Almost half of the employees in Germany were employed in a collective bargaining company last year. The rate is 49 percent, the Federal Statistical Office announced on Friday. What does a collective agreement do? In which sectors and federal states is the collective bargaining coverage how large? Why is Germany only average in the EU? Questions and answers.
What does a collective agreement do?
Companies with a collective agreement often have much more attractive working conditions for their employees: Social benefits such as holiday or Christmas bonuses are part of this, often better earnings, shorter working hours or more codetermination in the company.
For example, according to a study, employees who are not covered by a collective agreement work almost an hour more a week on average and earn around ten percent less. Torsten Schulten from the Institute for Economic and Social Sciences (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation, which is close to the trade union, says there are also non-collective employees who earn significantly more than the wage agreement provides for. But for most employees, employment under a collective agreement has more advantages than disadvantages.
“For those who are not the super-qualified – and that’s the broad masses – for them a collective agreement is definitely better.”
Torsten Schulten, researcher at the WSI
In which sectors and federal states is the collective bargaining coverage how large?
Smaller and newly founded companies in particular often do not have a collective agreement – they are least common in the hospitality industry, in the art and entertainment industry and in agriculture.
At the other end of the scale is – unsurprisingly – public administration with 100% collective bargaining coverage, and the same applies to social insurance. In schools it is a good 80 percent. In Germany, there is a wide gap in how the employees are involved.