German and Dutch works councils: A trust theory of legal employee voice

Abstract German and Dutch law grant works councils (WoCs) a significant role in company affairs, accompanied by the obligation to act in the organization's overall interest. However, is this sufficient to ensure meaningful WoC involvement in practical organizational decision‐making? We use the well‐emphasized concept of trust from the voluntary employment voice literature as a foundation for exploring how managerial goodwill translates into employment relations regimes with strict mandatory employee voice elements. We take two cases of strict employee voice systems as our litmus test: Germany... Mehr ...