Temporary Employment and Industrial Codetermination

Abstract

This article reports on the findings of a research project conducted at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in 2002-2006 and supported by the Hans Boeckler Foundation and the Federal Employment Agency on companies' practices in and contexts of temporary employment. Within the framework of the IAB Establishment Panel, 16,000 companies were surveyed on temporary employment through standardized interviews. Parallel hereto, about 100 short qualitative case studies in 80 establishments employing temporary workers and 20 personnel-leasing establishments were conducted in 2004-2005. The investigation shows that employees in the temporary work sector are far less often able than employees in similarly-sized companies of other industries to exercise the rights they are entitled to by the Law on Labour Relations at the Workplace (BetrVG). Summing up the findings of the study, the author asserts that codetermination at company level does not yet seem well established for temporary workers; this holds both for establishments employing temporary staff and staff-leasing establishments. 'Obviously, industrial democracy does not apply to the same extent for all groups of employees; in extraordinary situations such as temporary employment, formal rights of participation obviously cannot be transferred into actual possibilities of participation'. (IAB)

Cite article

Promberger, M. (2009): Leiharbeit und betriebliche Mitbestimmung. In: Industrielle Beziehungen, Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 192-194.