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Elect representatives for people with severe disabilities

The Representative Body for People with Severe Disabilities is the elected body representing the interests of employees with severe disabilities and those treated as equivalent. It consists of a representative and deputy members.

In companies and organisations where at least five people with severe disabilities are employed on a permanent basis, at least one deputy member must be elected in addition to the representative.

Elections take place every four years between 1 October and 30 November. The next election year is 202.

Elections may be held outside these periods if:

  • the result of the last election has been successfully contested
  • the term of office ends prematurely and no deputy member takes over
  • there is not yet a representative body for people with severe disabilities.

Levels of representation are:

  • the group representative body for severely disabled employees covering several companies within a group,
  • the overall representative body for people with severe disabilities covering several establishments of a single employer or the operational area of several public authorities,
  • the district representative body for people with severe disabilities in the case of intermediate authorities with several subordinate departments, and
  • the central representative body for people with severe disabilities at the highest administrative authorities.

Responsible department

the current representative body for people with severe disabilities

If no representative for people with severe disabilities has yet been elected in a company or public-sector organisation, the works council or staff council, or three eligible voters, may call an election.

Details

Prerequisite

At least five people with severe disabilities or those deemed to have equivalent disabilities must be employed on a permanent basis.

All severely disabled employees and those with equivalent status are eligible to vote. Eligibility to vote is independent of length of service and age.

If the minimum number of five people with severe disabilities is not reached, it may be possible to combine business or department with other businesses of the same employer or other departments of the same administration. This may only be done with a business of the same employer located in close proximity or with a department of the same administration located in close proximity and, in principle, of the same level.

Procedure

  • In workplaces or departments where fewer than 50 eligible voters are employed and the various parts of the workplace or department are in close proximity, the election must be conducted using the simplified election procedure.
  • In such cases, people with severe disabilities are invited to an election meeting.
  • At the meeting, a returning officer is then elected, who will conduct the election of the representative body for people with severe disabilities and at least one deputy member during the remainder of the meeting.
  • Where there are 50 or more persons eligible to vote, or where the parts of the undertaking or department are geographically distant from one another, the formal election procedure must be followed.
  • To this end, the existing representative body for people with severe disabilities appoints an electoral committee comprising three employees of legal age.
  • If there is no representative body for people with severe disabilities, the works council or staff council may invite three eligible voters to a meeting of eligible voters.
  • At this meeting, they then elect the three-member election committee.
  • The election committee must then initiate the election and ensure that it is conducted properly.

In the simplified election procedure, at least three to four weeks should be allowed for preparation and conduct; in the formal election procedure, at least nine weeks, taking into account the deadlines to be met.

Deadlines

As soon as possible once the conditions for the election have been met

Required documents

List of eligible voters (to be provided by the employer)

Costs

The costs incurred in connection with the election must be borne by the employer or the appointing authority. The amount of the expenditure depends on the type of election procedure and the number of eligible voters.

Miscellaneous

There is no option to choose between a simplified and a formal election procedure. The election procedure to be applied is the one for which the conditions are met in the relevant workplace or department.

Legal basis

Sozialgesetzbuch Neuntes Buch (SGB IX):

  • § 177 Wahl und Amtszeit der Schwerbehindertenvertretung

Wahlordnung Schwerbehindertenvertretungen (SchwbVWO)

Release note

machine generated, based on the German release by: Kommunalverband für Jugend und Soziales, beauftragt vom Sozialministerium Baden-Württemberg, 26.06.2026

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