Digital access rights for unions curtailed by Federal Labour Court

At a glance

• The Federal Labour Court ruled that employers are not obligated to provide unions with the email addresses of their employees for membership recruitment.
• In the relevant case, the Higher Labour Court of Nuremberg dismissed the union's lawsuit, stating that the requested access to communication systems constituted unauthorised data processing and lacked a legal basis, as employees had not consented to the disclosure of their email addresses.
• The Federal Labour Court confirmed this decision, emphasising that the transmission of company email addresses would significantly impair the employer's constitutionally guaranteed economic freedom.

On 28 January 2025, the Federal Labour Court ruled that employers are not obliged to provide trade unions with their employees‘ work e-mail addresses for the purpose of recruiting members. This gives employers certainty when dealing with trade union requests for digital access rights and sets clear limits to the freedom of association guaranteed by Art. 9 para. 3 of the German Constitution (Grundgesetz).

Facts of the case

A company with several thousand employees, which is part of a global corporation, allows its employees to work remotely or from home for about 40% of their working hours. Internal communication takes place mainly via work email addresses, an internal company app and the group-wide intranet. A trade union requested access to these communication systems for the purpose of recruiting members, including the provision of all company e-mail addresses and a link to the trade union website on the intranet landing page.

Decision of the court

In the relevant case, the Higher Labour Court of Nuremberg dismissed the union's claim, stating that the requested access to communication systems constituted unauthorised data processing and lacked a legal basis, as employees had not consented to the disclosure of their email addresses.

The Federal Labour Court upheld this decision. It emphasised that the disclosure of company e-mail addresses was not covered by the freedom of association and would significantly interfere with the employer's freedom to conduct business. There was also no right to use the company's internal app, as this would unreasonably interfere with the employer's interests. The request to link the union's page on the intranet was also rejected.

Conclusion

The Federal Labour Court's decision is of great practical relevance in the digital age and provides legal certainty in a controversial legal matter. The Federal Labour Court has also set out the constitutional limits for statutory provisions, such as those envisaged in the draft bill of the Tariftreuegesetz (Law on collective bargaining agreements). It remains to be seen whether the new federal government to be elected on 23 February 2025 will make a second attempt to introduce a digital access right for trade unions.