Employment Tribunal

The Labour Court is regularly the court of first instance for disputes between employers and employees.

• 2.1 Only rudimentary national legislation
• 2.2 relativization of the lawyer monopoly

Labor courts in the German legal

Jurisdiction

The labor courts have jurisdiction in all civil disputes between employees and employers as well as the disputes between the parties to collective agreements. The other responsibilities arising from § § 2, 2a of the Industrial Court Act. Its jurisdiction also exists for disputes between employee- like persons and their clients. The boundary with the civil branch of the ordinary courts on the one hand and (rarely ) the administrative and social justice on the other side is partially problematic.

Occupation

The formations of the Labour Court is the chamber. You decide with one professional judge and two lay judges, one of which comes from the series of workers and the other from among the employers.

All three members of the Board shall have one vote.

Legal / process

The procedure before the labor court is always preceded by a conciliation hearing before the Chamber chairman without consulting the lay judges. This appointment should take place after filing the suit shortly. It serves the preliminary assessment of the facts and the law and trying to achieve a rapid amicable settlement. The failure of the appointment, we find a further date ( " chamber date " ) before the entire chamber instead. This must prepare the parties through briefs.

Before the Labour Court is to separate between judgment and decision processes. In the judgment Disputes between employers and employees and the collective bargaining parties to be decided in Decision Disputes between the works council and the employer are treated. In the decision process, the court must examine the facts of its own motion, shall in the judgment process as usual in civil proceedings the Beibringungsgrundsatz, it is for the parties, the facts of disputed to carry forward. Appeals against the judgments of the Labour Court in its judgment in the appeal process of the appeal is allowed if the amount in dispute exceeds 600,00 Euro or the Labour Court has admitted the appeal. The appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeal. Appeals against decisions of the Higher Labour Court, the appeal is an appeal to the Federal Labour Court. This must be approved by the Court of Appeal itself or as part of a leave to appeal by the Federal Labour Court. Exceptionally, a leap-frog comes directly from the Labour Court to the Federal Labour Court considered.

In the decision process, the labor court shall decide by resolution. Against this is always the complaint to the Court of Appeal possible. The decision of the Regional Labour Court, the appeal to the Federal Labour Court is possible if the Court of Appeal or the Federal Labour Court have as part of a leave to appeal allowed it.

In the judgment process, the parties are called actors, in order to the proceedings. The Labour Court must always consider in the decision-making process whether in addition to the applicant and the respondent, usually the employer and the works council, other people, such as council members or bodies, such as the general works or represented in the establishment unions, in their works constitution position may be affected by the decision. If this is the case, it must be, the Labour Court also participate in the proceedings.

Before the Labour Court is not a lawyer in the first instance. The parties may, however, be represented employers' associations or lead the process itself in all instances by the union or. If nevertheless a lawyer or chamber counsel is turned on, the attorney's fees incurred in the first instance in judgment procedure - required not replaced by the other side and if they win ( § 12a ArbGG ) - unlike in ordinary civil proceedings. Win a party at a later instance, that in appeal and revision process, the losing side for the reimbursement of legal fees of the enemy in these two trains instance is bound. The principle that the cost of the lawyer will not be refunded in the first instance, however, does not apply to the costs that are caused by the fact that the action was initially brought before another court (eg official court ) which is then itself declared incompetent and submitted the case to the Labour Court ( § 12 paragraph 1 sentence 3 ArbGG ).

The proceedings before the Labour Court subject to a special acceleration principle. The Labour Court has to try things to negotiate as soon as possible. To this end, it has the ability to set the parties brief periods and also to order that lecture, which will be filed is late in, can not be considered. If possible, the procedure has to be done in a chamber date. Despite these regulations, the process maturity of the labor courts are very different, in part, require the courts to make a judgment only three months, sometimes over a year.

Labor courts in Swiss law

Only rudimentary national legislation

The Swiss Code of Civil Procedure governs the cantonal authorities only rudimentary. So it is left to the cantons, whether they want to create pure labor courts or not. Among other things, the cantons of Bern, Zurich or Basel city have decided to take this step. For Bern covers aspects such as Article 9 of the EC ZSJ that disputes be settled out of jobs with a value of less than CHF 15,000 by the regional courts in three occupation. In addition to the Court President or President of the Court interact with two professional judges or specialized judges, one of which belongs to each one or one of the employers and the employees.

Relativization of the legal monopoly

Although usually only lawyers to represent parties are entitled to justice, see the Code of Civil Procedure provides for exceptions in special cases. This also affects the labor courts before which the parties may be represented by professionally qualified persons, unless cantonal law so provides (Article 68 Paragraph 2 lit d ZPO -. For the Canton Bern see Article 9, paragraph 2 EC ZSJ ).