Press Release No. 12/2013 IG Metall Welcomes Federal Labor Court Ruling in Favor of Greater Co-determination for Temporary Workers

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has welcomed the Federal Labor Court’s decision of March 13, 2013, which stipulates that temporary agency workers must be included when determining the size of the workforce. “This is a good decision for workplace co-determination,” said Detlef Wetzel, second chairman of IG Metall, on Thursday in Frankfurt. The Federal Labor Court has thus put a stop to attempts to undermine workplace co-determination through the use of temporary agency workers.

The decision is already of great significance for the upcoming works council elections in 2014. Temporary workers will then have equal standing with permanent employees when determining the size of a works council and must be included in the count. In addition, this will have a positive effect on the number of works council members entitled to time off from work, as well as on corporate co-determination regarding the composition of the supervisory board. “Now works councils have more opportunities to advocate for the interests of all employees at the company,” said Wetzel.

Under previous case law, which was established before the extensive deregulation of temporary staffing in 2004, temporary agency workers did not factor into the size of the works council. Regardless of the actual workload of the works council, at the time of the works council election, it was treated as if temporary agency workers did not exist, even though works councils are legally responsible for all employees, including temporary agency workers assigned to the company. “The Federal Labor Court has now put an end to this situation, which was unsatisfactory in every respect, by restoring the protective function of the Works Constitution Act through its latest ruling,” said Wetzel.

Advocating for temporary agency workers is particularly labor-intensive, for example when it comes to occupational safety, accident prevention, and monitoring compliance with specific collective bargaining agreements. For this reason, IG Metall considers it logical that the thresholds for works council representation now also mandatorily include temporary agency work. From now on, the motto must be: “Elect and count temporary agency workers!” said Wetzel.