The German settlement. Most civil and labour disputes end in one, and German judges actively propose terms rather than waiting for the parties to arrive at them. A judgment produces a winner. A Vergleich produces an agreement, and the system prefers the second.
The service path
The service path. The German term for the prescribed sequence through which a matter travels upward. Going around it — am Dienstweg vorbei — is itself a breach, separate from whatever the underlying complaint was.
The complaints body
Die Beschwerdestelle. German equal treatment law requires every employer to designate a body to which employees may bring complaints, and to inform staff that it exists. The route out of a private grievance is provided in advance, by statute.
Works peace
Betriebsfrieden. Works peace. A concept in German labour law: the works council and employer are under a statutory duty to cooperate in a spirit of mutual trust and to refrain from acts that disturb it. Peace inside the firm is a legal object, with duties attached to preserving it.
The written warning
Die Abmahnung. German employment law generally requires a formal written warning before a conduct-based dismissal, stating the behaviour, why it is unacceptable, and what happens if it recurs. The employer cannot escalate directly. The law inserts a step and requires it to be documented.
The ombudsman
German banks, insurers, energy suppliers and public bodies maintain ombudsman schemes: free, binding on the company up to a threshold, and available before any court is approached. A complaint has somewhere to go that is not a lawsuit.
The conciliation board
Die Einigungsstelle. Where a German employer and works council cannot agree on a matter subject to co-determination, either may call a conciliation board — an equal panel with a neutral chair whose decision binds. The deadlock has a named institution attached to it, and using it is normal rather than hostile.
Arbitration before the strike
Schlichtung. German collective bargaining runs through an agreed sequence: negotiation rounds, a declared failure, then arbitration by a neutral chair before any strike. The escalation path exists so that escalating requires passing through something first.
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.
Willing to argue
The dictionary defines streitbar as follows: [constantly] prepared, having the will to, argue, with someone over something, to critically and activelydispute something; to fight for or about something, to take a stand for something or someone, a fighter; [older] prepared for battle; warrior-like, brave.
The adjective streitbar has a very positive connotation in the German language. In recalling famous persons one often reads the sentence Er war streitbar – he was streitbar.
Politicians are ever more frequently characterized as being streitbar. Streitbar does not mean that one seeks out conflicts in a negative sense. Rather, it means to stand up for ones beliefs, and not avoid serious confrontations.