A recent ruling held that the works council cannot require
an employer to communicate with it in German, as long as the
employer ensures that both sides can understand each other
clearly.
Can the works council require an employer to only speak to it in
German? Does the works council have a right to ‘simple'
communication with the employer? Can the works council impose its
ideas about the ‘right' company language on an
employer? A recent decision by the Nuremberg Labour Court provides
some clarification.
What was the background to the decision?
An international fashion company with 80 branches and
approximately 4,500 employees in Germany employed a branch manager
in Nuremberg who hardly spoke any German. The employer did not have
any guidelines regarding language use in the company. Among other
things, the branch manager had conducted job interviews and
personnel discussions in English. In addition, the short daily
staff meetings were conducted in English when
