The recent terminations at Twitter have once again shown how different the protection against dismissal is in German and American labor law.
U.S. employees will probably receive continued pay for 60 days, or two months, under the WARN Act, and that’s it. If Elon Musk offers the dismissed employees (instead) a severance payment amounting to three months’ salary, that is considered quite fair by American standards. After all, Musk is paying 50% more than he has to.
In Germany, we would rather draw up a social plan that grants the dismissed employees (at least) 1 gross month’s salary per year of service as severance pay, in addition to compliance with the notice period.
Where do these differences come from, and which system is actually better?
Germany has some of the strictest labor laws in the world, with a key focus on protecting the rights of employees. To ensure a balanced relationship between the employer and employees, two systems exist alongside legislation to bridge the gap that can exist in corporate systems. The work undertaken by a German Works Council within companies is the system that focuses on company-level matters for decisions that impact employees.
Key Takeaways
1. A German Works Council (‘works council’, or, ‘Betriebsrat’) is a group of elected employees that represent the interests of a company’s workforce. A works council collaborates with management on key decisions within the company.
2. Although it is formally mandatory for companies with five or more permanent employees to set up a works council, this does not mean that all companies do. Companies can operate without a works council until it is formally requested by employees to hold an election to set one up.
3. The Works Constitution Act grants elected members of a works council a range of rights to effectively conduct their purposed tasks: This includes a right to information, a right to consultation, a right to decline, and a right to co-determination.
4. There are various pros and cons to having a works council within any given company. The pros include that works councils protects employee rights, provide a unified voice for negotiation with employees, are free for employees, and increase productivity. The cons include the costs of operation and maintenance, arguably lesser employee freedoms, and longer decision-making timeframes.
A works council in Germany is elected by employees and the conduct and procedure of the election is a matter for them too. Nevertheless, the employer usually has an interest in the proper conduct of the election.
An incorrect election procedure could result in higher costs for it, as well as unclear and unstable conditions in day-to-day dealings with the council and any collective agreements (“works agreements”) negotiated with representatives elected in an unlawful ballot.
Due to new case law and recent changes to the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG), the election procedure has been simplified. Employers are well advised to familiarize themselves with the recent amendments regarding the election process in good time to avoid subsequent disputes about the validity of the ballot.
The works council represents the interests of all employees. In our video clip you will find out when and to what extent a works council must be involved and what a head of HR of a major company with a works council has to bear in mind. For further information please visit
Oakland California sure does have a homeless problem. Driving around town, there’s homeless encampments all over the place. They’re on the side of the roads in dirt lots. There’s long stretches of them on sidewalks. Some of them are tents, some are RVs, some are actual encampments with makeshift structures where hundreds of people gather in communities.
It’s estimated there’s around 5,000 homeless individuals throughout the city of Oakland, but no one really knows the exact number. And the number of people on the streets in Oakland has nearly doubled in the last two years alone.
In this video Dr. Gerlind Wisskirchen explains 5 principles you should abide by when dealing with the works council in Germany. The German works council system is quite unique in the world, and many companies complain about their dealings with the works council.
Most companies consider it as a daily, almost tedious task to deal with the works council, and they find it extremely difficult to get to results. By abiding by all these principles, you can do much better with dealing with works councils!
This social experiment was done to see how people react differently to a Rich girl and a poor girl.
YouTube comments:
“We’re living in a world where the rich continue to get richer and the poor get poorer.”
“They donated to the rich girl because she was hot, and dressed well.”
“I used to know a homeless man who would beg near a McDonalds. He was a really great person, and I would always donate some money. My dad even bought him a tent. Whenever I was near the McDonalds, I never really saw people who were looking to help him. Maybe they thought it was unimportant because he already had a tent, or maybe they didn’t have money, or they just didn’t want to donate. Eventually he was finally able to find a job (at that McDonalds to be exact) and he was able to sell his tent, add that money to what he had already, and buy himself a car! I haven’t seen him for a few years, but I hope that he is doing better in life.”
The rich in Germany been never been as well-off as they are today and assets have never been so unevenly distributed. But who are they? How do they live? And what do they think of their country?
A journey into the discreet world of the super-rich. One percent of Germans own over a quarter of the country’s assets, whilst half of the country’s citizens have no assets at all. But while the German media report on the growing poverty in the country on a daily basis, little is known about the super-rich. They keep a very low profile and can walk the streets unrecognized.
The estimated total pay for a Engineer is €67,886 per year in the Germany area, with an average salary of €62,886 per year. These numbers represent the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users.
The estimated additional pay is €5,000 per year. Additional pay could include cash bonus, commission, tips, and profit sharing. The “Most Likely Range” represents values that exist within the 25th and 75th percentile of all pay data available for this role.
Many people are moving to Germany because the working conditions and salary are often much better than in their home country. See how much money you can expect to earn and get some insights from a German.
YouTube comments:
“After working in Germany for several years in different cities and PhD in STEM, I can tell you that salaries are not that high as people imagine. After considering expensive rents and high tax, your disposable income isn’t much. The benefits come from social benefits, usually nice working hours, paid holidays, healthcare, great cheap alcohol and peaceful country. If you seek making a lot of money, Germany isn’t your country. In Europe you probably have look north for higher salaries and Switzerland, in Asia, some highly developed countries like Singapore. If you have a high level of education and work for a good company in the USA and even sometimes in Latin America, are better places to make great money. But hey money isn’t everything, you need to evaluate pros- and cons.”
“While average income in Germany was relatively high in 2019 with ~€3500 as mentioned in the video, the median was much lower with just €2500 (gross income). That means that 50% of the German population earn less than €2500 (~€1700 after taxes and insurances). It’s also worth mentioning that you’re considered upper class with a net income of around €5500 gross income, but you have to pay the property tax with just a monthly income of around €4500 gross income. If you plan to buy real estate in Germany: Forget it.”
“I work in a big car company in Germany as Engineer… and I can tell you the salaries are not high compared to the very high rent (or apartment prices), taxes and high prices of Energy and Benzin in Germany. I really wonder how people here are able to live who get lower salaries. And at some point you have to save to buy a house or an apartment (with something like half a million Euro) because after geting retired, your income gets 60% lower and then you will not even afford the rent of your apartment. I saw retired people who had to move to smaller worse apartments or ask for social housing or shelters. I think life here is not as rosy as people in the third world think. What is worse is: I think the government and politicians in Germany do not care much about this problem, or act as if there is no poor people in Germany at all. Politicians in Germany are rather busy with saving the Earth, recycling and cutting CO2 as their main mission… helping the poor or the middle class in Germany comes as second priority.”
“From the US here and about to start my first job out of college in Germany. I’m going there for the quality of life, I don’t care that I can make more here — if I die tomorrow the extra savings means nothing, but a strong welfare/healthcare system, fewer stupid people, better infrastructure, lower crime rates, better work culture, decent politicians, beautiful nature and architecture, etc. will have made me enjoy my life every day. I want that peace of mind and I can’t get that here. Everything is fundamentally messed up here and nothing will change in a meaningful way anytime soon.”