Germany: Issued ruling regarding the use of AI in the workplace

On 16 January 2024, the Hamburg Labour Court issued a ruling on the use of AI in the workplace. The ruling concerned the use of AI tools, in particular, ChatGPT, in the workplace and its impact on the co-determination rights of the works council. The court found that the use of AI tools by employees voluntarily and exclusively via their private accounts does not violate co-determination rights. The tools must be accessed via browser services, and an agreement on the use of browsers has been reached, which fulfils the works council's co-determination rights under section 87(1) of the Works Constitution Act. This ruling provides clarity on the rights of the works council in relation to AI applications.