On 13 December, a ruling by Germany’s Federal Labor Tribunal (BAG) overturned a decision by the second court and held that company Facebook accounts that include comment features can be used as a tool for exerting influence, monitoring, or putting pressure on employees. In this particular case, clauses in the ‘Law on company establishment’ that treat the area of co-determination were found to be in operation and the WCs of the company in question thus have the right to also manage the Facebook page. The tribunal’s ruling applies to all companies, including those without WCs.
Marketing or Monitoring? Are company Facebook pages that enable customers to post comments purely marketing tools that do not affect the company’s internal operations and just allow the company to boost its image and improve customer contact? Or, are they also as the law on establishing companies (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz) states, “technical bodies that can be used to manage employee behavior and performance”?
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