The council of the employees in the Albanian Commercial Law

Abstract

Law No. 9901/2008 on “Entrepreneurs and Commercial Companies”, marked a milestone in the reform of the commercial law in Albanian. Among other novelties, the Law introduced a new approach in regard to the employees and their participation in co determination. Actually, the involvement of the employees were not that unfamiliar in the former Albanian Commercial Legislation thought the social responsibility was. The Law brought in a new approach which was widely inspired from the EU Law, by establishing the Council of the Employees for any commercial company having more than 50 employees. It is true that unlike the trade unions, it is the company that bears the costs of the establishment and functioning of these councils, but besides the costs, it would mean to grant importance to the employees, as stakeholders of the corporate, by being part of the decision making process with regard to the use of special funds or actives of the company or to the allocation of the divided that the General Assembly resolves to allocate to the employees. This article will explore the legal provisions of the Law in regard to the Council of the Employees, its establishment, functioning and entitlement and how these provisions are enforced in practice from the companies in Albania.