The revolution at Sixt in Frankfurt fails: In the branch of the car rental company at the airport, employees had tried to set up a works council, it would have been the first in the entire company.

But Sixt subsequently fired three of these employees without notice - and two of these dismissals have now been confirmed by the Frankfurt Labor Court.

The company has argued in court that employees rented higher-end vehicles to friends and family at discounted car prices.

With similar justification, Sixt had also fired those employees at Düsseldorf Airport who wanted to organize a works council election.

There, however, the company lost before the labor court.

Falk Heunemann

Business editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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By the end of May, works councils will again be elected nationwide, which will then have a four-year influence on who is hired or how working hours, bonus payments and bonuses are regulated in principle.

In addition, works councils in large companies send their own representatives to the supervisory board, which appoints and monitors managing directors.

95 percent of small businesses without a works council

The Sixt case is unusual and at the same time typical of how companies deal with the issue of co-determination of employees.

What is unusual about the conflict in the stock exchange company with almost 700 employees is that works councils have long been part of everyday management in the majority of large companies with at least 500 employees: employee representatives exist in 85 percent of all large companies, as figures from the IAB, the research institute of the Federal Employment Agency, show.

They have the highest degree of organization in companies in the energy sector and in industry, but also in banks and insurance companies.

On the other hand, employees, especially in restaurants, hotels, haulage companies or security services, often have no representation, be it due to a lack of interest, lack of time or fear of being disadvantaged.

Only five percent of all small businesses have a works council.

It can be set up with just five employees.

On average, every second employee across all sectors and company sizes has a works council - that would be around 1.3 million in Hesse.

At the same time, the Sixt case is typical because resistance to the establishment of works councils is particularly high in family businesses.

Not every boss will like the fact that owners can no longer make decisions on their own in their company, but should involve their employees.

The fear of supposed resistance from employees is hardly justified, says Hans-Joachim Rosenbaum, Hessian regional manager of the IG BAU trade union: "Where there are already works councils, employers have come to terms with them." Bosses are difficult, especially where there are there is still no employee representation and where the managers have not yet gained any experience with co-determination.

Voter turnout crucial for negotiation weight

Scientists from the independent Social Research Center Berlin also point out that, according to their analysis of 190 listed companies, works councils do no harm and that significantly more is invested in these companies.

That seems understandable: After all, works councils consist of employees who have a self-interest in the preservation and growth of their company.

But especially in companies with at least 50 and a maximum of 500 employees, the number of works councils has dropped significantly: After reunification, almost three quarters of the employees in medium-sized companies still had an organized employee representation, currently there are still around half.

The Frankfurt IG Metall representative Michael Erhardt expects that the turnout in the works council elections will be significantly lower this year.

"It's a consequence of the pandemic," he suspects.

Because administrative employees in particular are still working from home and are therefore difficult to reach for electoral boards.

After all, virtual works meetings have been established since the lockdowns, in which candidates can introduce themselves and home office employees can dial in from home.

A high turnout is important in order to give works councils more bargaining power, which will have a say in restructuring and job cuts at car manufacturers and suppliers in the coming years.

Among other things, he demands

that digital voting will also be possible with the next legal reform – so far it has only been permitted on paper.

IG-BAU trade unionist Rosenbaum also noticed the effects of corona on voter turnout - but in the other direction: when many employers imposed short-term short-time work during the pandemic, this suddenly meant considerable wage losses for many employees.

"Employees realized what could happen to them in times of crisis."