On 31 March and following several frustrated attempts due to blocking by the conservative wing (CDU/CSU), the bill to ‘support’ Works Councils that Minister of Employment and Social Affairs Hubertus Heil (SPD) presented in December 2020 was finally adopted by the federal government Council of Ministers. The future law renamed the ‘Works Council Modernization Law’ (Betriebsrätemodernisierungsgesetz), aims to facilitate procedures for WC constitution, and for the election and work of employee representatives. The bill now requires approval by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
A new title. Faced with the reservations from the conservatives, the adoption of the bill to ‘strengthen’ works councils, the contours of which were unveiled at the end of December 2020 by the Minister of Employment (c.f. article No.12292), had been postponed several times. Reiner Hoffmann, president of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), denounced an “unacceptable blocking policy” by the CDU. According to the daily publication Handelsblatt, the bill’s adoption on 31 March is the result of a compromise between the governing parties.
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