Annual checklist: does your works council tick all 10 boxes?

Publication date 29 February 2024

How is your works council performing this year? As a works council, do you have many requests for advice and consent? Do the legally required consultation meetings with the company take place? Use our brief checklist to assess your cooperation with the company.

Consultation meetings

Do at least two consultation meetings take place in which the general course of business of the company is discussed? Does the company provide information about the company’s activities and results? Plus expectations or the corporate vision and strategy for 2024, so that you, as works council, can look ahead with the company?
Before a meeting, after an agenda has been set, do you determine which topics have priority for you as a works council, what role the works council would like to take on and when the involvement of the works council would be desirable?
Has the company provided you with the financial information for the past year or has the company informed you when it will do so?
Do you draw up minutes following the consultation meeting so that they can be referred to afterwards? Has a short report of the consultation meeting been prepared and shared with the constituency?

Requests for advice and consent

Are you as works council informed in good time by the company about decisions requiring advice and consent that it is preparing? Are agreements made about when and how the works council will be involved in the decision-making process, so that you as works council are not taken by surprise by an unexpected request?
Have you ever called in an expert regarding subjects that are not the specialist area as a works council, so that you can still seriously represent the interests of all employees by making a well-considered and informed decision?

Other

Have you, as a works council, attended any substantial (legal) training? And in addition to that, possibly a team building activity?
Are your works council regulations still up to date?
Do you as a works council use the right of initiative to introduce your own topics during consultation meetings? And have you investigated the views of your members on a particular development or current topic prior to the consultation meeting, so that this can be discussed during the meeting?
Are you as a works council also concerned with green working conditions, sustainability and care for the environment by the company? This is a legal obligation for the works council (article 28 Works Councils Act).

Employment lawyer on the works council

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