BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Bundestag has unanimously passed an amendment to the law that provides clear rules for the remuneration of works councils. With the amendment to the so-called Works Constitution Act, the Federal Government is eliminating legal uncertainties and strengthening works councils in Germany, said Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) on Friday during the final plenary debate.

The background to this is a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on January 10 of last year, which led to great uncertainty in some companies with regard to the payment of works council members.

-councillors. The BGH had acquitted

former personnel managers of the VW automotive group, which the Braunschweig Regional Court had previously overturned. The case concerned the question of whether the VW managers had approved excessive salaries for senior employee representatives over a period of years. For example, former works council chairman Bernd Osterloh had received more than 700,000 euros in some years.

Unlike their colleagues in Braunschweig, the supreme judges did not consider it impossible that the four former decision-makers at Volkswagen could have been guilty of deliberate embezzlement as a result of the high payments to works council members. The core argument of this assessment was that even for senior works council members, only the level at which employees with comparable tasks were paid at the beginning of their respective activities could be used as a benchmark for remuneration.

Following the BGH ruling, several companies had reduced the remuneration of their works councils out of concern about legal consequences - which in turn led to several lawsuits being brought before labor courts by affected works councils.

According to Labor Minister Heil, the amendment to the law should prevent such uncertainty from arising in future. Members of parliament from the CDU/CSU also praised the change, but criticized, among other things, that it had taken so long to pass the law.

FDP MP Carl-Julius Cronenberg called the issue of paying works councils "tricky". Payment must be structured in such a way that they are neither tempted to side with the employer nor disadvantaged by their work, explained Cronenberg. This balance would be strengthened by the change in the law.

The Works Constitution Act already stipulates that works council members may not be disadvantaged or favored because of their work. This also applies to their professional development and pay. The amendment to the law now also stipulates a minimum remuneration entitlement. In future, the remuneration of works council members may not be lower than the remuneration of employees with a comparable career in the company./faa/DP/jha