The new agreement of the metal and electrical industries in Baden Württemberg – which is set to be the pilot agreement for other collective bargaining rounds in Germany – is a positive political signal for work-life balance. It shows that we are exiting the crisis period and that workers are standing up for their rights for a fair share in the recovery. The agreement also shows that ‘flexibility’ in the workplace should be determined not only by employers, but also by the workers. There are 3 main takeaways from the agreement, relating to Wages, Working Time and the so-called Tariff Wage Supplement. Working Time• From 2019, a right for all full-time workers with 2+ years of seniority to reduce their weekly working hours to 28 hours for between 6 and 24 months. After this period is completed, workers have the right to repeat the process. • The temporarily reduced (28 hour) working week will be limited to 10% of the workforce. If more than 10% of workers apply to have reduced working hours, priority will then be given to those engaged in shift work, caring for relatives, or with young children (up to 8 years of age).• Employers will also have the opportunity to employ workers on 40-hour contracts (currently fixed at 18%/13% of all contracts depending on the collective bargaining region), but works councils will have more and stronger rights to object in the case of exceedance of an average of 35.9 hours weekly working time over all employees. IndustriAll Europe welcomes the Collective Agreement signed between IG Metall and Südwestmetall on 6 February. The agreement is at the cutting edge of collective bargaining, setting a positive example for social partners not only in Germany but across all of Europe. Tariff Wage Supplement or 8 Days Leave • In July 2019, workers will receive a payment of 400 euros and annual tariff wage supplement of 27.5% of their monthly wage.
• From 2019, workers with children up to the age of 8 years or those who are caring for relatives or those in unhealthy working time models such shift work can alternatively convert the tariff wage supplement into 8 days leave. Two of these eight days are paid by the employer. Die Anordnung von Dienstreisen gehört zum Direktionsrecht des Arbeitgebers. Wenn es keinen Betriebsrat gibt, ist die individuelle Ablehnung von Dienstreisen schwierig. Und ohne Unterstützung durch die KollegInnen ist eine Diskussion mit dem Chef über die Überbelastung durch ständige Dienstreisen schwer durchzuhalten. Ein Betriebsrat hat zwar kein direkt geregeltes Mitbestimmungsrecht bei der Frage, in welchem Umfang und zu welchen Konditionen Dienstreisen zu machen sind. Ein Mitbestimmungsrecht kann jedoch aus anderen Vorschriften (Mitbestimmung über Arbeitszeit, personelle Maßnahmen, Arbeitsschutz) abgeleitet werden. Erfahrene Betriebsräte haben dies genutzt, um verbindliche Regelungen über Ankündigungsfristen, Belastungsgrenzen, die Anrechnung als Arbeitszeit, Bezahlung von Zuschlägen und einen Belastungsausgleich bei Dienstreisen durchzusetzen.