In a ruling on a German case handed down on July 09 the CJEU decided that the director of a capital company who carries out an activity under the supervision of another body of that company and who receives remuneration for that activity is considered a worker within the meaning of Directive 98/59 on collective redundancies. The director must be taken into account in the calculations for the threshold number that starts a collective redundancy procedure. Similarly a trainee who carries out real work in a company in the context of a traineeship in order to acquire or improve skills or complete vocational training is also considered as a worker under Directive 98/59.
The complainant, an employee of a German GmbH, challenged the termination of his employment contract on the grounds that the company had not respected redundancy procedures that must be followed in Germany once at least 20 employees are affected. The complainant held that to the 18 regular employees laid off should have been added a company director and a trainee as well as a third person whose inclusion in the calculations did not raise any legal issues.
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