Germany Archives - Page 37 of 108

The environmental impact assessment

German law requires major projects to be assessed for their effects on a defined list of protected interests — human health, animals, plants, soil, water, air, climate, landscape, cultural heritage — before approval.

The procedure has named stages in statute: screening, scoping to fix the range of what will be examined, the report itself, authority participation, public participation, cross-border participation where relevant, a summary presentation, a reasoned evaluation, and monitoring afterwards.

The assessment is not a separate permission. It runs inside the approval procedure, which means no German authority can decide the project without first having decided the width of the question.

The works meeting

German law requires the works council to convene a works meeting of all employees once every calendar quarter and report on its activities. At least once a year the employer must report to that meeting on staffing, the financial position and trends of the establishment, and environmental protection.

Where the employer or a quarter of the eligible employees request it, the works council must convene a meeting and put the requested matter on the agenda.

A statutory forum exists in which the workforce assembles, the employer accounts for himself, and anyone may put a subject on the table.

The conciliation hearing

Before a German employment dispute reaches a full hearing, the labour court holds a conciliation hearing — the Güteverfahren — presided over by the judge alone, whose function is to bring the parties to a settlement. Roughly half of all German labour disputes end there. The system builds a stage before the dispute becomes a dispute.

The prudence principle

Das Vorsichtsprinzip. Section 252 of the German Commercial Code requires that valuation be made prudently. Losses and risks are recognised as soon as they become probable. Profits are recognised only once realised. The principle exists to protect creditors, and it traces back to the first all-German Commercial Code of 1861.

The German balance sheet is built to understate.

Short-time work

Kurzarbeit. When demand collapses, a German employer cuts hours rather than jobs, and the state pays workers around 60 percent of the wages lost — more for those with children.

A work-sharing scheme was first used by German miners as early as 1910. It flourished under the Weimar Republic, was written into employment promotion law by 1969, and was used again during reunification. In mid-2009 over 1.4 million workers and 63,000 employers were in it. In 2020 a study attributed 2.2 million saved jobs to it.

The IMF calls it the gold standard. The country built a permanent institution whose purpose is to make redundancy unnecessary.

The standard

A German standard is written before the work, by a committee, from first principles and agreed requirements — and then applied. DIN maintains tens of thousands of them. The standard is not a record of what has been found to work. It is a specification of what shall be done, issued in advance.

The binding offer

Under German law, whoever proposes a contract to another is bound by that proposal — unless he has expressly excluded the binding. The provision is § 145 BGB.

The default is commitment. Once the offer has reached the other side it cannot be withdrawn, and the recipient can bring the contract into existence by saying yes.

A German who makes an offer has already given something away.

Making it objective again

Versachlichen. A German verb meaning to make a discussion objective again — to return it to the matter after it has drifted toward the people. Wir sollten die Diskussion versachlichen. It is said as a correction, and the person who says it is claiming the higher ground.

Registering concerns

German construction law places a duty on the contractor: where he has concerns about the intended method of execution, about materials supplied by the client, or about the work of other trades, he must notify the client immediately and in writing, and preferably before starting. The provision is § 4 Abs. 3 VOB/B.

Doing so releases him from liability for defects arising from those points. Failing to do so leaves him liable for consequential damage he did not cause.

The obligation runs the wrong way for a contractor’s own interest, and it is the law.

Mike says “no”

Bonn. An online chat with the help desk at a major telecommunications company. It's about my mobile phone service.

German Company: "A hearty welcome to your personal online help, etc. You are speaking with Mike."

Magee: "Hi, Mike. I have an xyz contract. Can I add my 17-year old son to it?

Mike: "No. You son can only have his own contract after he turns 18."

That "No" struck me as rather direct, hard, immovable.

An "American Mike" would have written something like: "We would love to add your son to your contract. And we have all sorts of flexible ways for you to configure your family plan. To give your son, at age 17, his own contract is unfortunately not permitted by law. We apologize for the inconvenience. Would you like to hear about our family plan options?"

But the chat with Mike continued and he gave me helpful information and quickly. I was thankful.