Germany: Federal Labor Court rules that temporary workers also count in the vote for the Supervisory Board employee representatives

On 04 November the Federal Labor Court ruled that temporary staff would have more influence in Germany’s co-management business model. The judges had to rule on arrangements for electing employee representatives to the Supervisory Board of a large auto-parts company. The judges recognized that not only was it legal to include temporary workers in such a vote but that it was also normal to include these workers as part of the ‘in-house’ staff when determining the voting procedure, be it direct or indirect. This strengthens yet again the position of temporary workers in terms of co-management and de facto constitutes via jurisprudence a new extension of co-management rules.