[Petition and digitalization collective agreement] H M: Mass layoffs instead of social dialogue

dossier

“The ver.di Federal Tariff Commission at H&M has launched a public petition against layoffs and store closures, for a digitalization collective agreement and sustainable employment security(…) Without speaking to the employees' union in advance, H&M Germany boss Thorsten Mindermann handed out an unchristian "Christmas present" a good month before Christmas: at least 800 employees lost their jobs and further store closures followed. Women are largely affected by this, as employment in retail is still female-dominated. (…) H&M has so far refused to negotiate with ver.di. That's why we as the Federal Tariff Commission - which is the responsible negotiating body for the employees organized in ver.di - are turning to the public…”Report from December 6, 2020 at ver.di at H&M toPetition at openpetition - see also:

• H&M breaks the digital consensus: No more time for humane work! 
  "A year ago, the digitalization collective agreement was in effect at H&M. The management had acknowledged with its signature in October 2022: "The joint, humane design of digitalization is necessary in order to make the company a role model and pioneer, to ensure good working conditions, to achieve the necessary progress in the context of digitalization and in this way to secure the company in the long term." That was the digital consensus. By November 2025, the works councils and employees were involved in the design of the new digital working world at an early stage in 100 meetings of the digitalization committee, in workshops and through feedback. There was collective bargaining protection against dismissal and declassification and, as a sign of appreciation, six special collective payments, totaling up to 2,700 euros in addition to salary, vacation pay and Christmas bonus.
  Sawing on your own branch
  Since last November, constantly changing management has been destroying the successful model for fair digitalization. First, the negotiations on the digitalization collective agreement were broken off, and now the “necessity” of an H&M works council meeting that deals with the humane design of digitalization was disputed - a point that was the focus of the joint design of the general works council and H&M for over three years when introducing every technology. The H&M management has thus terminated the Digi consensus. (…)
  Management does not take the time to adapt technology and work to the needs of employees. This is exactly what lies behind the rejection of the works council meeting as “not necessary”: There should no longer be any room for a humane design of digital work. Under these conditions, supporting digital change and the introduction of artificial intelligence is impossible. If you don't have time for people, you shouldn't expect the works council to simply wave through the introduction of new technology. In order to involve and protect employees, works councils must implement predictive risk assessments - even before management rolls out new technologies on site…”Message from September 16, 2026 from ver.di Handel 
• Is there a threat of digitally controlled “passive employees” at H&M?
  "... Last year, the German management was almost completely replaced. The new leadership around Frankie Shadbolt unexpectedly and contrary to all agreements broke off the collective negotiations on the digitalization collective agreement - although the contract had been extended until November 30, 2025 in order to secure precisely these discussions. Since then there has been a standstill. The company has limited itself to negotiating with the general works council exclusively about the "Smart Store" under the aspect of technical behavior and performance monitoring. This involves far-reaching changes in areas such as: Work intensity, stress and health protection, working hours, need for qualifications, control and dependency. “Control and dependency” does not mean the transparent employee, but the “passive employee”: a way of working that is determined by digital specifications and leaves employees little room for their own organization and execution of work. This form of control arises from the new real-time analysis of sales data - an intervention in work processes that goes far beyond the processing of personal data, but which H&M currently only wants to negotiate When the digitalization collective agreement expired, things were different: there was real participation in the digitalization committee from 2022 to 2025 to shape digitalization together and in a humane manner. According to the collective agreement, works councils and employees had an active role (…) A new digitalization collective agreement is the only way to prevent the planned role of extras.The collective bargaining commission therefore expects the employers to return to the negotiating table and promptly present dates for continuing the discussions - in order to shape digitalization together with the employees again. Instead, H&M invites the works councils - without the employees - to a pure broadcast to provide information about technical products and the future direction of the company. Broadcast means: one-way communication. Management speaks via video, the works council listens. Maybe questions are allowed, but nothing more. The collective bargaining committee does not take part in such an event…” ver.di tariff message from March 2, 2026 
• Petition for H&M colleagues: Employers must now pay the inflation compensation premium
  “Prices continue to rise and our colleagues at H&M are still waiting for their employer to pay them the tax- and duty-free inflation compensation bonus. Time is running out, the regulation only applies until the end of 2024. That's why the fashion company's general works council has started a petition. We ask you to support your colleagues at H&M and sign the petition - and encourage others to sign too. Since June 6, over 16,500 people have signed. But we want more. With your support we can reach 25,000.
  The text of the petition
  We supported the company with short-time working benefits during the pandemic.  In times of inflation, our employer now behaves like Scrooge McDuck. Prices are rising and we, the H&M employees, are in existential distress. We're worth a few thalers. (…) Despite the collective agreement and the associated 36-month term, a partial payment is not enough because we are employed at the lowest wage end. We call on H&M to pay out the inflation compensation bonus in full (€3,000) for all employees. Finally give us the recognition we deserve…”Call from June 13, 2024 at ver.di Handel toPetition at change.org “Inflation compensation bonus for Hennes & Mauritz employees”, started by the Hennes & Mauritz General Works Council
• Digitalization collective agreement at H&M and the political mandate of the unions: A new chapter in collective bargaining history
  "After six months and 14 rounds of negotiations, the United Services Union (ver.di) and the fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) agreed a digitalization collective agreement for 14,300 employees in Germany in October 2022. "Digitalization in your hand" is written on the ver.di buttons that employees wore during the collective bargaining dispute. A clear political demand not to leave the use of digital technology to capital interests! Directly above The slogan raises an upwardly stretched fist that includes conductor tracks, such as those found on RFID chips. The use of such chips began the digitalization of the fashion trade... As active trade unionists, we see the collective bargaining policy and the political mandate of the trade unions as two sides of the same coin. The fact that wage earners join together is not only a trade union goal, but also a political one, especially in view of the economic and social upheavals Wage-dependent employees are the core of union action and at the same time a political necessity, especially now with an inflation rate of over ten percent and stagnating wages. The demand for fair, collectively agreed pay is understandable (…) The prerequisite for setting up new collective bargaining demands at H&M was that the employees of the fashion retailer were able to exchange their experiences with digitalization across company, company and national borders. It all started in 2016.The members are the general works council chairmen (GBR) of a new vertical textile retailer, which is characterized by selling fashion, mostly produced in low-wage countries, in self-run stores. The working group is led by the ver.di corporate advisor for Zara, Esprit, H&M and Primark. In this working group, the general works council chairmen of Zara and Esprit have been sharing their first experiences with the general works council chairmen of H&M since 2016 - both companies were pioneers of digitalization at the time. Through them, the H&M works council members were able to take a look into the future of “their��� company…”More comprehensiveArticle by Cosimo-Damiano Quinto and Orhan Akman in Socialism 12-2022 
• After 14 rounds of negotiations between ver.di and H&M: employees enforce the first digitalization collective agreement in retail 
  “After six months and 14 rounds of negotiations, the United Services Union (ver.di) and the fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) have agreed on a digitalization collective agreement for the 14,300 employees nationwide. “This is a great success! Because this is the very first digitalization collective agreement in retail,” said ver.di negotiator Cosimo-Damiano Quinto.The central element here is the participation of employees in shaping digitalization. "The digital technology must be able to be designed in the interests of the employees. The collective agreement expands the participation rights of the general works council and establishes a digitalization advisory board that consists of representatives from ver.di and H&M and can submit its own suggestions as well as suggestions from the workforce to shape the future concept," said Quinto after the agreement. In addition, from the beginning of 2023, employees will be particularly involved in selected digitization test branches in order to assess the human-friendly design of the new working methods and to set requirements for further development.Special protection against dismissal and de-grouping is intended to protect branch employees in the course of the digitalization process. "Personal customer contact in the stores remains important. That's why customer advice should be strengthened through a collectively agreed qualification offensive. Employees should also be protected from possible deskilling. In addition, temporary work should not be used to replace permanent employees, but only as an exception and temporarily to fill staffing gaps and cover peaks in demand," says negotiator Quinto. The digitalization agreement literally states: “The collective bargaining parties agree that digitalization, the qualification of employees and advice from qualified employees is an opportunity to maintain and strengthen stationary retail as part of the omnichannel strategy.”Finally, the digitalization collective agreement provides for up to six additional collectively agreed, semi-annual special payments for all employees in the stores. The grant in the second and third years depends on sales development. For employment with a weekly working time of up to 20 hours, there are two bonus payments of 250 euros gross per year, for 21 to 30 hours per week, twice 400 euros gross, and for 31 hours per week or more, twice 450 euros per year. The term of the digitalization collective agreement is 36 months.”ver.di press release from October 14, 2022 
• “Blatantly anti-family policy”: H&M is abolishing fixed shifts – young mothers in particular are supposed to work on weekends and late afternoons 
  “H&M wants to largely abolish shift work in Germany - and allow employees to work "flexibly", especially at peak times in the late afternoon and on weekends. Young mothers suffer from the measure. Internal H&M documents show that the company management wants to send the employees to weekend and afternoon shifts immediately after parental leave - in case of doubt about coercion through transfer. Verdi condemns the austerity program as “anti-family” and accuses H&M of making the company management’s serious failings pay off at the expense of its employees. (…) This savings program is now almost complete, the management writes in an internal communication. Employees in more than 100 stores have accepted H&M's offers; instead of 800, "only" 600 jobs will now be cut. H&M’s official goal is now: “Reducing contract hours”. (…) As with the first savings program, H&M is again explicitly targeting young mothers. This is what it says literally in a section of the documents that deal with how fixed work shifts should be converted into flexible work shifts: “Prevention of a fixed contract structure, e.g. when returning from parental leave through fixed part-time working time models,” and further: “Equalization of contract structure by transferring part-time employees”. In plain language, this means: When employees return from parental leave, H&M wants them not to return to the planned shift system, but rather to be put straight into weekend and late afternoon shifts. If in doubt, this should happen by transferring the employee.(…) But it's not just the working hours, it's also on vacation and breaks. The internal H&M document talks about a “long-term holiday plan based on retail peak times”. Legally, H&M cannot prohibit its employees from taking vacation during the Christmas period, the aforementioned “peak time” of the year. However, something like this can definitely be forced by internal pressure.  The document continues that “clear conclusions can be drawn about staffing and break planning” from peak times on weekends and late afternoons during the week…”Article by Philip Kaleta from May 5, 2021 at businessinsider.de 
• H&M threatens in internal employee email: “Dismissal for operational reasons is the next step”
  “H&M wants to cut 800 jobs in Germany. For this purpose, the fashion giant has set up a so-called volunteer program - which is aimed primarily at young mothers, "long-term sick employees" but also "severely disabled people". Internal emails available to Business Insider now show how the fashion giant is building pressure on the workforce. If employees do not accept the modest severance payment program, there is a risk of redundancies. (…) The “volunteer program” does not seem to be so voluntary. Internal emails obtained by Business Insider show how the company is increasing pressure on employees to accept the program. “If this offer does not reach enough colleagues, dismissal for operational reasons is the next step,” the company management is now writing to the workforce. In plain language: The company openly threatens its employees to accept the volunteer program, otherwise they could be fired. 2,500 euros gross as a severance payment for “severely disabled people”: The “Spiegel” reported on Saturday that the planned severance payment for people under 60 is a gross monthly salary per year of employment. According to information from the news magazine, parents would receive an additional 1,000 euros for each dependent child, and severely disabled people would receive 2,500 euros. In addition, there are compensation payments if employees leave before the end of the notice period. The savings program at H&M is expected to save around 92,000 contract hours in 116 branches. When asked by “Spiegel”, the company announced that around a quarter of all stores in Germany were affected. Employees have until February 7th to contact their branch management to accept the volunteer program.Numerous employees and works council members reported to Business Insider days ago that the company's management was putting enormous pressure on them to accept the program. According to their statements, there can be no question of it being voluntary…”Article by Philip Kaleta from February 1, 2021 at Business Insider 
• H&M is said to encourage bullying among employees: “The hatred and contempt hurt”
  "... There have been repeated allegations of bullying against the fashion group H&M for years. Works councils complain about targeted hate speech. There are apparently no isolated cases behind this, but systematic bullying. This is shown by a current "Mirror"-Research [subscription] is close. Accordingly, the agitation among colleagues is part of a "perfidious personnel policy," says the general works council. Saskia Stock, head of the employee representation, explained to the news portal that the group is closely linked to a value concept that is based on a strong sense of unity. In labor research this is called “communalization”. Stock says: "Anyone who adapts to the group rules can feel like they are in a family. But anyone who questions the rules can quickly be declared a group enemy." The union's own Hans Böckler Foundation also observed this. She wrote back in 2006: “By not organizing a personnel buffer and by illness, quality deficiencies, etc. having a direct impact on the workload, employees are supposed to put each other under pressure,” according to “Spiegel” in the analysis of the topic of “community” at H&M at the time. And further: “It is no longer superiors who appear to be the cause of the pressure to perform, but rather employees themselves.” (…) Things got worse when she stood for election to a new works council. According to Aylin G., the branch manager then called three employees to his office. Shortly afterwards they started attacking G. “The branch here will close because of you,” one accused her. “You are not one of us,” another. The third openly threatened: “You’ll see what you get out of it.” After being elected as a works council member, Aylin G. was increasingly marginalized.Nobody spoke to her anymore, her cell phone number was blocked by the other employees and they spoke about her in a different language. “The hatred and contempt hurt,” she summarizes. And she would have been afraid and felt “cleared to finish”. She was afraid that someone would stalk her after work, she explained. (…) General works councilor Stock also considers the statements to be credible. She also intervened in the Aylin G case. “These are typical patterns that we know in many other branches”…” Post from February 2nd, 2021 at Focus online 
• H&M shows no mercy: fashion company lays off 800 employees in Germany. Single parents and severely disabled people are the first victims 
  "... In order to increase profits, H&M has set up a "volunteer program" that is primarily aimed at employees who cannot work in the branches during peak sales times. "This means: H&M particularly wants to get rid of employees with children or severely disabled colleagues who are dependent on socially and health-friendly working hours," writes Verdi in a current leaflet to employees. The union's Federal Tariff Commission clearly rejects the so-called voluntary program, but H & M wants to bypass Verdi anyway and agree on the job cuts with works councils. Business Insider reported on Thursday that an H & M works council member from southern Germany was quoted as saying that the "employees (...) were being put under pressure directly in the branches" to sign termination agreements Severely disabled people who cannot work late in the evenings or on weekends. "What H & M is doing is not a voluntary program," said the works council. (...) Verdi is offering collective bargaining in February. The workforce would only be involved in the transformation process at H & M without a "collective agreement on the digital change" in the end. follow.” Article by Gudrun Giese in the Junge Welt from January 30, 2021 
• Being a mother: a reason for termination for H&M
  "... Internally, promises, encouragement and hopes have been made since the bad news was announced. Accordingly, mothers, especially single parents, do not need to worry at all, because they do well in a social plan. H&M's (A) social plan claims that their fate is secure, because what social plan would take a mother's livelihood away from under her feet? On the other hand, the rather young, single employees should be worried. They supposedly don't have too much to lose and are cut in the social plan In the end it was all lies, as has now been revealed Business Insider The volunteer program aims to specifically get rid of employees on parental leave, i.e. mainly young mothers. For the time being, however, the protection against dismissal offers a protective shield between the mother and H&M until the parental leave expires. (…) Mothers or parents, pregnant women and children are damaging to H&M’s business – unless they shop there. H&M is misogynistic. They don’t protect the mothers in the stores, nor do they protect the mothers who sew the “feminist” t-shirts in the factories.” Post by Margo Rosa from January 28th, 2021 Class against class 
• Inside H&M: “We are afraid for our work” – fashion company cuts 800 jobs, affecting many young mothers
  “Until recently, the third largest fashion group in the world saw the greatest growth potential in the aggressive, international expansion of its branch networks. The company's management has now abandoned this strategy. H&M relies on digital, is therefore strengthening its online shop and wants to introduce the latest technology in the stores. As a result, the company is cutting hundreds of jobs. Young employees with children also suffer. (…) For the employees in Germany this means: fear for their jobs - because H&M wants to cut at least 800 jobs in Germany. According to information from Business Insider, the group has already cut around 3,000 jobs in Germany since the turnaround to digital in 2018. Business Insider spoke to numerous H&M employees. Your concerns are great – and partly justified. (…) According to information from Business Insider, H&M primarily wants to save staff in branches that generate too little sales. In these affected branches, the main aim is to say goodbye to employees who cannot work during the busy evening times and on Saturdays. (…) Female employees on parental leave on the severance pay list: Business Insider has the H&M management's formulated proposal for the volunteer program. In it, the management explicitly mentions employees who are still on parental leave as a predestined group for the program. Although these employees are protected from dismissal by parental leave, they can be dismissed once they return to work. The spicy thing here: According to information from Business Insider, most of the employees who are on parental leave at H&M are young mothers.The company, which campaigns against discrimination in public with numerous advertising campaigns, is now giving young women with children the hint that they would like to move on without them…”Article by Philip Kaleta from January 26th 2021 at Business Insider 
• No “voluntary” reduction in social standards at H&M! Tariff Commission says no to such “volunteer programs”
  “Immediately before the first week of Advent, you could read it everywhere in the media - the German Press Agency reported: Hundreds of jobs are at risk at the fashion chain H&M in Germany. H&M Germany is “currently in dialogue with the relevant co-determination bodies about cutting around 800 jobs,” the company announced on Friday. Further branch closures cannot be ruled out. The retail industry is undergoing profound change due to advancing digitalization and changing consumer behavior, it said. The corona pandemic accelerated this even further. H&M has “taken the necessary gradual measures to maintain competitiveness.” The company is hoping for a quick agreement with the works councils. What this agreement with the works councils should look like can now be seen: H&M wants to conclude a so-called “volunteer program” to reduce its workforce. WHO IT SHOULD MEET FIRST... A look at the drafts of a "voluntary agreement" presented by H&M shows who the "generous offer" to leave the company is aimed at: the employees who do not work at the high-volume times of day or evening and on the largest possible number of Saturdays. This means: H&M particularly wants to get rid of employees with children or severely disabled colleagues who rely on socially and health-friendly working hours. And all of this under the guise of “digitalization” and “changed customer behavior”.YOUR FEDERAL COLLECTION COMMISSION SAYS NO TO SUCH “VOLUNTARY PROGRAMS”! The “volunteer program” that H&M hopes to conclude with the works councils reduces social standards. Balancing family and work particularly affects young women. Women with children who need to be looked after are indirectly discriminated against if they are asked to leave H&M simply because they are dependent on family-friendly working hours…”Report from January 2021 at ver.di Handel 
• H&M is giving away cancellations for Christmas 
  H&M advertises with slogans such as “We are close at heart – despite being 1.50 m apart” or “Together we can do it”. Now they want to cut up to 800 jobs. This forces colleagues into a grotesque job lottery for their future. Report from a colleague. (…) To me as an employee that sounds hypocritical. On November 19th it was announced thatH&M will cut up to 800 jobs in Germany . (…)I was also immediately assured that I shouldn't worry about the job cuts, as it only affected permanent staff. Unlike permanent employees, I work on a flexible hourly basis, which has disadvantages for me and advantages for H&M. According to my contract, I am only entitled to 10 hours of work per week, which means that my weekly working hours can vary between 10 and 40 hours. H&M calls this flexible. H&M then falls back on this contractual stipulation in particularly low sales times, such as currently. Reason enough for H&M to create more flexible contracts and consciously cut positions, such as permanent staff, who do not meet such an absurdly low hourly requirement. (…) What happens next? In the coming weeks, a so-called volunteer program will be presented to the employees of the affected branches. This program offers the option to voluntarily leave the company. This is then rewarded with a severance payment, which is determined individually. If no one volunteers by the deadline set by the program, things become particularly uncomfortable. A social plan is then drawn up. To do this, lawyers and auditors will come in and examine everyone affected. Points are awarded that indicate how badly the person concerned would feel without the job at H&M. Age, relationship status and the number of children, for example, play a role. Ultimately, those who achieved the lowest points are terminated. Logically, this doesn't mean that these people would be better off, just that they would be the least bad according to the point system.It's only stupid if, for example, in extreme cases, all those affected in a branch are middle-aged and single parents. Once the decision has been made, those terminated will not receive any severance pay. So everyone who does not want to voluntarily give up their livelihood-dependent job during Corona times must expect to be terminated without severance pay. The job cuts are completely scandalous. …” Post by Margo Rosa from December 20th, 2020 at Class Against Class 

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