The costs arising from the activities of the works council are borne in accordance with Section 40 Para. 1 BetrVG of the employer. This also includes expenses for the necessary involvement of experts in accordance with Section 80 Paragraph. 3 BetrVG. According to this provision, the works council can – after further agreement with the employer – call in an expert when carrying out its tasks, to the extent that this is necessary for the proper fulfillment of its tasks. According to a resolution of the Seventh Senate of November 16, 2005 (- 7 ABR 12/05 -), the statutory tasks of the works council according to Section 80 Para. 1 No. 1 BetrVG also to monitor the provisions contained in standard employment contracts for their compatibility with the requirements of the Evidence Act and with the law of the general terms and conditions.
The monitoring right does not include a review of expediency, but only a legal review of the contractual clauses contained in the form employment contracts. It is limited to checking whether, in the opinion of an objective third party, there is an overwhelming probability that the existing contractual clauses meet the requirements set by the law and the relevant supreme court case law. If there are no supreme court decisions, the previous case law of the lower courts must be taken into account. If this is also missing, the assessment must be made taking into account the opinions expressed in the labor law literature.
The involvement of an expert for this examination is only necessary if the works council first uses all sources of knowledge available to it to acquire the necessary knowledge. The works council must first seek clarification from the employer about the open questions and use the opportunities offered by the employer to obtain information from specialists in the company or company. With regard to the content of formal employment contracts, this is clear from Section 80 Para. 1 No. 1 BetrVG of the works council is sufficient if it can recognize, based on its own knowledge or knowledge provided by the employer, that the contractual clauses are at least viewed as justifiable.