The next regular Works Council elections will take place in 2026. Companies with complex organisational and operational structures may have difficulties when preparing the voters’ lists. In its judgment dated 22 May 2025 (7 ABR 28/24), the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) clarified that company-internal matrix managers, i.e. managers within one company who manage employees in multiple establishments may be entitled to vote in several establishments.
Starting position
The question of which establishment matrix managers belong to has been dealt with by the case law of the BAG for many years. In 2019, the BAG first determined that for an employee to be integrated into an establishment in terms of section 99 of the German Works Council Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz, BetrVG), it is sufficient for the employee to (functionally) manage the employees of that establishment (BAG, judgment dated 22/10/2019 – 1 ABR 13/18). In companies with matrix organisations this regularly results in these managers being integrated into two or more establishments. Their ‘main establishment’ is where the manager has their regular workspace and all other establishments are those where the manager carries out management tasks. As per the ruling of the BAG, this integration into multiple establishments does not only result in the involvement of Work Councils of multiple establishments when implementing individual staff measures, but also means that the managers in question are entitled to vote in the Works Council elections for multiple establishments.
Facts of the matter
The defendant employed around 2,600 employees in five establishments. In addition to 498 employees who undisputedly belonged to the South establishment, the voters’ list for the 2022 Works Council election for the South establishment also comprised of 128 managers who, although they managed employees of that establishment, they did not work for this establishment and were contractually assigned to one of the other four establishments.
The employer complained that the Works Council election had been invalidly carried out. It claimed that in also including employees that did not belong to the South establishment, the voters’ list breached section 7 sentence 1 BetrVG.
The employer asserted that the disputed managers were not integrated into the South establishment. If they were permitted to take part in this Works Council election, the managers would be entitled to vote in multiple establishments. It argued that this multiple right to vote infringed the principle of democracy and was therefore invalid.
Both the Stuttgart Labour Court (Arbeitsgericht, ArbG) and the Baden-Württemberg Regional Labour Court (Landesarbeitsgericht, LAG) ruled in favour of the defendant and restricted the voting rights of matrix managers in multiple establishments. The Baden-Württemberg LAG (judgment dated 13/06/2024 – 3 TaBV 1/24) justified its decision in that the integration of an employee in terms of section 99 BetrVG should be assessed differently than in relation to Works Council voting rights in accordance with section 7 sentence 1 BetrVG. It held that an employee who was integrated into multiple establishments could only be entitled to vote in one of these establishments.
Decision of the BAG dated 22 May 2025
The BAG reversed this decision with its ruling dated 22 May 2025 and clarified that the right to vote in accordance with section 7 sentence 1 BetrVG is linked to an employee’s integration into one or multiple establishments. It continued its case law on the integration of matrix managers into an establishment and held that the matrix managers could be classed as employees of multiple establishments in the context of Works Council elections as well.
This applies, at the least, to matrix managers who work in an internal company matrix organisation, i.e. a matrix organisation that is solely made up of establishments from one company.
Practical consequences
This decision has had a direct effect on upcoming Works Council elections. Matrix managers who are already eligible to vote in another establishment of the employer may also be taken into consideration when preparing voters’ lists. This should be taken into consideration by employers organised in appropriate matrix structures who support the production of the voters’ list accordance with section 2 (2) of the Electoral Regulations (Wahlordnung, (WO).
It should be noted that the BAG has not yet carried over its recent case law on the integration of matrix managers in relation to company-wide matrix organisations, i.e. matrix organisations comprised of establishments from multiple companies. As matrix managers in such company-wide matrix structures often manage employees from establishments in which they themselves are not subject to the orders of the proprietor, there is no integration in these cases in terms of section 99 BetrVG according to the recent case law of the BAG. In practice, this subtle but important difference is frequently overlooked. Whether this will continue to be the case and will stand in the way of matrix managers’ right to vote in Works Council elections in company-wide matrix organisations will be revealed by the further development of case law.
