Background information

Germany's political measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have hit the countries hotel sector hard. International travel restrictions - followed by national travel restrictions and then a nation-wide accommodation ban - dramatically reduced the number of guests in hotels. The works council and management at Steigenberger Hotel Frankfurt Airport were looking for feasible local arrangements to cushion the effect of the public health measures on employment and wages.

Content of measure

The local works council and management agreed to distribute short-term work equally across employees. Management also agreed to ensure that no employee would face more than a 20 percent reduction in their salary. Given existing low wage levels in the sector, and sky-rocketing sectoral unemployment during the pandemic, these measures were aimed at preventing social hard ship. The local practice prevented forced lay-offs and ensured that all employees received at least 80 percent of their pre-pandemic salaries. Negotiating the agreement was particularly difficult given that normal works council meetings were not allowed under social distancing rules.

Use of measure

A Steigenberger hotel works council member stated in an interview in August that the measures would most probably not prevent forced redundancies in case of a second lock-down. Germany entered into a second lock-down in November.

Contents

• Pay freezes or cuts
• Working time flexibility

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Company / Companies	Employees Employer National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	No involvement
Form	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Company level

Involvement

1. The local works council and management reached an agreement.
2. External organisations from the employer or workers' side were not involved.
3. No contribution from social partners outside of the workplace concern.

Views and reactions

No information.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 01 October 2020: Steigenberger Hotel case press article (www.boeckler.de)
• 07 April 2023: Corona protection measures (www.bundesregierung.de)