According to German legal sources, the Labour Court of Wiesbaden in Germany has upheld the right for corporate groups headquartered outside of the EU and/or the EEA to relocate its leadership in Europe and, in this particular case, from Germany to Ireland. The decision follows the merger of two American firms – CSC, which had a European works council subject to German legislation, and HP Enterprise Services, where the creation of an EWC was under discussion – and the merged entity, DXC, opting to base its European management in Ireland. The long-term implication is that the European representation body for the combined firm will be subject to Irish law and not German. In the short term, the CSC’s EWC, which was maintained while a new agreement was negotiated, can no longer engage with the German management to ensure its rights to information and consultation are respected during this period, but must engage with the Irish company.
DXC is a company created by a merger between CSC and the HP Enterprise Services. The merger took the legal form of the acquisition by HP Enterprise Services of CSC. Prior to the merger CSC had an EWC in place, subject to German law, while HP Enterprise Services did not. HPE, the parent company of HP Enterprises has an SNB currently working on developing an EWC.
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