Germany

Source: L. Fulton (2009) Worker representation in Europe. Labour Research Department and ETUI (online
publication)

Key Facts
Population 82,218,000
Collecti ve Bargaining Coverage 61 %
Proportion of Employees in Unions 20 %
Principal Level of Collective Bargaining
industry
Workplace Representation
works council
Board-level Representation
yes: state-owned and private companies
Company Board Structure
dualistic
Sources: see individual country sections; where a range of figures has been quoted, the lower number has been
taken

Trade Union
Only around a fifth of employees in Germany are union members, and union density has fallen sharply since the
early 1990s, in part because of a sharp fall in manufacturing employment in Eastern Germany after unification.
The vast majority of union members are in the main union confederation, the DGB, but within it individual unions,
like IG Metall and Verdi, have considerable autonomy and influence.
There are some 7.9 million trade union members in Germany. However, this includes a substantial number of
retired trade union members, now 20% of the total and growing. As a result, a comparative database of union
membership put union density at 20.1% in 2007.[1]
The main trade union confederation in Germany is the DGB, which aims to recruit all types of worker. It is by far
the largest confederation and the unions affiliated to it have 6.37m members (end 2008).
DGB unions face significant competition from non-DGB unions primarily in the public sector and former public
sectors, where the DBB has 1.28m members (2007). There is also a smaller Christian confederation, the CGB,
with 278,000 members (2007) and a handful of small unions outside the confederations representing specific
occupations, such as airline pilots, doctors and air traffic controllers.
Traditionally DGB unions have been organised primarily on an industrial basis, with unions for metal workers,
chemical workers, employees in the public sector, finance and retail and so on. The structure set up when the
DGB was created in 1949 remained largely unchanged for many years. However, since the start of the 1990s
there have been a number of major mergers, which have fundamentally changed the picture.
There are now two unions IG Metall and Verdi of similar size. IG Metall is once again the largest, with
2,300,600 members (end 2008). Although the vast majority of its members are still in the metalworking sector, it
merged with the textile union in 1997 and the wood and plastics union in 1999. It also has members in the
information and communications sector.
Verdi was created in 2001 from a merger of five unions, covering transport and a range of public services, retail
and finance, post and telecommunications, the graphical and media sector and a non-manual confederation, the
DAG, which had previously been outside the DGB. For a period after the merger it was the largest union in the
DGB but, following membership losses, it is now in second place with 2,180,200 members (end 2008). Verdi seeks
to organise service workers in both the private and public sector.
The third largest, with 700,100 members, is IGBCE, which covers chemical and energy workers, whose unions
merged, together with a small union for leather working, in 1997.
These individual unions are very powerful, and certainly have greater resources than the DGB itself. (The only
actual members of the DGB are the eight unions that belong to it.) The recent mergers have also shifted the
balance of power towards the individual unions as there are now only eight unions within the DGB and the three
largest account for 81% of total DGB membership.
The DBB is made up of 40 unions each covering a specific area of the public sector or former public sector, such
as teachers in vocational colleges or those working for the German border police. Many of its members are in
public services with a special status, who by law cannot take industrial action and whose pay and conditions are
not negotiated. But it also organises workers with normal employee rights around one third of the total and
negotiates for many of them through the DBB Tarifunion. One of the most industrially powerful of the DBB unions
is the union for locomotive drivers, the GDL, which was involved in a lengthy industrial dispute in 2007.
Politically the DGB emphasises its formal neutrality and ensures that at least one member of its national executive
is a member of the Christian democratic CDU. There are also some CDU members in leading positions in
individual unions. However, traditionally, the overall position of the unions and that of most union officials is closer
to the social democratic SPD, although there are also some important figures who support the Greens, and
middle-ranking union officials played a role in the creation of the left-wing Linkspartei.
Overall union membership has fallen steadily since German unification. The DGB has been most severely affected
losing 46% of its membership since its peak in 1991, despite absorbing the DAG with 460,000 members through
the creation of Verdi. (Union membership in the former East Germany, which initially was high, fell very sharply as
overall employment there declined.) Trade union membership is strongest among manual workers in
manufacturing and in the public services, but much weaker among workers in the private services sector.
[1] The ICTWSS Database: Database on Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State
Intervention and Social Pacts compiled by J elle Visser, at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies
AIAS University of Amsterdam J anuary 2009

Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining is still primarily conducted at industry level between individual trade unions and employers'
organisations. However, the system is under pressure as employer leave or never join employers organisations,
and the agreements themselves provide for greater flexibility at company level.
The framework
Collective bargaining at industry level between individual trade unions and employers' organisations is still the
central arena for setting pay and conditions in Germany. Separate agreements between trade unions and specific
companies are rare, although there are some exceptions such as the agreement covering the motor company
Volkswagen.
This has traditionally been seen as one of the strengths of the German system. Potentially it keeps conflicts on pay
and conditions at industry level between the unions and the employers associations, while, at workplace level,
individual employers and workplace employee representatives the works councils (see section on workplace
representation) can develop more cooperative relations.
Figures from government-backed research body the IAB for 2007 show that in the private sector 59% of
employees in the former West Germany are covered by collective agreements 52% signed at industry level and
7% at company level. In the former East Germany the overall figure is lower 45% covered by any agreement
and only 33% covered by industry agreements, compared with 12% by an agreement signed at company level. In
Germany as a whole, the Hans-Bckler-Foundation estimates that in 2007 53% of employees were covered by an
industry agreement, with another 20% of employees whose pay and conditions were aligned with an industry
agreement. There were 8% of employees with a company agreement and 19% of employees with no agreement at
all.[1]
Industry agreements are normally negotiated at regional rather than national level. As a result there are slight
variations between regions. However, the main elements of the agreements, in particular the size of the pay
increase, will normally be the same across all regions. The main exception is the former East Germany where pay
and/or conditions are often still inferior to those elsewhere in 2008 on average pay was at 96.8% of the level in
the West for identical grades[2] and some settlements include an element moving them closer in line with
arrangements elsewhere.
Works councils are not legally able to negotiate collective agreements. They can, however, reach agreements with
individual employers on issues not covered by collective agreements as well as how the terms of the collective
agreement will be applied in practice. This has become increasingly important as collective agreements give
greater flexibility to local negotiators, often through so-called opening clauses, which allow them to reach deals
which take account of the particular circumstances of their employer. Figures from the IAB show that in 2005 the
opening clauses applied to 29% of all employees covered by collective agreements in West Germany, although
they were used for only about half this number. The figure is lower in East Germany, where fewer employees are
covered by collective agreements in the first place, at 21%; but there too the opportunity to be more flexible was
used for only about half of this percentage.
Many employers would like to encourage these developments, and together with the fact that some employers are
leaving the employers' federations this has led to the existing system of industry level settlements coming under
growing pressure.
Bargaining at national level between the DGB and the employers does not normally take place, although in 2003
the DGB negotiated an agreement on agency staff on behalf of the individual unions.
Who negotiates and when?
Negotiations normally take place between the unions and the employers' federations. The agreements are legally
binding for trade union members (in practice for all employees) and the members of the employers' organisations
who sign them. There are also legal mechanisms for extending the results of collective agreements beyond the
parties and these are used in some difficult to organise industries such as retailing.
In the past most companies applied the agreements, whether or not they were members of the employers'
federation. However, increasingly individual employers are staying out of or leaving the employers' federations in
order to pay wages lower than those set in collective agreements. This is particularly common in the former East
Germany as the IAB figures, showing lower figures for the coverage for collective bargaining in the East, indicate.
Agreements are signed throughout the year and those covering pay normally last for around one or sometimes two
years or more. Agreements covering other issues have a longer life perhaps five years or more, while some go
on until one side wishes to change them and gives the required period of notice.
The subject of the negotiations
German collective agreements regulate a wide range of issues. Apart from pay, agreements also deal with issues
such as shiftwork payments or pay structures, working time, the treatment of part-timers and training.
There is no system for setting a single national minimum wage.
[2] Tarifpolitischer J ahresbericht 2008, Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut in der Hans-Bckler-
Stiftung, Dsseldorf 2009.

Workplace Representation
Works councils provide representation for employees at the workplace and they have substantial powers
extending to an effective right of veto on some issues. Although not formally union bodies, union members
normally play a key role within them.
There is a clear legal basis in Germany for the workplace representation of employees in all but the very smallest
companies. Under the Works Constitution Act, first passed in 1952 and subsequently amended, most recently in
2001, a works council can be set up in all private sector workplaces with at least five employees. (There is a
system of staff councils in the public sector which have a broadly similar structure.)
In practice large workplaces are much more likely to have works councils than small ones. Figures from the IAB
show that in 2006 only 10% of all eligible workplaces had a works council, in both West and East Germany, but
they covered 46% of all employees in the West and 38% in the East. In workplaces with more than 500 employees
more than 90% had works councils in West Germany and more than 85% in East Germany. (These figures are for
works councils in the private sector. The proportions are slightly higher if staff councils in the public sector are also
included.)
Works councils are not directly trade union bodies. But the unions have a major influence on their operation. An
analysis of the works council election results in 2006, on behalf of the Hans-Bckler-Foundation, found that 73% of
the members elected were members of DGB unions. This is slightly lower than in the elections four years earlier,
when the figure was 75.7%, continuing a downward trend that has been present since the 1980s. However,
despite this works councils remain an area of trade union dominance. (This is also the case for public sector staff
councils, although here there are DBB members as well as those from the DGB.) Other links between unions and
works councils are that works councils have the right to invite trade unions to attend the meetings, provided a
quarter of the members are in favour, and works council members often go on union-organised training courses.
The law in Germany does not provide a separate statutory structure for union workplace representatives.
However, some unions make provision for them. Their rights and duties are normally fixed by the unions, although
in some industries their position is also regulated by collective agreements. In an ideal situation they exist
alongside the works council. In practice there is often no separate specific trade union structure and the members
of the works council will take over their tasks.
Numbers and structure
A works council can be set up once there are five employees in a workplace, with the size increasing with the
number of employees (see table).



Number employed Number of works council members
5-20 1
21-50 3
51-100 5
101-200 7
201-400 9
401-700 11
701-1,000 13
1,000-1,500 15
From 1,500 to 5,000 employees the number in the works council increases by two for every 500 employees or part
thereof; from 5,000 to 7,000 by two for every additional 1,000. Workplaces with 7,000 to 9,000 have 35 members
of the works council, and above 9,000 workplaces have two additional works council members for each additional
3,000 employees. The changes in 2001 increased the size of the works council at almost all levels.
All employees are covered by the works councils with the exception of senior management for whom separate
representation is provided. In Germany works councils are purely employee bodies. There are no members
representing the employer. Manual and non-manual employees should normally be represented in proportion to
their numbers in the workforce.
There is also a requirement, which was newly introduced in 2001, that the sex which is in a minority in the
workforce, must be represented in proportion to its presence in the workforce on all works councils with more than
one member. The aim of this change was to increase the number of women in works councils. Research on the
2006 works council elections shows that it is having some effect, with the proportion of women increasing slightly
on the previous elections up from 25.4% to 25.9%.
The works council chair, elected by the whole works council from amongst its members, plays a key role. His or
her legal functions include calling the meetings and setting the agenda. The law also requires that in works
councils with nine or more members - above 200 employees - a separate works committee should be elected from
the works council to deal with day to day business. If the works council wishes it can set up other sub committees.
In companies with more than 100 permanent employees, the law requires the setting up of another body, the
economic committee. This committee is consulted about economic and financial issues. But it is chosen by the
works council, and in certain circumstances the works council can decide to do without an economic committee
and directly take over its functions.
There is also separate representation for young people and the disabled, who are able to take part in works
council discussions of concern to these groups.
In addition to the works council structure, there is separate provision for the representation of senior management.
Provided there are 10 senior managers, either in the plant or in the company, they can choose to elect a body to
represent them. This can have between one and seven members, depending on the number of senior managers
involved.
Health and safety committees should be set up in all workplaces with more than 50 employees and in some with
between 20 and 50 employees. Members of the works council take part in the meetings of the safety committee.
Tasks and rights
Works councils exist to ensure that some of the key decisions at the workplace are not taken by the employer
alone but involve representatives of the workforce. However, the works council cannot consider just the interest of
the employees. Its legal basis is to work together with the employer "in a spirit of mutual trust....for the good of the
employees and the establishment". At the same time the law recognises that there will inevitably be conflicts
between the interests of the employer and the workforce, and also makes it clear that trade unions have a
separate duty to protect the interests of their members.
The law provides the works council with two main types of rights: participation rights where the works council must
be informed and consulted about specific issues and can also make proposals to the employer; and so-called co-
determination rights, where decisions cannot be taken against the wishes of the works council.
In some areas where the works council has co-determination rights the wishes of the works council can be set
aside by a decision of the labour court. In other areas the works council must positively agree to management
proposals and a labour court decision cannot replace this positive agreement. Instead the issue must, in almost all
cases, go to an arbitration committee (Einigungsstelle) which is composed of representatives of both employer and
works council with a neutral chair. In areas where positive agreement is required, the works council can also make
its own proposals which must be considered in the same way as proposals coming from the employer.
The precise rights of the works council vary from area to area. The rights are strongest in the social area,
organisation of hours, holidays, methods of payment and so on, and weakest in the area of economic issues.
On economic issues the works council should be informed about the economic situation - with quarterly reports in
larger workplaces, and be consulted about changes in the plant which could lead to disadvantages for the
workforce, including the introduction of new techniques and procedures and in particular new technology. In
workplaces with more than 100 employees, many of these rights are exercised by the economic committee, made
up partially or wholly of works council members, to which the employer should report once a month.
In addition, since J une 2008 there are new rights to information, where outside investors have built up a stake in
the company with the aim of possibly taking it over. In such cases, the employer is required to inform the economic
committee or, where there is none, the works council itself of activities of the other company and the possible
impact of the takeover on employees.
On employment issues, the employer is required to inform the works council of overall staffing needs and discuss
these with it. It also has a general right to be consulted on training. The works council can ask the employer to
advertise all jobs internally, but cannot prevent external advertisement or external appointments. On individual
personnel issues, appointments, grading and re-grading, transfers and dismissals, the employer must inform the
works council before acting. However, the works council can only prevent the action taking place in specific
circumstances, such as where the proposal clashes with existing agreements or practices. The works council can
also make proposals to the employer on issues, such as providing equal opportunities for men and women and
combating racism at work.
The works council has positive co-determination rights over a range of social issues including: disciplinary rules;
starting and finishing times and breaks; any temporary shortening or lengthening of working time - such as
overtime or short time working; holiday arrangements; the principles used for the payment of wages and salaries -
for example, should they be based on bonus or time work; the setting of bonuses and targets; the time, date and
method of payment; the introduction of cameras or other devices to measure work or check the behaviour of
employees; the arrangements for the operation of works institutions like canteens or sports grounds; the operation
of the works suggestions scheme and the introduction of group work. On some of these issues the works council
will typically reach written agreements with the employer.
The environment is an area where the works council was given new rights in 2001. The employer should involve
the works council in environmental issues leading in some cases to a written agreement.
The works council must also agree the type of personal data held on individual employees and it can influence the
methods used to select candidates. It also has a positive right of co-determination on the training at workplace
level. This includes the practical experience of trainees, the selection of trainees and the introduction of workplace
examinations. The works councils also can veto the appointment of trainers if it thinks they are unsuitable and it
can suggest further training to safeguard jobs.
Positive co-determination in economic issues is, in general, limited only to the development of a so-called social
plan, where changes in the workplace including total closure produce major disadvantages for the workforce. The
social plan, which must be agreed by both sides, should cover issues such as the level of redundancy payments,
earnings protection in the case of job changes, and payments for additional travelling expenses.
By law, works councils should normally not be involved in collective bargaining on issues, such as pay or working
time, which are dealt with by the unions. However, recently works councils have started to have a greater role in
these issues, as agreements include opening clauses, which allow the works council and local management to
agree variations to the deal reached by the union and the employers association at industry level (see section on
collective bargaining).
The trade union representatives in the workplace are there to promote the interests of the union as well as
representing union members.
Election and term of office
Nominations to the works council are made either by groups of individual employees - in most cases 5% of those
eligible to vote - or from any trade union with at least one member in the workplace. The elections take place every
four years.
Trade union representatives, where they exist separately, are chosen in line with individual union rules or
guidelines, normally by election at the workplace.
Protection against dismissal
Works council members can only be dismissed for extraordinary reasons - such as gross misconduct - and only if
the works council or the labour court agrees.
Time-off and other resources
Works council members must be given time off at their normal level of earnings to carry out their duties - such as
attending meetings or giving advice. In work places with less than 200 employees, the details of this are not laid
down by law. But in larger workplaces the law sets out the number of works council members who should be freed
from their normal work and the number was increased in 2001. The current figures are: one in workplaces with 200
to 500 employees; two where there are 501 to 900; three for 901 1,500; four for 1,501-2,000 and then one for
each extra thousand employees up to 10,000 with one for each 2,000 after that. In practice, not all works councils
make full use of their time-off rights.
In addition, all works council members have the right to take part in training courses that are closely connected
with their activities on the works council, and they have at least three weeks for more general training/education in
the course of their period of office. These more general training courses should be jointly agreed by the unions and
employers organisations.
The employer must bear the costs of the works councils. This includes providing rooms, stationery, photocopying,
typewriters as well as office staff. It also includes, for example, paying for telephone conversations with the trade
union, translating works council reports into languages other than German if there are large numbers of non-
German speaking employees and in certain circumstances payment of outside experts brought in by the works
council. In very large companies the works council or the works council for the whole group may have paid
professional staff.
Representation at group level
As well as works councils at workplace level, the law also requires the setting up of a central works council at
company level (GBR) if a company covers several workplaces. This brings together representatives of the
individual plant works councils.
It is also possible to set up a works council at group level, covering all the companies in a group (KBR). However,
this can only happen if works councils covering 50% of the total group workforce want to set one up. Group works
councils remain relatively rare.

Board-level Representation
Employee representatives have a right to seats on the supervisory board of larger companies one-third in
companies with 500 to 2,000 employees, half in companies with more than 2,000.
Employees in larger limited liability companies (500 employees or more) also have representation on a supervisory
board to which the day to day management of the company reports. The proportion of worker representatives
varies from one third, in companies with between 500 and 2,000 employees, to a half, in companies with more
than 2,000 workers. Even in these larger companies, the shareholders can finally win through, as the chair
represents the shareholders and can cast a second vote in the event that a vote is tied. The one exception is the
larger coal or iron and steel companies where the chair is independent.[1]
The supervisory board can normally appoint and dismiss the main management, and it reviews its performance. It
gives advice, participates in setting the companys strategy and is provided with financial and other information. In
the coal and iron and steel industries, the employee representatives have additional rights in the appointment of
the labour director. The employee representatives have the same rights and duties as other supervisory board
members. Employee supervisory board members must not be discriminated against as a result of their
membership of the board, and they must not be restricted in their work as supervisory board members. They are
also entitled to reimbursement of their expenses and adequate training.
In companies with 500 to 2,000 employees, the employee representatives, who are elected by the workforce, are
also normally company employees. In larger companies, above 2,000, some of the employee representatives
come directly from the unions, and are usually union officials. These larger companies must also give at least one
place on the supervisory board to a senior management representative. At the end of 2008, figures from the Hans-
Bckler-Foundation show that there were 695 companies in Germany with more than 2,000 employees, where
employee representatives made up half the supervisory board. This figure, which includes five European
Companies (SEs), is slight lower than the year before, continuing a gradual decline, which has been continuous
since 2002.
[1] This system of board level representation in coal, iron and steel companies was introduced in 1951, reflecting
the popular determination that these powerful industries should be brought under greater democratic control and
should not be able to be misused, as they had been during the Nazi period.

European-level Representation
European level representatives are chosen through the works council structure. However, for the European
Company, there are rules which guarantee seats to trade union officials and in the largest companies
representatives of senior management, both on the SNB and at board level.
European Works Councils
German members of the special negotiating body (SNB) for the EWC are chosen from the group works council,
where such a body exists. If there are only central or ordinary works councils, and they do not cover all the
workplaces, then they are extended to cover workplaces not otherwise represented. Employees representing
senior management can be members of the SNB if chosen under this procedure. There is also a requirement for
the members to reflect the gender make-up of the workforce.
The procedure is the same for German members of an EWC set up under the fallback procedure in the annex to
the directive. When there are at least four German members on an EWC set up in this way, the body representing
senior management can also send a representative, who has speaking, although not voting rights.
European Company
German members of the special negotiating body (SNB) for the European Company are chosen by an election
body which is the group works council, where such a body exists and only one company is involved. If there is no
group works council, but only one German company involved, then the central or individual works councils are
extended to cover workplaces not otherwise represented. If several German companies are involved, then the
election body is made up of the group works councils of the two companies, or other works councils from the two
companies if there are no group works councils. Every third member of the SNB from Germany should be a trade
union official and every seventh a representative of senior management. The members should also reflect the
gender make-up of the workforce.
The situation is the same for the German members of the SE representative body set up under the fallback
procedure, except that there is no provision for trade union officials or representatives of senior management. The
legislation states that the representative body should be composed of employees of the European Company.
German representatives at board level are also elected in the same way, although this time the requirement that
every third member from Germany should be a trade union official and every seventh a representative of senior
management is reinstated.

Health and Safety
In any undertaking with more than 20 employees, safety officers must be appointed by the employer.
Health and safety is regulated by the 1973 Occupational Health and Safety Act ( Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz),
amended in 1976, and the 1996 Occupational Safety Act ( Arbeitsschutzgesetz).
Works councils play an important role in health and safety. In particular they are consulted on the appointment of
safety officers ( Sicherheitsbeauftragte). These must help the employer in the prevention of accidents at work and
ensure effective implementation of statutory and regulatory health and safety provisions.
In any undertaking with more than 20 employees, safety officers must be appointed by the employer.
In undertakings with more than three safety officers, the management must arrange a briefing meeting at least
once a month. The minimum number of safety officers is set by the rules of the occupational accident insurance
funds ( Berufsgenossenschaften), depending on the size of the undertaking and the type of risks.
A health and safetycommittee must be set up in all undertakings where there is an occupational physician or
safety specialist.
This committee consists of the occupational physician(s) or industrial safety specialist(s), the safety officer(s) (and
where there are more than three of the latter, they appoint three representatives to the committee), the employer
and two representatives of the works council. The committee has an advisory role on measures aimed at
improving safety at work or the prevention of industrial accidents.
In undertakings not employing an occupational physician or safety specialist, a safety committee (
Sicherheitsausschuss) must be set up if more than three safety officers have been appointed. The employer must
hold an exchange of views with this committee at least once a month, with the participation of the works council.
Source: S. Gazzane - Health and safety representation of employees in EU countries. ETUI-REHS: 2006.


Financial Participation
The incidence of employee financial participation in Germany is at an average level internationally. Only 9% of all
companies (establishments) practice profit-sharing and only 2% have employee share ownership schemes. [1] In
some rare companies, such as Siemens, there exists an employee stock owners association. The concept of
employee financial participation has been in and out of public debate in the last decades, with varying intensity.
Since the end of 2005 the debate has gained ground, mainly due to political focus. The current debate is about
improved state support for employee equity participation (investment wages / Investivlohn).
The CDU/CSU model of company pacts for social equity partnerships (Betriebliche Bndnisse fr Soziale
Kapitalpartnerschaften) focuses on company-level solutions for directly participating employees in a companys
equity and linking such to retirement savings plans. [2]The contrasting SPD model of a Fund for Germany
(Deutschlandfonds) focuses on solutions on a regional or national level. [3] The CDU/CSU want to make the
schemes attractive primarily by providing greater tax incentives. The SPD would like to protect employees from
any losses resulting from bankruptcy by spreading the risk and would only offer minor tax relief.
German legislation provides no incentives for profit-sharing. There are however a range of regulations promoting
employee share ownership and asset accumulation which promote a transfer of employees assets and savings
into investment plans. These regulations are to be found in the Asset Accumulation Act
(Vermgungsbildungsgesetz (VermBG)) and the Income Tax Act (EstG). Between 1992 and 1994 a number of
legislative amendments were made relating to savings in building societies and bonus payments. [4] A major
revision followed in September 1998, culminating with the adoption of the Third Asset Participation Act ("Drittes
Vermgensbeteiligungsgesetz) integrating VermBG and EstG regulations.
A new Employee Financial Participation Act, introduced by the CDU/SPD government, came into force in April
2009. On the one hand, the Act seeks to improve the promotion of financial participation of employees in their
company. On the other hand, it establishes the possibility of participating indirectly by investing in a special
employee fund, diversifying the employees risk.
Due to such legislation, the German model is traditionally more focused on employee savings plans than on
employee share ownership programmes. The main objective of the savings plans is to promote employee asset
accumulation, thereby contributing to the long-term financial security especially of those on low incomes. [5]
Because of the German system of corporate governance via consensus and codetermination, employee financial
participation programmes are mainly anchored in wage settlements.
[1] Bellmann, L., Moeller,I. (2006), IAB Kurzbericht 13/2006.
[2] See CDU/CSU (2007), Betriebliche Bndnisse frSoziale Kapitalpartnerschaften. Resolution of the joint
CDU/CSU workinggroup. Berlin.
[3] See SPD Party Executive and SPD Parliamentary Party (2007),Deutschlandfonds fr Arbeitnehmerinnen und
Arbeitnehmer. Eckpunktefr mehr Mitarbeiterbeteiligung. Report of the joint working group on employee financial
participation of the SPD Party Executive andSPD Parliamentary Party, J une 2007, Berlin.
[4] Poutsma, E. (2001), Recent trends in employee financial participation in the European Union, Luxembourg:
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
[5] Most employee savings are invested in building societies.
Wilke, Maack und Partner (2007) Country reports on Financial Participation in Europe. Prepared for www.worker-
participation.eu. Updated 2009.