Collective agreement

The collective bargaining agreement in Germany is a contract between the parties to collective agreements. A comparable legal institution in Austria after the Labour Constitution Act the collective agreement in the Swiss labor law of the collective bargaining agreement.

As an equivalent in Anglo-Saxon countries, known as Collective Agreement Agreement between the labor market parties can be considered, which is based but in a completely different legal traditions.

Under German law, the collective agreement contains legal norms that regulate the content, conclusion and termination of employment contracts, operational and operational issues of constitutional law ( normative part ) and define the rights and obligations of the parties to collective agreements ( part of debt ). The parties to collective agreements include individual employers or employers' organizations and trade unions on the one hand ( for employees) on the other.

Collective agreement binding

In West Germany in 2010 worked about 56 percent of employees in a company which was subject to a sectoral collective agreement, in East Germany around 37 percent. Company agreements were for 7 percent of West Germans and 13 percent of East German workers. In companies that are not tied to any collective bargaining agreement, worked about 37 percent of West Germans and 51 percent of East German workers. For about half of the collective agreement untied the company, however, based on their own information on the remuneration of the applicable collective agreements.

Importance of collective rights

A crucial importance of the collective agreement is that he, in favor of the protected weaker party, the employee, compensates for the power asymmetry that exists in a single labor agreement between the contracting parties in the labor market. In the collective bargaining law itself, however, there is no longer this special protection for the benefit of only one of the two contracting parties. In Germany both enjoy collective bargaining parties - trade unions and employers' organizations - as coalitions of its members the same protection and the same rights under Article 9 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Your rights regarding the use of industrial action means are complementary: " The strike corresponds to the lockout, regardless of whether that is decided by an employers' association and conducted by individual employers or whether one or more employers they perform. "

With the collective bargaining and the corresponding tariff law of the State to collective bargaining autonomy a game room, autonomous design the rules of their cooperation. You can do this faster and more flexible rules than would be possible with the state greater participation. The success of this system is evident in Germany in particular on the global scale comparable small number of strikes.

Fundamentals of tariff law

The legal framework is in Germany in the Collective Agreement Act, short TVG, set of 9 April 1949.

A collective agreement applies to an employment relationship directly ( ie without his approval, or would have to be agreed by contract ) and mandatory (with the consequence that contractual deviations unfavorable to the employee are ineffective ) when both labor parties are bound tariff. In contrast, differences in favor of the employee ( favourability ) are allowed. Thus, the collective agreement is applicable to the employment relationship, the next operation in the vocational and local, the employee must fall within the personal scope of the collective agreement.

The tariff binding follows from the membership of the bargaining parties ( employers' association or union ). Bound tariff is also the employer who concludes a collective agreement directly with the union. Exceptionally, an employer despite membership in the employers' association not be bound tariff, unless the articles of association provides for a membership without collective bargaining coverage (called OT- membership) and the employer holds this form of membership.

Regardless, any time an individual agreement by a so-called reference clause, the validity of a collective agreement or a specific tariff regulation.

A special case is declaring a collective agreement. A universally applicable collective agreement is applicable to all employment relationships within the scope of the collective agreement apply irrespective of the will of the working Either Party.

Collective agreements must be made in writing ( § 1 para 2 TVG ).

Exit from the employers' association

An exit from the employers' association, with which an association agreement - often regional collective agreement - was closed for binding to the collective agreement does not immediately exit. Rather, the leaked employer and the union remain until the time bound to the collective agreement to which these ends by a notice on the part of the employer association or union (called Nachbindung, § 3 paragraph 3 TVG ). Until then, there is also the beaten employers continue the tariff peace obligation, that is, a labor dispute is not allowed ( in dispute ).

After the expiry of the collective agreement acts after this until a new agreement is reached ( after-effect, § 4 section 5 TVG ). This means that the working conditions that were laid down in the collective agreement static continue to apply. The new agreement may consist either in a new collective agreement or the amendment of the employment contract ( see also change termination). The after-effect confined to those workers who were already employed by the end of the collective agreement and a member of the relevant union are.

Transfer of operations

If the employment of an employee in the event of a transfer of the operation transferee, be applicable in the Veräußererbetrieb collective agreements, if the purchaser is not in turn rate bound, pursuant to § 613a paragraph 1 sentence 2 BGB become part of the individual employment contract, and may not be before the end of year be changed. The collective agreement but continue only to the extent that it was at the time of the transfer of operations; the employee will no longer participate in the changes in the collective agreement that are made after business transition, because it so far but just lack the collective bondage of the employer.

Treatment non-tariff -bound workers

Bound tariff employers usually treat all employees of a company, regardless of their actual tariff binding according to the rules of the collective agreement. This is done usually by a so-called equality agreement, ie, by a clause in the provisions of the collective agreement refers in the individual contract of employment and they can get as individual contractual effect. The reason lies in the fact, to give employees no extra motivation to become a member of the union, because the union membership of an employee is a prerequisite for the mandatory application of the appropriate collective agreement.

Unacceptable would be included in collective agreements so-called Absperrklauseln (or closed shop clauses), whereby a company only ( union ) organized grant workers the terms of the collective agreement or even may employ only such workers. Such legislation according to the unanimous opinion against the negative freedom of association (Article 9 of the Basic Law ). There is disagreement, however, the effectiveness of so-called differentiation clauses that grant the organized workers an advantage over non-union workers. One advantage of keeping a job in personnel reduction here is well meaningless, purely financial benefits probably are permitted.

Deviations

Deviations from tariff standards to the detriment of the employees are permitted only if this is permitted by a clause in the collective agreement. Otherwise, the imperative nature or the favourability of a collective agreement applies.

Certain employees with specific skills are remunerated as so-called non-tariff employees with an AT Treaty, which is higher than the highest pay group in the remuneration collective agreement. In practice, for example, employees contracts of employees not bound by collective subsidiaries are referred to as AT, even if their remuneration and conditions are significantly worse than in the collective agreement.

Collective bargaining

Collective bargaining means that collective agreements are only negotiated by the social partners themselves. An influence by government or administration, legislature and the judiciary is not permitted. Rather, government agencies must maintain their neutrality. Collective bargaining is clear from Article 9, paragraph 3 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.

The paramount importance of collective bargaining also comes in § 77 para 3 WCA expressed: Under this provision, the employer and the works council may salaries and other working conditions " are determined by collective agreements or commonly controlled " not regulated by operating agreement. The operating parties have no way rules with normative effect for the employee to agree (the principle of collective primacy ) in these matters.

Content of collective agreements

In the collective bargaining agreement, the rights and obligations of the parties to collective agreements regulated ( - eg peace and exposure obligation of debt part ) be. It contains beside and above all legal norms of the content ( often including so-called cut-off periods ), the establishment and termination (eg notice periods ) of employment relationships and rules for operational and works constitution Questions ( normative part ). Collective agreements contain, for example, provisions on the following points:

• Remuneration (wage, salary, ... )
• Working hours
• Entitlement to leave
• Working conditions
• Conclusion and termination of employment
• Term of the contract

Types of collective agreements

Collective agreements can be distinguished according to different classification criteria.

Distinction according to parties on employer and employee

The distinction parties arises largely from the TVG, although there the names are not given, so that there are partially inconsistent descriptions in the literature and case law.

Differentiation by control objects

The differentiation in the control objects has evolved from purely practical considerations. Legally, this distinction has no effect. The social partners are also completely free in the question of which objects of regulation summarize them in the name under which a contract.

Tariff registers

All collective agreements are registered in tariff registers. Tariff registers are public, anyone can view them. You will be taken to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and in all federal states. In the provinces, the labor or social ministries are generally responsible.