbewerb zurück, warnen die Arbeitgeber im BDA.
The German industrialists' association (BDA) claims that the extensive participation and consultation rights of works councils are no longer suitable for today's times. Union representatives often impede business decisions or stand in the way of deep structural changes. Implementing a new software in a German company can often require a lengthy co-determination process, even though the technical implementation could be completed overnight, according to BDA President Rainer Dulger.
"These delays do not only harm the companies; they also stifle transformation and prevent innovation," he says. The BDA explains that the involvement of works councils should bring the interests of employees into decision-making processes. However, "it does not make them co-managers." Consequently, the BDA commissioned a study by labor law professors Richard Giesen, Felix Hartmann, and Christian Picker on how the Works Constitution Act could be modernized.
This law governing the relationship between employer and employee or works council has been fundamentally in place since 1952 and was last comprehensively reformed in 2021.
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