New world of work
Federal judge say yes to digital salary statement
An Edeka seller insists on paper on a salary statement instead of the digital variant usual in the company. The Federal Labor Court sees it differently in a fundamental decision.
After a decision by the Federal Labor Court, employees should adapt to an increased trend towards electronic salary statements. In the case of an Edeka seller from Lower Saxony, the highest German labor judges in Erfurt decided that salary statements from employers can also only be sent electronically (9 AZR 48724). “There is no entitlement to paper form of old school,” said presiding judge Heinrich Kiel when the judgment was pronounced.
Behind the retail case is the fundamental question: Can salary statements and other personal documents only be made available electronically in a password -protected employee portal? Yes, the federal labor judges said. More and more companies in all industries set up such digital employee portals, say experts.
Employer must provide computers
The supermarket seller of the EDEKA group insisted on a billing in paper form and argued that she had not given any approval for electronic transmission. It was successful before the Lower Saxony State Labor Court, but not in the highest labor court. According to the trade regulations, employers are obliged to “issue a settlement in text form”. The law is also fulfilled with a digital settlement that can be accessed electronically in a mailbox, said Kiel. Employees without corresponding technology should be enabled access to the data and printing out billing in the company. This happened in the Edeka case.
The retailer with a total of more than 410,000 employees was regulated by the introduction of a digital employee portal 2021 by corporate company agreement. The State Labor Court should now clarify the responsibilities of various works councils.
dpa
Source: Stern
