Court ruling: works council cannot demand that German be spoken

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Employee interviews do not have to be conducted in German - if someone is there to translate

A works council cannot demand that superiors speak to it or to employees exclusively in German. If staff interviews or meetings with employees or works council members are translated, there is no violation of participation rights. This was decided by the Nuremberg Regional Labor Court in a decision published this Wednesday (file number 1 TaBV 33/19).

A works council of a branch of a Spanish clothing company that employs around 4,500 people in 80 stores in Germany had sued. The manager of the branch in question spoke English and Italian, but hardly any German. She conducted personnel and job interviews in English, about which individual employees complained to the works council. At staff meetings, the deputy branch manager or other department head translate for the branch manager, but according to the works council only if the translation was easy for them.

The works council demanded that communication with the branch manager should be in German. Otherwise the co-determination rights of the employee representatives would be violated. These are questions of "the order of the company and the behavior of employees", which are subject to co-determination under the Works Constitution Act.

Interference with entrepreneurial freedom

The defendant employer argued that the works council's request would ultimately mean that only German-speaking employees could be employed as managers. This in turn is an impermissible interference with entrepreneurial freedom and discriminates against the branch manager because of her origin. It also ensures that someone always translates for the branch manager.

The regional labor court followed this line of argument and thereby confirmed a judgment of the Nuremberg labor court, which had decided on the case in the first instance.

When communicating between the employer and the works council, the works council could at best rely on the prohibition contained in the Works Constitution Act, according to which works council work must not be hindered, according to the regional labor court. For example, declarations by the employer in written or text form would at least have to be in German if works council members do not speak the foreign language advocated by the employer. It is crucial that the texts reach the works council in German.

Trustful cooperation with translators is also possible

In the same way, this must also apply to oral statements. In the specific case, however, the employer had ensured that statements by the branch manager and those by works council members were translated. And a trusting cooperation is also possible with translators. The employer cannot require that only German be spoken at employee meetings.

It is not clear, "for what reason the employer should be obliged to speak only in German with employees who speak English well - perhaps even better than German. There are neither comprehensible reasons nor a need for this ", it says in the decision. The works council's motion also goes too far, "because it relates to any communication, including those that directly relate to the performance of the work. Strictly speaking, this would also prohibit the use of English terms that are familiar to the employee concerned There are no corresponding obligations to refrain from or act on the part of the employer. "

vet / jur