FAQ works council election

A works council represents the interests of employees within the company and can negotiate with the employer on their behalf. For this, it has rights that are enshrined in the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG) and which the employer is not allowed to ignore. These rights are known as co-determination rights. That’s why, when talking about works councils, people often refer to “company co-determination”.

Which employees are elected to the works council is decided by the workers themselves in regular works council elections (every 4 years).

The works council has various tasks within the company. One of the most important is to ensure that the rights of employees under laws, regulations, accident prevention rules, collective agreements and company agreements are observed.

It also represents the interests of staff to the employer and takes up suggestions from the workforce, passing these on to the employer.

Additionally, the works council ensures and promotes gender equality, the compatibility of family and work, employment within the company, occupational health and safety measures, environmental protection in the workplace, the integration of severely disabled and other especially vulnerable people, employment of older workers, the integration of foreign employees, and initiatives against racism and xenophobia in the workplace.

The election will take place on 17 March (09:00–17:00) and 18 March (09:00–16:00) directly in the polling station on the ground floor of the new building. If you’re not in the office on these days or don’t want to wait, you can also apply for a postal vote. To do so, simply send an email with your name and postal address to brwahl-2026.betriebsrat-berlin@db.com. You will then receive the election information and the documents for postal voting.

All employees of the company who are at least 16 years old are entitled to vote. This also includes apprentices, interns, temporary or part-time workers, casual staff and agency workers, provided they have been, or are intended to be, employed for longer than 3 months in the company.

Any employee who is at least 18 years old and has been with the company, the business, or the group for at least 6 months can stand for election. Members of the election committee can also be candidates.

The larger a company is, the more works council members can be elected. In our case, we can elect 33 members. To simplify the election process, the law allows so-called electoral lists. This makes the election much easier, because you only have to put a cross next to the list whose members and election programme you support.

Without this system, 33 individual names would have to be marked and counted, which, with almost 6,000 employees, would take a long time to count. Additionally, electoral lists have the advantage that they can represent all areas of the company well, regardless of whether they are small or large departments, men or women, and also many nationalities from the company.

The list with the most votes provides the majority of works council members. That’s why it’s so important for as many people as possible to take part in the election so that we get the best possible works council for everyone.

The difference between the two lists is that our list works closely with a strong trade union, namely ver.di.

For us, the future is what counts most, which is why our list is a mix of experienced works council members and younger colleagues. We stand up for job security – especially for healthy working conditions. It is particularly important to us that everyone has the same rights, no matter whether you work full-time, part-time, in a branch or in the office. We support our colleagues and are a reliable contact for you in any situation.

Within a company, a works council represents the interests of employees to the employer. It negotiates, among other things, binding company agreements. The works council is elected by the employees from among themselves.

A trade union, on the other hand, is not tied to a single company but is responsible for one or more sectors. There, the union represents the interests of employees and, for example, negotiates collective agreements that then apply to employees in the respective sector. Anyone can become a member of a trade union. Most members are employees, but pensioners, students or jobseekers can also join.

When works councils are established, trade unions often support this process (as is the case with our List 2).