Works council entitlement to a smartphone - always a question of the individual case
The claim exists in any case if a company has several branch offices and employs many night and shift workers so that the works council chairman can be reached.
In the specific case, the works council demanded that the employer provide a smartphone along with a protective cover, number, network connection and internet access. The employer operates a hospital which, in addition to the head office where the works council has its office, has a total of four branch offices between 3 and 20 km away.
However, as the court emphasized, whether there is a right to a smartphone with an internet connection is always a question of the individual case. The works council has a margin of discretion when it comes to the question of whether or not such a device is necessary for the performance of the works council's duties. When exercising this leeway, the works council must take into account the operational circumstances, its statutory areas of responsibility and the interests of the employer - including its cost interests - and must not place its subjective needs in the foreground.
The LAG also found that a works council member is not obliged to use his own equipment for works council work and that the temporary use of a loaned laptop offered by the employer for external appointments is inadequate, as the works council chairman cannot use it to make telephone calls.