WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - In response to a ruling by the German Federal Court of Justice, Volkswagen is having the salaries of quite a few works council members reviewed, according to a report. Talks about salary cuts are already underway, the news portal Business Insider reported Thursday, citing people affected. According to the report, VW has set up a separate working group.

According to the report, the background is a decision by the Federal Court of Justice, which last week overturned acquittals for four VW personnel managers in a dispute over the level of salaries and bonuses for influential works council members. The case concerned remuneration received by several senior VW works council members between 2011 and 2016. The bonuses paid to the employee representatives ranged from 80,000 to 560,000 euros a year.

The public prosecutor's office assessed the granting of the salaries as breach of trust because VW had lost profit and thus also reduced the payment of taxes. The Braunschweig Regional Court initially acquitted the managers of the charge of breach of trust in 2021. Following the decision of the BGH judges, the Regional Court will have to deal with the case again.

VW did not comment specifically on the report on Thursday evening. However, the company said it would carefully examine the BGH ruling. To the extent that it contains findings on the benchmark for works council compensation, VW will follow them. The VW works council did not comment on the report./sey/DP/mis