In certain countries there are various ways for workers to participate in company governance.

True: reliable sources show that at least two countries have legally or institutionally established ways for workers to take part in company governance (for example, German codetermination with board seats and works councils, or Nordic board representation), and that these mechanisms differ in form. Mostly true: there are such mechanisms in several countries, but they are described loosely. Mixed or mostly false would apply only if such mechanisms exist in just one country, or only nominally. False: no country has any such mechanism.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Rules on staff representation verwaltung.bund.de (German federal administration service portal) · 14 December 2022

   “Employees have the right to elect representatives to the supervisory boards of these companies, where they are able to participate in the company’s decision-making processes.”

2. E2 Rules on staff representation verwaltung.bund.de (German federal administration service portal) · 14 December 2022

   “Employees of companies with 500 or more employees have the right to elect one third of the members of the supervisory board of a share capital company (One-Third Participation Act [Drittelbeteiligungsgesetz]).”

3. E3 Rules on staff representation verwaltung.bund.de (German federal administration service portal) · 14 December 2022

   “Employees of companies with 2 000 or more employees have the right to elect half of the members of the supervisory board of a share capital company (Co-determination Act [Mitbestimmungsgesetz]).”

4. E4 Rules on staff representation verwaltung.bund.de (German federal administration service portal) · 14 December 2022

   “A works council or staff committee must be formed of at least five employees over the age of 18, at least three of whom must have worked for the company or the department for at least 6 months.”

5. E5 Involvement of Employees in Private Enterprises in Four Nordic Countries Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law (author: Örjan Edström)

   “In Denmark and Norway Co-operation Councils or Works Councils are established through collective agreements, and in the agreements there are regulations for workers”

6. E6 Involvement of Employees in Private Enterprises in Four Nordic Countries Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law (author: Örjan Edström)

   “In all the Nordic countries dealt with in this article there is legislation giving the employees the right to representation in joint stock company boards as well as at the boards of other company associations.”

7. E7 Involvement of Employees in Private Enterprises in Four Nordic Countries Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law (author: Örjan Edström)

   “The number of workers’ representatives shall correspond to half the number of the members elected by the General Assembly, but a minimum figure is two”

8. E8 Involvement of Employees in Private Enterprises in Four Nordic Countries Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law (author: Örjan Edström)

   “The share of personnel representatives in an administrative body may be one quarter, but the minimum number of personnel representatives stipulated is one and the maximum number is four.”

The German federal administration portal describes several statutory ways for employees to take part in company governance: electing representatives to supervisory boards (E1), electing one third of supervisory board members under the One-Third Participation Act (E2), electing half under the Co-determination Act (E3), and forming works councils (E4). A scholarly comparison of four Nordic countries says all of them have legislation giving employees seats on company boards (E6). It also says the forms differ: works councils are set up by collective agreement in Denmark and Norway, and representation quotas vary (E5, E7, E8). Together these sources show that more than one country has established worker participation mechanisms in different forms, which meets the criteria for true.