Employment Law
From dpa/tmn
December 18, 2023, 5:02 a.m. Reading time: 1 minute Updated on December 18, 2023, 3:45 p.m
ILLUSTRATION – If you do not agree with the minutes of the annual meeting, you do not have to sign them.
Photo: Zacharie Scheurer/dpa-tmn
Berlin (dpa/tmn). How has the performance been in the past few months, what problems were there, what went particularly well, what went less well – and what are the future goals? All of this is often discussed in companies in so-called annual discussions with employees. But when do supervisors have to record these conversations and present them to employees for signature?
There are no legal regulations regarding this. In many companies, however, there are regulations in employment contracts or company agreements for conducting annual reviews.
“These also regulate formal requirements such as recording and signatures in great detail,” says labor law specialist Alexander Bredereck. “In this case, the specifications are binding.”
Signed protocols have evidential character
If such regulations are missing, the annual meeting does not necessarily have to be recorded. In any case, the following applies: Employees should only sign protocols if they consider them to be correct. Because once signed, protocols have the character of evidence. What is recorded there is considered agreed.
This can play a role when it comes to bonus payments or promotions. The protocols can also theoretically be used to assess your own performance in your job reference.
“If the employer writes in the minutes: We agree that the performance is 75 percent fulfilled. And I believe I have fulfilled them 100 percent. Then I shouldn’t sign it,” said Bredereck. “Otherwise it has evidentiary value and then I have a hard time getting away from it.”
No obligation to sign
“But there is no obligation to sign a protocol that is untrue,” affirms the labor lawyer.
If they refuse to sign the minutes of the annual meeting, employees do not have to expect any consequences under labor law: a refused signature under the minutes is not a valid reason for termination. The only thing you should keep in mind is: “In a small business, the employer can of course always dismiss me. He doesn’t need a reason for that,” says Bredereck. “But the question is whether appropriate protocols are even kept in small businesses. That’s usually not the case.”
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2023-12-18 19:43:24
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