The responsibilities and rights of the staff council are laid out in the Thuringian Employee Representation Act (ThürPersVG), which was amended in January 2019. Important changes are to be found on the GEW homepage, and a document of the Act was released to the public.
The participation of the staff council is addressed specifically in Section 8 of the Act (covering § 66 to § 82 a). There is no English translation available at this time.
In § 68, the general responsibilities of the staff council are described, which also includes:
These responsibilities are based on the legal principles outlined in the following policies/laws:
The Staff Representation Act gives the council a number of participatory rights (§§ 68, 69). The council exercises these rights in close collaboration with the head of the University management. This Act distinguishes between matters of co-determination and matters of consultation.
Co-determination in Germany defines a set of rights that give employees the possibility of actively participating in the shaping of their working environment. This includes legally stipulated co-determination rights, labor agreements devised in conjunction with collective agreements, as well as informal possibilities that have arisen from co-determination practice. Issues related to the right to co-determination inlude, among others, the following:
The administration is required to discuss in detail specific policies, prior to their implementation, with the goal of reaching a timely accommodation, to consider objections made by the staff council seriously, and to explain decisions made over the staff council’s objections. Examples for this procedure include, among others, the following:
Failure to adequately include the participation of the staff council will result in the non-implementation of the proposed policies.
The administration shall inform the staff council concerning specific circumstances such as, among others, the following:
Additional rights to information can be developed on the basis of good-faith cooperation, if they are required for proper administration and the representation of the respective parties’ interests.
The staff council has the right to issue a substantive statement regarding certain policies to the administration and to expect due consideration of its statement. As a rule, consultations will be made in relation to the following:
The right to consultation does not depend on whether the policies will impact the employee’s work requirements or the type of work they perform.
The responsibilities of the staff council also include consulting with university employees. The staff council is ready to schedule personal appointments to consult with and receive grievances from employees.
Universität Erfurt (Campus)
Nordhäuser Str. 63
99089 Erfurt