Background information

Government's pandemic responses created both opportunities and challenges for medical products and services company B. Braun Melsungen AG. As governments and private actors around the world started to purchase more medical products to avoid and treat infections with COVID-19, the company had to increase production in some product lines while preventing infections among employees and implementing government regulation with regards to social distancing. The company works council and management set up a crisis management team, drawing on experience gained during the SARS pandemic of 2002, and negotiated changes in working arrangements.

Content of measure

The company producing medical equipment had to satisfy higher demand from costumers and prevent infection hot spots among employees. Management and the works council agreed a package of measures aiming to simultaneously increase parts of the production and workers' safety. A new system of working in shifts enabled employees to reduce their number of contacts and maintain social distancing. The employer supports digital meetings and also recognises the results of digital works council meetings. The agreement also includes measures for a flexible organisation of work and for business travels. The measures are temporary and are constantly reviewed and amended in reflection of rapidly changing government regulations.

Use of measure

The measures helped protect workers health and ensure the production of medicine technology in times of increasing demand. In November 2020, the company works council received the prestigious German Works Council Award (Deutscher Betriebsrätepreis), which is awarded annually by German publisher Bund Verlag.

Contents

• Health and safety
• Telework
• 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	Companies

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	Not applicable	Not applicable

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

1. This is a company-level initiative. Company management reached an agreement on working arrangements together with the company works council, which represents all employees.
2. Social partners outside the company were not directly involved. Members of the works council are members of IG BCE.
3. The employer bears the cost of measures.

Views and reactions

The trade union IG BCE presented the company practices at B. Braun AG as a best-practice example to the jury of the German Works Councils Award in 2020.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 01 November 2020: Case 1582 Press article German Works Councils Award (www.bund-verlag.de)
• 07 April 2023: Corona protection measure (www.bundesregierung.de)