Following the decision to close the Zalando location in Erfurt, the management of the online fashion retailer is aiming to reach an agreement in May on a social plan and reconciliation of interests for the employees. A spokesman for the company said that there had been some discussions with the works council, but no negotiations had yet taken place. In order to take this dialogue into the next phase, Zalando applied to the Erfurt Labor Court to set up a conciliation board.
The arbitration committee should help, together with the employee representatives, to create clarity for the workforce as quickly as possible: “Even if we still do not see a realistic scenario for Zalando to continue operating the site, we are convinced that this path will quickly provide a reliable basis for personal future planning for the employees,” said the company.
Conciliation body is supposed to moderate negotiations
In this case, the discussions and negotiations regarding a viable balance of interests and a balanced social plan are moderated and accompanied by a neutral chairman. The decision of the conciliation board is binding for both sides.
The works council could not initially be reached for comment. In mid-February, the works council announced a questionnaire to use the data to discuss alternatives to the end of the logistics center.
Zalando’s Erfurt logistics center with 2,700 employees is scheduled to be completely closed at the end of September. In addition to advice from the employment agency directly at the location and internal job exchanges, there was a first job fair last week with more than 80 interested companies from the region. According to the company, 1,100 employees obtained information about career prospects.
