Germany’s metal union IG Metall estimates that tens of thousands of interim workers are set to receive extra income thanks to a ruling dating back to 22 February 2017 that was only recently published (by the BAG, Bundesarbeitsgericht, Federal Labor Court). In response to an appeal by several interim workers employed by companies that had signed services provision contracts (Werkverträge) with different automaker companies, the Court held that the interim workers also had the right to the ‘sector related bonuses’, which IG Metall had negotiated in 2012 for interim employees working in the metals and electro-technical sectors as well as in the wood, plastics and textiles industries. Until the ruling the interim companies refused to pay temporary workers the bonuses because they argues the workers were working for the services provider companies and not in the metals sector. The BAG (final instance) threw out the argument and for IG Metall it represents a ‘key ruling’ for interim workers and a new stage in the battle against excessive use of outsourcing.
Bonuses that vary according to job function and duration. For IG Metall it is in no small part thanks to the tenacity of Mr. Manuel Greuvers, an interim worker employed by a Ford services provider in Cologne that this case had such a positive outcome. For five years this temporary worker that provided the oil for more than ford 630 engines fought alongside his colleagues, the WC and the relevant IG Metall Cologne-Leverkusen section in order to receive his ‘sector related bonuses’ being paid to interim workers in the auto sector.
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