How do I work as a works council member on the platform?

This page describes the work in the Works Council area for Works Council members, chair, and deputy. Which sub-areas you see depends on what the administration has enabled.

Overview#

The start page of the area shows what is upcoming:

• Deadlines that are about to expire

• the next meetings

• open concerns

• topic proposals past the deadline

• notices of obligations, for example a missing works committee from nine seats, an overdue works meeting, or exhausted training days

Members (§§ 9, 25, 26 BetrVG)#

• Seats, substitute members with order of succession, chair, and deputy.

• Severely disabled employees' representation and youth and trainees' representation as advisory participants.

• Term of office and first assumption of office, important for the training entitlement.

• Notice if fewer members are recorded than the Works Council has seats.

The administration enters the first chair once. After that, the Works Council manages itself.

Works Council Settings#

• Number of seats (§ 9): Basis for quorum and absolute majority

• Number of employees: Basis for the quorum of topic proposals and for notices of threshold values (§§ 28, 99, 106, 111)

• Holiday region for deadline calculation

• Rules of procedure with rule on video meetings (§ 36, § 30 para. 2)

• Retention period (§ 79a)

• Office hours (§ 39)

For retention, the Works Council specifies after how many months the platform automatically deletes:

• personal data of decided cases

• completed concerns entirely

• for completed topic proposals, who submitted and supported them

Meetings and Resolutions (§§ 29–36 BetrVG)#

Plan and Invite#

• Plan: Title, date, location, type of meeting (regular or extraordinary) and format (in-person, video, or hybrid).

• Agenda:

  • free items or open cases

  • order by dragging

  • employees' topic proposals can be linked to an agenda item

• Invite: One click invites all members and advisory participants. If a member is unavailable, the platform invites the next substitute member in the correct order (§ 25).

• Inform employer: The platform records when the employer was informed about the date (§ 30 para. 1 sentence 3).

• Convening upon request (§ 29 para. 3): The platform records if a quarter of the members or the employer requested the meeting.

• Video meetings (§ 30 para. 2): only if the rules of procedure allow them. Members can object within the deadline set by the chair; from a quarter, the meeting takes place in person.

In the Calendar#

• Invited participants receive a private entry "Works Council meeting" with location, time, and link in their personal calendar. The time is thus blocked everywhere, also for colleagues, for Kai's appointment search, on booking pages, and on the phone.

• Title and agenda are not in the entry.

• The entry follows changes in time and location. It disappears in case of cancellation if someone is unavailable, and when the meeting is deleted.

Conduct#

• Record attendance; those participating via video confirm in text form (§ 34 para. 1 sentence 4). Those present on-site enter their name by hand in the attendance list in the minutes PDF (p. 3).

• The platform calculates the quorum (§ 33 para. 2); substitute members who step in are counted.

Resolutions#

• Voting with Yes, No, and Abstain.

• Majority of those present or, where the law requires, majority of all members. Abstentions count as No.

• Voting rights of the youth and trainees' representation, where it is entitled (§ 67 para. 2).

• Resolutions are only possible in a conducted, quorate meeting and are numbered consecutively.

• Bias: Personally affected members, for example in the case of their own dismissal under § 103, do not advise or vote and are not counted as present; the minutes name them.

• Suspension under § 35: Upon request of the youth and trainees' representation or the severely disabled employees' representation, a resolution is suspended for one week.

• Consequence for cases: A resolution on a case decides it directly, for example approval, objection, or concerns.

Minutes (§ 34 BetrVG)#

Excerpts: Excerpt for the employer with selected agenda items (§ 34 para. 2), resolution excerpt, and resolution register as PDF.

Without meeting sub-area: If the sub-area is disabled, decisions are recorded as "decided outside the platform" with date.

Participation Procedures (§§ 87, 99–103, 111 BetrVG)#

Types and Deadlines#

For the hearing "extraordinary, alternatively ordinary," two linked hearings with their own deadlines are created.

• The platform calculates the response deadline from type and receipt date (§§ 187, 188 BGB).

• If the end falls on a weekend or a public holiday of the set region, it is postponed to the next working day (§ 193 BGB). Since this is disputed for BetrVG deadlines, the platform also shows the safe deadline without postponement.

• If the holiday region changes, open deadlines are recalculated.

• Deadline extension: A longer deadline agreed with the employer is recorded with a note.

• Reminders: Chair, deputy, and the responsible person are reminded two days before expiry and on the last day, also by email outside working hours.

Incomplete Information#

The deadline only starts upon complete information (BAG). The chair objects to incomplete information with a note on what is missing; the deadline is then suspended. The employer is informed if the case came from a workflow. The deadline restarts upon completion.

What Happens When the Deadline Expires#

If the Works Council does not respond in time, the platform applies the legal consequence:

A timely response that is only recorded later replaces this consequence.

If the case came via a workflow, the platform provides the statement with a timestamp. Otherwise, the chair records the receipt date with the employer.

Response with Reasons#

• The refusal under § 99 para. 2 and the objection under § 102 para. 3 are selected from the catalog of legal reasons and justified in writing. In other procedures, a justification is possible but not mandatory.

• A ready letter to the employer is generated as a PDF.

• The platform checks whether the statement was received in time.

Further#

• Other statuses: Conciliation committee (§ 76), reconciliation of interests and social plan (§§ 111, 112).

• Responsibility and notes: Each case has a responsible person and internal notes; it can be added to the agenda of a meeting.

• Receipt via a workflow: Cases submitted by the employer via a workflow are marked as "Submitted by the employer via a workflow." Receipt date and type are then fixed.

Works Agreements (§ 77 BetrVG)#

• Manage: Number, title, topic, status (draft, in negotiation, in force, terminated, expired), term, and notice period.

• Draft and final version: The draft is created in the Office editor. The signed final version is uploaded and then immutable.

• Publish (§ 77 para. 2): The employer is obligated to display the agreement. The Works Council additionally provides it: Chair or deputy publish a valid agreement with one click.

  • Legal catalog: The agreement appears in the platform's legal catalog. Kai can answer employees' questions from it.

  • Posting in the Wiki: Under a Wiki page "Works Council," a page with the file is created for each agreement.

• Posting belongs to the Works Council: Only Works Council members can edit, move, or delete the posting pages. Neither editorial staff nor administration can do this. No one else can create pages under it.

• Aftereffect (§ 77 para. 6): New agreements do not have aftereffects, except in cases of enforceable co-determination or if agreed. If an agreement with aftereffect ends, it remains published with the note "aftereffect." Otherwise, it is withdrawn, with a note on the Wiki page.

• Directory: The agreements can be output as a PDF directory.

Process Concerns and Topic Proposals (§§ 84, 85, 86a BetrVG)#

• Concerns: Chair and deputy are notified of new concerns. The Works Council processes the concern and responds. For anonymous concerns, there is no feedback.

• Topic proposals: Who supports remains invisible; only the number is visible. From five percent support, the Works Council must place the topic on an agenda within two months. The platform warns if the deadline is exceeded.

• The number of employees from the settings is authoritative for the quorum; otherwise, the number of accounts on the platform.

Committees (§§ 27, 28, 28a, 106–108 BetrVG)#

• Works committee (notice if missing from nine seats), further committees (from more than 100 employees), working groups, and economic committee (companies with more than 100 permanent employees).

• Delegated tasks for independent completion, with proof of the majority of all members.

Training (§ 37 para. 6 and 7, § 40 BetrVG)#

• Record: Training per member with period, organizer, costs, and status.

• Entitlement under § 37 para. 7: The platform counts the days, three weeks per term, four for first assumption of office without prior time in the youth and trainees' representation. Calculation is in the member's working days, so less for part-time. It warns if exceeded.

• Notification to the employer: as a ready letter (§ 37 para. 6 sentence 4). The letter only demands costs for training under para. 6; for para. 7, it states the paid leave.

Meetings and Office Hours (§§ 39, 42–46 BetrVG)#

• Meetings: Company and department meetings, regular or extraordinary, with agenda and activity report as PDF.

• Notice of obligation: Department meetings count (§ 43 para. 1 sentence 2). The platform reminds if the quarterly company meeting is overdue (§ 43 para. 1).

• Office hours: Time and location are visible to all employees.

Decide on Support Access#

If the administration requests support access, chair and deputy are notified. The notice leads directly to the Works Council settings.

• Chair or deputy approve or reject. The duration starts with approval.

• The access is read-only and ends automatically. The chair can revoke it beforehand.

• Each call is logged. Members see the accesses and the log in the settings.