Employee representative: shortened works council remuneration: Evidence burden lies with VW

In the dispute over shortened remuneration for exempt works councils in the Volkswagen Group, the Federal Labor Court prescribed the company’s obligation to provide evidence. If the employer correctly raised an increase in the works council remuneration, he had to “demonstrate and prove that the increase in remuneration was incorrect”, which was correct, said the presiding judge Kristina Schmidt in the judgment in Erfurt (7 AZR 46/24).

Case back to the negotiation in Lower Saxony

The Federal Labor Court was not decided by the precedent in which a released member of the works council requested that a reduction was taken. He went back to the State Labor Court in Lower Saxony for right -wing defects. It had seen the burden of proof to the plaintiff why he was entitled to a certain fee.

For the first time according to a decision by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) of 2023, according to which company board members are suspected of being suspected of infidelity, if they grant works councils excessive remuneration, a total of four VW cases were negotiated by the Federal Labor Court. According to the lawyer, the car manufacturer had reduced gross to 6,454 euros per month, after the BGH decision, had reduced the plaintiff, which was given the precedent.

What works council and companies say

A spokesman for the Group’s Business Council said after the verdict was the verbal justification of the Federal Labor Court hope that a conclusion could finally be set behind the years of uncertainty. 98 percent of the works council members in Volkswagen AG would be paid for tariffs.

“Volkswagen AG welcomes the fact that these decisions of the Federal Labor Court is a first important contribution to the clarification of a large number of fundamental legal issues that have so far not been made by the Federal Labor Court in this complex area of ​​law,” said a company spokeswoman.

The amount of the VW payments to exempt works councils had caused discussions nationwide, for labor court laws and criminal proceedings-this year also against ex-works council chief Bernd Osterloh. A labor lawyer said that other companies would also look at the outcome of the procedure.

The precedent from Wolfsburg

In the first procedure on Thursday, the plaintiff was a member of the works council, which has been released since 2002, who has been able to qualify for training from his training and has been working at VW as a plant leader since 1984. In his opinion, his employer also requested too much paid funds of just under 2,600 euros. It was relocated to 18 by remuneration level 20. The plaintiff also claimed that he missed a career chance because of his works council work – he had been offered a job as a production coordinator – he did not accept the offer, although it was considered an ideal occupation, as it was said in the negotiation.

The rules for works council remuneration

Federal judge Schmidt referred to the disadvantage and favorite ban for employee representatives. Released operating rate would not be paid for their voluntary work, but for “what they don’t do”. According to the Works Constitution Act, they should not be remunerated less than comparable employees with a professional development common in the respective company. Another passage deals with hypothetical career steps of the individual works council and its effects on the remuneration. These general rules often ensure conflict – not only at VW, where, according to the company’s lawyer, there are 85 controversial cases alone.