(Manju Ludwig and Hannah Endl)
On 20.12.2022, five IPO students (IPO = study program International Personnel Management and Organization) were able to experience at first hand at the Mannheim Labor Court the role they could possibly play as future HR managers. At various conciliation hearings of the 8th Chamber of the Labor Court, they were able to experience the variety of labor law conflicts with which the personnel management of various employers is confronted. A conciliation hearing is the first hearing in the first-instance proceedings at the labor court. The aim is to reach an amicable settlement between the plaintiff and the defendant as quickly as possible by discussing the nature of the dispute, which then brings the legal dispute to an end. The excursion was part of the 4th semester of the International Personnel Management (IPO) course in the module "Advanced Legal Fundamentals of Human Resources" and was initiated and organized by Prof. Dr. Ludwig Koch.
The complaints heard included, in particular, the settlement of salary discrepancies following a dismissal and the demand for a severance payment, as there were discrepancies on the part of the employees and the dismissal was perceived as "illegal". After the individual conciliation hearings, the presiding judge took a lot of time for the students and answered their questions about the nature of conciliation hearings and the role of personnel officers at the labor court. Likewise, he explained the possibility of being a volunteer judge as a future employee in the human resource management field, which was met with great interest among the students.
IPO student Hannah Endl considered the day at the labor court to be a complete success: "The excursion was particularly exciting for us students, as it enabled us to put the theory we had already learned in the subject of labor law into practice and thus establish a direct link. Especially topics such as severance pay and protection against dismissal are currently the focus of our lectures and were therefore able to strengthen our understanding of these areas. In addition, it was very helpful that the judge in charge communicated and discussed with us after each hearing. In this way, we were also able to better understand his point of view and learn more about it. In the future, we would like to attend conciliation hearings of the labor court more often, as you are also allowed to sit in the courtroom as a private person and gain insights."
