News from the Central Works Council (Inside NWO-I January 2020)

New NWO Implementing Regulations

Following negotiations between the Central Works Council (COR) delegation and the employer, agreement has been reached on almost all of the Implementing Regulations (IR). During the meeting between the Executive Board representative and the COR on 10 December 2019, the Implementing Regulations with the exception of IR 1 (Commuting expenses) and IR 4 (Study facilities) were approved.

In the new Implementing Regulations that apply with effect from 1 January 2020, most of the regulations remain virtually unchanged. A new aspect is that for the handling of objections and complaints against personnel decisions there is now a single complaints regulation. The remuneration for computer screen glasses has been increased from 250 to 300 euros and the editing of various regulations has also been improved.

With regards to IR 1 and IR 4, we will hold new negotiations with the Executive Board representative with the aim of retrospectively introducing the modified regulations with effect from 1 July 2020.

Request for advice New Financial System for NWO institutes

The COR has received a request for advice about the implementation of a New Financial System (NFS) at all NWO institutes. In addition to this, an information meeting was organised for the COR and all local works councils. During this meeting, the need for and use of a single financial system for all institutes was further underlined. The COR intends to respond positively to this request for advice. However, there are several aspects which we think require attention. For example, the risk analysis with respect to implementing the new system is not yet complete.

COR misses a BUW colleague

Unfortunately, no BUW employees registered for the COR elections. This means that the BUW colleagues are not directly represented in the co-determination. Of course, the COR will also try to represent the interests of these colleagues, but this will be more difficult without any BUW members in the COR. Therefore we will work with a permanent COR contact person for the BUW employees. We will announce who this is via the NWO-I website on the COR page.