Mitbestimmungsgesetz

The Co-Determination Act guarantees and regulates in Germany the inclusion of employee representatives in the supervisory board of a company.

Affected companies

The law lists companies in the legal form of a limited company, a partnership limited by shares, a limited liability company or a trade and industrial co-operative with usually over 2,000 employees, in which the equal representation of the supervisory board is mandatory, ie workers and capital owners will each send half of the board members. The side of the shareholder (shareholders) can decide all votes in the Supervisory Board of its own: If there is to the stalemate between employee and shareholder, the chairman ( § 29 para 2 Co-determination Act ) has a double voting rights. In the Federal Republic of Germany there were in 2008 694 companies, which must form a bipartite Supervisory Board in accordance with the Co-Determination Act.

Committee Chairman

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board is mostly determined only by the representatives of the shareholders. In a first round of voting, the Chairman must be elected by a two - thirds majority. Should not happen, so choose the shareholder representatives to the Chairman, his deputy employee representatives. The preponderance of the shareholders is derived from the ownership of the Basic Law.

Employee representatives

The employees' side consists of " normal" workers ( representatives of workers and employees ), officers and a statutory number of trade union representatives.

Union representatives on the Supervisory Board are nominated by the trade unions and elected by the employees of the company. The law shall regulate the election of workers' representatives. These rules were clarified in 1977 by the First, Second and Third Election Rules for different group types.

Historical development

1946 brought the trade unions, the demand for representation of workers in the management and supervisory boards of confiscated by the occupying power and certain unbundling Ruhr corporations. This requirement was extended during the year to all sectors of the economy. They also met with business leaders at resonance, hoping to fend off with the help of the unions feared sustained foreign control over the mining industry.

According to § 12 Section 1 A. F. Co-Determination Act was initially a signature quorum for the election of delegates to the choice of workers to the Supervisory Board of a company needed was the ten percent or 100 of the eligible employees. The quorum was too high and therefore unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court 's view. The quorum has now been reduced to five per cent or 50 of the eligible employees ( § 12 para 1 sentence 2 Co-determination Act ).

The Biedenkopf Commission

Still from the guided by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder red - green government in 2005, a commission was used under the leadership of former Prime Minister of Saxony Kurt Biedenkopf, should draw up proposals for the future and possible need for reform of the German co-determination and the Co-Determination Act.

The federal government under Chancellor Angela Merkel told them to focus on the reforms after the Commission's findings. In the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD states:

"The task of the government commission set up under the chairmanship of Professor Dr. Biedenkopf is starting to develop in 2006 proposals for a modern and fit for Europe further development of the German co-determination by applicable law to end. We will - take up the Commission results and, where required and necessary to make adjustments to the national co-determination " - reached by consensus.

The Commission was occupied next to the chairman Kurt Biedenkopf with three representatives of employers 'and the employees' side, and two neutral scientific members.

Beginning of November 2006 stated the employee and employer representatives, the Commission failed. Between the two groups were irreconcilable differences on the issue of equal representation of supervisory boards. The workers' representatives in the Commission wanted to hold on to it, the employers' representatives, however, called for a so-called third parity, in which the employees' side would have occupied only one-third of the supervisory boards. Therefore, the commission chairman Biedenkopf and the two neutral members submitted in December 2006, a "Report of the scientific members of the Commission " before, only the opinions of the employers 'and workers' representatives are included.