Does employee representation foster employees’ experience of workplace democracy?

Abstract

Using unique data from East Germany, this study is the first to provide systematic evidence that employees in establishments with a works council experience more democracy at work than those in establishments without a works council. Employees in establishments with a works council perceive the organizational climate as being more open to discussion and feel to a higher extent that they have collective control over what happens at work (collective efficacy). Unionization plays an important moderating role in the link between works councils and experienced workplace democracy. The presence of a works council strengthens perceptions of an open organizational climate and collective efficacy to a larger extent for union members than for nonmembers. For union members, the presence of a works council even bolsters the perception that their individual engagement plays a role in what is going on at work (self-efficacy).