The influence of employee representatives on the supervisory boards of the large German listed companies is waning - albeit at a high level.

The number of companies that are subject to equal participation, i.e. in which the supervisory board consists of employee representatives and half of the shareholders, has fallen in recent years.

This can be seen in both the leading index Dax and the M-Dax.

Tillmann Neuscheler

Editor in business.

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    While all 30 DAX companies were co-determined six years ago, there are currently only 26, according to an analysis by HR consultancy Russell Reynolds. If the Dax 30 is increased to 40 companies as planned in the fall, the proportion of co-determined companies is likely to fall further, according to the consulting company's analysis. If the currently named candidates actually move up in the leading index, ten companies - that is, a quarter of the 40 DAX companies then - would no longer fall under parity co-determination. In the M-Dax, according to the personnel consultants, the proportion of non-co-determined companies has risen from 24 to 43 percent today.

    There are various reasons for this: Some companies such as Vonovia or Deutsche Wohnen are now trading as European Stock Corporation SE after a change in legal form and are therefore no longer fully subject to the strict German Codetermination Act if they were not subject to codetermination when they were founded.

    Others - such as Linde, Airbus and Qiagen - are based abroad.

    Subsidiaries of co-determined parent companies are also not subject to parity co-determination.

    This applies to Fresenius Medical Care and Siemens Healthineers, for example.

    The quota of women on the executive board only applies to companies with co-determination

    The whole thing will in future also have consequences for the quota of women on boards of large companies, which the Bundestag recently decided. It only applies to companies with equal co-determination. HR consultant Thomas Tomkos from Russell Reynolds therefore warns that the German model of co-determination could be "creeping out".

    Union representatives have been arguing similarly for a long time. There is a threat of "erosion" of corporate co-determination, warns the German Trade Union Federation (DGB). The "loopholes to avoid co-determination" would have to be closed. According to the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation, more than 300 companies in Germany with a total of at least two million employees are now withdrawing from equal participation. The SPD member of the Bundestag Cansel Kiziltepe complained in a guest article in the FAZ a few months ago that too many companies could undermine codetermination through “loopholes” in the law. It demands that the change in legal form - namely the conversion of a German stock corporation into a European stock corporation (SE) - should not be used toto shake off or bypass co-determination in companies.

    Meanwhile, employers are defending themselves against the alleged escape. It is quite normal and politically wanted that other legal forms of companies are permitted in this country in addition to the German company forms, according to employers. With new legal forms such as the European stock corporation SE, companies and investments should also be attracted or held to Germany that are located elsewhere. Co-determination remains an interference with property rights that must be justified. But it is not about the fundamental question of codetermination yes or no. It is about shaping participation appropriately. To this end, employers propose agreement solutions - especially for companies with so-called parity co-determination.which would do better justice to the wishes of employees and shareholders than rigid legal regulations.  

    The employers had fought against equal participation for a long time, but the great trench warfare was decades ago. They have meanwhile come to terms with the German special way of equal participation, but want to make it more flexible.