!!!Betriebsrat

Works Council; Works councils or shop steward committees can be 
elected in companies employing at least five people entitled to vote. 
Agricultural and forestry enterprises, public authorities, offices and 
other departments of administrative bodies, postal and railway 
services, schools of the public school system and private households 
are excepted. Separate works councils are usually elected for 
blue-collar workers and salaried employees, but under certain 
conditions they can also be elected together. The number of committee 
members is proportional to the number of people employed. All 
employees aged 18 and over are entitled to vote, without reference to 
their nationality (except homeworkers). Committee members are elected 
for a four-year period.

\\
The committee represents the economic, social, cultural and 
health-related interests of the workforce. The purpose is to create a 
balance of interests for the benefit of the workforce and the company 
as a whole. Amongst other things, the shop committee monitors 
compliance with the legal norms relating to the workforce in the 
company and inspects the relevant files; the committee participates in 
company-run welfare institutions and concludes  Plant Agreements. The 
committee has to be informed in advance of all measures concerning the 
workforce. Dismissals are null and void if the committee has not been 
informed. It has also to be consulted upon matters relating to company 
structures (e.g. social compensation plans), it is represented on the 
supervisory board of limited companies and in companies employing more 
than 200 people it has the right to protest against management 
decisions.

\\
Council members are bound to secrecy; they have to be granted the 
necessary time to attend to their functions and time for attending 
training programmes related to their function as council member. 
During their term of office, they cannot be given notice or dismissed 
unless they have committed a serious offence.

!Literature
W. Schwarz and G. Loeschnigg, Arbeitsrecht %%sup 7/%1999.


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