As an ideological community, the HVD has the same legal status as religious communities. He actively demands the social realization of this equality for himself and also for all non-religious people. It is currently the only secular or ideological organization in Germany whose regional associations employ a significant number of full-time staff.
In particular, where it is organized as a church, it is affected by the special features of employment law for religious and ideological communities. It must deal with them in its own specific way. In principle, the following key points apply as recommendations and basic positions, whereby the autonomy of the regional associations does not exclude deviating and supplementary individual regulations.
A. Fundamentals
1. the HVD is an ideological tendency organization and makes use of the legal regulations and protective spaces that apply to it.
B. Individual labor law
2. the HVD expects its employees to take appropriate account of its ideological characteristics during their employment and in the performance of their activities.
3. the HVD rejects for itself as an employer the blanket assertion of private lifestyle or faith requirements etc. under labor law. As a representative of the interests of non-religious people, it criticizes such regulations for others. It respects the personal freedom of religion and belief of its employees. Exceptions to this are transgressions of the constitutional or human rights framework, such as political or religious extremist activities and the like.
4 Nevertheless, he claims the right to oblige all his employees to at least maintain religious and ideological neutrality during their service, including in their external appearance.
5. the development of religious practices by employees or the teaching of such doctrines is generally not permitted during working hours or on HVD premises.
6. in a narrower field of employment, to be defined by the respective employers, which is particularly associated with the communication or authentic demonstration of a humanistic world view, e.g. in worldview care, in teaching and counseling professions and in prominent management tasks, personal agreement with basic humanistic convictions can be regarded as a prerequisite for employment. This agreement can also be documented by a membership, for example. The structure is the responsibility of the respective employers.
C. Collective labor law
7. the HVD ensures democratic co-determination within itself and in its companies at least through its own employee representation regulations, in which the co-determination rights of employees are taken into account in an appropriate manner.
8. the HVD ensures the fair negotiation of working conditions, including remuneration, through appropriate institutions. To this end, it can make its own regulations or act as a collective bargaining party and conclude collective agreements within the scope of its authority to independently organize its internal structure.
9. restrictions on the right to strike and the right to lockout require special justification.
10. the HVD respects the appropriate activities of the trade unions in its companies.
