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On 8 January 2020, the employment tribunal in Oldenburg ruled on the travel expenses of a German EWC representative of Mayr-Melnhof Packaging. The central management of the Austrian company had announced in April 2019 that in the future it would only finance plenary meetings and no longer any select committee meetings. The EWC representative from the Delmenhorst plant therefore requested local management to reimburse his travel expenses to the select committee meeting in Vienna in May 2019.
When the plant management refused to do so, legal proceedings were initiated. The German EWC Act stipulates in Art. 16-2 in conjunction with Art. 39 -1 that in addition to the central management abroad, a German employer is also jointly and severally liable. The Oldenburg employment tribunal therefore ordered the German subsidiary to reimburse the travel expenses. The judgment is final. This is the first ever court ruling passed in Germany on this question, and a second case is currently pending before the Triers employment tribunal. There is also a court case in Austria on this question of principle
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1-2020
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