Germany’s Federal Labor Court Rules That Unions Do Not Have Digital Rights Access to Company Systems

Quick Hits

• In a landmark decision, Germany’s Federal Labor Court ruled on January 28, 2025, that employers are not required to grant trade unions digital access to company systems, including email and intranet.
• The court balanced the fundamental rights of unions, employers, and employees, concluding that the employer’s and employees’ interests in data protection and business freedom prevail.
• The decision confirms that unions’ existing rights to access physical premises for outreach are sufficient, and there is no legal basis for digital access rights.

Conflicting Interests

In the specific case, a trade union demanded that a sporting goods manufacturer disclose all business email addresses of approximately 5,400 employees and grant access to the intranet to recruit potential members. The union sought to expand its outreach. The company sought to protect its economic freedom and its employees’ data protection rights.

Lower courts had already dismissed the claim, and the union also lost before the BAG.

The Decision

The BAG clarified that employers are not obliged to hand over employees’ business email addresses to the union. The judges in Erfurt (seat of the BAG) conducted a broad balancing of the fundamental rights of all parties. The goal was to achieve the least intrusive reconciliation of the respective rights. In essence, the BAG reasoned as follows:

• Union outreach rights: Article 9(3) of the German Constitution (Grundgesetz, “GG”) guarantees a union’s right to take measures to recruit members. Using company email addresses could, in principle, fall under this right.
• Countervailing rights: These interests must be weighed against the employer’s and employees’ rights. These include the company’s freedom to conduct business (Article 12 GG), property rights in its IT infrastructure (Article 14 GG), and employees’ right to informational self‑determination (Article 2 in conjunction with Article 1 GG).
• Operational burden and disruption: In a large company with over 5,000 employees, disclosing and continuously updating email lists would create significant organizational effort and would interfere with entrepreneurial freedom. Regular mass emails could disrupt operations and strain IT systems. The BAG also considered the risk that employees might engage with union content during working hours.

The BAG further emphasized that the existing right of unions to access physical premises for outreach is sufficient. Most employees still spend the majority of their working time on site and can be reached there by unions.

Conclusion

There is no legal basis that requires employers to grant unions access to company IT systems. The fundamental right to freedom of association under Article 9(3) GG does not create such a claim because the employer’s and employees’ interests prevail.

With this consistent and fundamental decision, the BAG provides clarity and confirms that unions have no digital access right to company systems.

Ogletree Deakins’ Berlin and Munich offices and Cross-Border Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will post updates on the Cross-Border and Germany blogs as additional information becomes available.

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