Bernd Pirpamer

Partner

Rechtsanwalt, Fachanwalt für Arbeitsrecht

Languages

German, English

Practice areas

• Employment law
• Global contracts and policies
• HR Consultancy
• Industrials
• Labor law and trade union issues

Practice notes

Bernd is a Partner in the area of labour and employment law at Eversheds Sutherland in Munich, has been working as a lawyer since 1999 and is the Head of Industrial Relations in Germany.

Primarily, Bernd provides advice on all matters related to works constitution and collective bargaining law. He provides legal and strategic advice to companies, owners, supervisory boards and the respective executives regarding the negotiation and drafting of collective working conditions and conflicts. This includes company agreements on remuneration and working time systems, company collective agreements or collective agreements between a union and an employer association.

Bernd advises companies throughout entire restructuring processes, on conciliation and arbitration boards, on transfers of business and with respect to entering into or changing collective bargaining commitments. This also includes providing legal and strategic advice to companies and associations which are faced with industrial action.

In addition to matters of law, Bernd also advises companies on strategic, conceptual and communicative matters arising from the cooperation with the employees, the different works council committees and trade unions.

Bernd represents companies and managers before labour courts throughout Germany.

Moreover, Bernd is regularly involved in in-house workshops for executives and management teams and holds lectures on labour law-related topics.

Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland, he worked for ten years as an in-house lawyer for the Bavarian employers' associations VBM and BayME in the collective agreements department and in the area of collective working conditions. Bernd joined Eversheds Sutherland in 2011. As the Head of Industrial Relations in Germany, Bernd leads the team advising on collective labour relations.

The 2019 issue of the Handelsblatt/"Best Lawyers in Germany" lists Bernd among the best labour and employment lawyers. Bernd was recognized as "Star Lawyer 2020" in Germany by Acritas.

Bernd's publications:

• Fachanwalt für Arbeitsrecht 2013, Das Teilnahmerecht an der Betriebsversammlung.
• Fachanwalt für Arbeitsrecht 2014, Die Rechtsberatung des Betriebsrates.
• ZAAR Vortragsreihe 2018, Arbeitsrechtliche Öffnungsklauseln – Bedeutung, Gestaltung, Reichweite
• ZAAR Vortragsreihe 2014. Streikabwehr im einstweiligen Rechtsschutz
• Arbeit und Arbeitsrecht 2014, Abwehr von Warnstreiks
• Handelsblatt 2018: Beitrag zur Metall-Tarifrunde 2018 „Das faule Ei im Korb“
• Handelsblatt 2018: „Arbeitgeber dürfen Streikbrechern hohe Prämien zahlen.“
• Haufe Personal Magazin 2017: Beitrag zur Tarifbindung und Tarifflucht

Bernd’s recent experience includes:

• Ongoing advice to industrial and medium-sized companies regarding collective bargaining commitments, specifically on entering into, changing and terminating collective bargaining commitments
• Design of a Germany-wide collective company agreement for an industrial company
• Restructuring and reorganisation of business divisions of several companies in the manufacturing industry area of automotive and transport
• Collective company agreement negotiations for medium-sized family businesses
• Collective reorganisation agreement in the automotive supply sector
• Provision of expert opinions in collective labour law conflicts
• Regular provision of in-house labour and employment law trainings for all management levels of corporations operating on a national scale