A works agreement on desk sharing usually covers purpose, scope, booking rules, data collected, analyses, access rights, deletion periods, workstation equipment and a review after a pilot phase. It is drawn up together with the works council and should be legally reviewed.
The trigger is usually the same: your company wants to introduce desk sharing with booking software in Microsoft 365, and the works council asks for a works agreement. Project management, HR, IT, data protection and the works council now need a shared working basis that clarifies responsibilities and covers data protection properly. This guide provides a checklist for preparation and the building blocks of a model works agreement with sample wording. It does not replace legal advice.
When desk sharing usually affects the works council
Desk sharing usually touches several co-determination rights of the works council under the German Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). The focus is not the decision for a new space concept, but its concrete design: rules for using workstations and the use of a booking system. Co-determination therefore usually concerns parts of the introduction. Which rights apply in an individual case and where a right of co-determination exists should be legally reviewed.
Section 87(1) No. 6 BetrVG covers technical equipment that is suitable for monitoring the behaviour or performance of employees. A digital booking system that records who reserves which workstation and when usually falls under this. What matters is the suitability of the system, not the intention of the employer.
Section 87(1) No. 1 BetrVG can be relevant for rules on order in the workplace. In desk sharing, these include booking rules, tidy desk rules, clean desk rules and rules on storing personal belongings. A distinction is usually made between conduct relating to order and conduct relating to work: rules on order in the office can be subject to co-determination, while rules on the actual work performance are usually assessed differently.
Section 90 BetrVG usually requires the employer to inform and consult the works council in good time when planning workstations, office space and work processes. Examples are converting to desk sharing zones, new team areas or changed space concepts for teamwork and focused work.
How far co-determination reaches is shown by a decision of the Regional Labour Court of Baden-Württemberg of 6 August 2024 (ref. 21 TaBV 7/24): according to it, desk sharing and the clean desk policy are not subject to co-determination as a whole. For two partial areas, however, including rules on handling employees' personal belongings, the court appointed a conciliation committee. Whether and to what extent a right of co-determination actually exists is decided by the conciliation committee in the individual case. A legal review therefore remains necessary.
Different rules apply in Austria and Switzerland. Check the legal situation there separately.
Anyone planning to introduce desk sharing needs structured preparation with the works council and data protection before the first negotiation. The following checklist helps.
Checklist: what should be clarified before the first negotiation with the works council
The aim of the checklist is to clarify all relevant topics before a draft works agreement is on the table. The questions are worded so that you can answer them concretely in the project.
Organisation: target picture and scope
Without a documented desk sharing model or a clear description of the concept, the works council can neither assess which co-determination rights are affected nor negotiate sensible rules.
- For which locations, floors or areas should desk sharing apply in the first stage?
- Which working models should be supported, for example hybrid working with fixed office days or mixed teams?
- Which areas keep fixed workstations for now, and what ratio of workstations to employees is planned?
- Which business goals are you pursuing with the desk sharing model, for example adjusted office space at the end of the lease, lower costs or more flexibility, and how do you weigh these benefits against questions of acceptance and implementation?
Workstations and equipment
Desk sharing needs clear rules for using workstations and the same minimum standards at every shared workstation. Shared areas serve not only work but also exchange. Ergonomics, hygiene and safe equipment are the key points to check. Exceptions should be recorded from the outset so that employees in need of special protection are taken into account.
- What minimum equipment applies to every shared workstation, for example a height adjustable desk, an external monitor and a laptop connection?
- How are workstations arranged for employees in need of special protection, for example severely disabled people or where there is a medically confirmed need?
- Which quiet rooms for confidential conversations, focused work and phone calls, and which areas for exchange are available, and how are they booked?
- Where do employees keep personal belongings when they share desks, for example in lockable lockers, bearing in mind that precisely such rules can be subject to co-determination in parts?
Software and data
When selecting desk sharing software in the Microsoft 365 environment, the focus is on data protection under the GDPR, data minimisation and the legal certainty of the later rules. These points later belong explicitly in the works agreement.
- Which desk booking solution is to be used, and how is it integrated into Microsoft Teams and Outlook?
- Which personal data does the system really need, for example name, booking period and location, and which data do you deliberately forgo even though it could technically be recorded?
- Which analyses are planned, for example utilisation per area or days with bottlenecks, and how do you ensure that no monitoring of the performance or behaviour of individuals is possible?
- Which deletion and anonymisation periods should apply to booking data, and how is historical data handled?
Employees and communication
The introduction of desk sharing unsettles many employees and often the entire workforce. In the context of new work with home office and flexible attendance, early and open communication creates acceptance and prevents the works council from mainly moderating conflicts later on.
- How do you inform employees about the target picture, the role of the works council and the next steps, for example via a works meeting, the intranet or Microsoft Teams, and how do you make sure they receive all relevant information on the target picture and rules early?
- Which groups need exceptions or additional rules, for example field staff, shift work or areas with increased confidentiality?
- How do you make sure that booking rules and tidy desk rules are known to everyone and not only written in the agreement?
- How is feedback and are complaints collected and made accessible to the works council?
Project and pilot
A clearly defined pilot phase with a joint evaluation belongs in the works agreement. This requires fixed roles, documented criteria and shared standards of the parties. In this phase, the works council should explicitly have the opportunity to contribute its own proposals for the pilot design.
- Which locations or areas start in the pilot, and over what period?
- Which roles are defined, for example project management, IT, data protection, works council and facility management, and how do they make decisions together?
- By which criteria is the pilot assessed, for example user satisfaction, documented problems and observed bottlenecks?
- How is the approach documented so that the results feed into an adjusted, permanent works agreement?
Model works agreement for desk sharing: the building blocks
The following table shows a structure with sample wording for a works agreement on desk sharing. All examples are non binding and not legal advice. They serve as a basis for discussion between the works council, data protection and project management. In desk sharing, rules on the clean desk policy as well as cleaning and hygiene rules should regularly be recorded explicitly in the works agreement alongside booking and data.
| Building block | What is regulated | Sample wording (non binding) |
|---|---|---|
| Preamble and purpose | Reasons for desk sharing, link to hybrid working, shared goals | “This agreement is intended to use office space according to need, support hybrid working and protect the interests of employees transparently.” |
| Scope | Spatial and personal scope, exceptions | “This agreement applies to the areas [enter location, floor] and the employees working there. Areas with fixed workstations as listed in the annex are excluded.” |
| Definitions | Desk sharing, shared workstation, fixed workstation, booking, unused booking | “Desk sharing refers to a model in which there are fewer workstations than employees and workstations are booked as needed.” |
| Principles of workstation use and booking rules | Reservation, cancellation, unused bookings, tidying up | “Workstations are reserved via the booking system. Bookings that are not needed are cancelled. At the end of work, the workstation is cleared completely and left without personal belongings.” |
| Exceptions and fixed workstations | Eligible groups, criteria and procedure | “Severely disabled employees and employees with a medically confirmed need can apply for a fixed workstation. The responsible office is [enter office].” |
| Software used | Desk booking solution in the Microsoft 365 environment, classification as technical equipment | “[Enter software name] is used to reserve workstations and meeting rooms. The system is considered technical equipment within the meaning of Section 87(1) No. 6 BetrVG.” |
| Data collected | Data catalogue as an annex, data minimisation under Art. 5 GDPR | “Only the data required for allocating workstations and planning space is collected. No movement profiles are created. The data catalogue is attached as an annex.” |
| Analyses and exclusion of performance and behaviour monitoring | Permitted aggregated analyses, exclusion of personal analyses | “Analyses are carried out only in aggregated and anonymised form, for example as utilisation per area. No monitoring of the performance or behaviour of individual employees takes place.” |
| Access rights and roles | Who may see which data in which form | “Roles and permissions are set out in the authorisation concept attached as an annex. The works council has access to the aggregated analyses.” |
| Retention and deletion periods | Anonymisation and deletion of booking data | “Booking data is anonymised after [enter period]. Personal data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required for organising workstations.” |
| Information and rights of employees | Information before the start, rights of access, contact persons | “Before the system goes live, employees are informed about how it works, the data collected and their rights. Enquiries should be addressed to [enter contact].” |
| Equipment and occupational safety | Minimum equipment, ergonomic requirements, cleaning and hygiene rules | “All shared workstations meet the requirements for occupational safety and ergonomics in accordance with [enter minimum equipment]. Cleaning and hygiene rules are set out in annex [enter annex].” |
| Pilot phase and evaluation | Pilot areas, period, joint assessment | “After [enter pilot duration], the employer and the works council jointly assess the pilot and agree adjustments where needed.” |
| Changes to the system | Updates, new functions, changed data basis | “Significant changes to functions or the data basis are presented to the works council in advance and assessed jointly.” |
| Final provisions | Entry into force, termination, continued effect | “This agreement enters into force upon signature. It can be terminated with a notice period of [enter period].” |
How to work with the model structure
Use the structure as a basis for discussion in the project group with the works council, data protection and IT. Where co-determination questions are unclear, have current court decisions, for example decisions of regional labour courts, legally reviewed as well and incorporate them into the model structure where needed. Draw up the draft together and plan the annexes from the start:
- Data catalogue with type of data, purpose, legal basis and retention period.
- Role and authorisation concept with allocation by location and company.
- Deletion concept that also covers data from the pilot.
Have the works agreement and its annexes legally reviewed before signing.
Objection: is a works agreement enough to rule out monitoring?
The works council and data protection rightly ask whether a written agreement is sufficient if the system makes attendance visible. Not everything a system can technically display may also be analysed. The answer lies in the interplay of four levels.
- Define purpose limitation in writing: the agreement specifies that data is used only for space planning and organising workstations. Any use to assess individuals is expressly excluded.
- Technical limits in the system: the booking system should be set up so that analyses of individuals are not created in the first place. Data minimising collection, anonymised analyses and doing without location tracking protect beyond the paper.
- Control rights of the works council: the works council has insight into the setup, the data catalogue and the analyses and can demand adjustments in case of deviations. These rights should be described concretely in the agreement.
- Evaluation after the pilot: a joint review shows whether the agreed goals on data protection and co-determination are being met. Only then do both sides decide on permanent operation.
A works agreement and suitable technical settings limit monitoring effectively, but they do not offer an absolute guarantee. A review in the individual case remains necessary.
How Seatti supports implementing the agreement
Seatti is the desk sharing platform for the modern office and runs natively in Microsoft Teams and Outlook. It is built to make co-determination easier. The table maps the building blocks of the works agreement to Seatti's capabilities.
| Building block of the works agreement | What Seatti provides |
|---|---|
| Data collected and analyses | Pseudonymised and aggregated usage data without conclusions about individuals. No live monitoring, no geolocation, no working time recording. Anonymous booking possible, specifying the work location is optional. |
| Access rights and roles | Roles and permissions can be controlled at a granular level, including for multiple locations, companies and rule sets. Microsoft Entra Sync synchronises users, groups and access automatically, without duplicate data maintenance. |
| Data protection and data processing | GDPR compliant, hosting and data processing in the EU, data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR, encryption with TLS 1.2 and AES 256, ISO 27001 certified. |
| Software used | Native in Microsoft Teams and Outlook, connection of further office systems via open API. |
| Pilot phase and rollout | Technical rollout usually in under two weeks. Coordination with the works council comes first and depends on your company. |
The IP-based presence with which Office Intelligence combines bookings and existing infrastructure into a picture of usage records only the network login, without location tracking and without movement profiles.
Regardless of the agreement, one question remains open: decisions about space and operating costs are made every day, often without reliable usage data. A booking tool alone only regulates who sits where and when. Seatti combines Workspace Management and Office Intelligence in one system native to Microsoft 365 and shows how much space your company actually needs. So the question is not whether you need usage data, but how much longer you want to make space decisions without it.
Next step: first the draft, then the demo with the works council
The checklist clarifies the groundwork, the model structure organises the negotiation, and the software must then be able to reflect the agreed rules. So first draw up a draft based on the building blocks together with the works council, data protection and IT. This is followed by a joint demo with the works council and data protection in which you check whether the software reflects the agreed rules.
Would you like to see how Seatti runs in your Microsoft 365 environment? In a 30 minute walkthrough, we show how Seatti simplifies your office processes and puts your space decisions on a solid data basis.
Read more: Desk sharing software with works council approval and Measuring office utilisation in a GDPR compliant way.
Author and sources
Author: Saskia Neuner, Chief of Staff at Seatti. As of 11 November 2026.
This article does not constitute legal advice and does not replace a legal review in the individual case.
Sources:
- German Works Constitution Act (Sections 87, 90, 111)
- GDPR (Art. 5, Art. 28)
- Regional Labour Court of Baden-Württemberg, decision of 6 August 2024, ref. 21 TaBV 7/24, and Heilbronn Labour Court, decision of 31 May 2024, ref. 7 BV 2/24, on co-determination in desk sharing and clean desk rules
- IP-based presence
- Data protection
- ISO 27001 certificate
- Seatti integration
- Article on works agreements for hybrid working (in German)
Frequently asked questions
In companies with a works council, individual parts of desk sharing are usually subject to co-determination under Section 87 BetrVG, above all booking rules, tidy desk rules and the use of a booking system. A works agreement is the usual way to regulate these topics bindingly. Whether it is mandatory in a specific case should be legally reviewed.
Usually a preamble and purpose, scope, definitions, booking rules, cleaning and hygiene rules and rules on personal belongings within the desk sharing model, exceptions and fixed workstations, software used, data collected, analyses excluding performance and behaviour monitoring, access rights, deletion periods, employee rights, equipment, pilot phase, changes to the system and final provisions. Which further building blocks are needed in an individual case, for example because of recent decisions, should be legally reviewed. A data catalogue, an authorisation concept and a deletion concept should be planned as annexes from the start.
The decision to use office space differently is usually made by the employer. The works council usually cannot prevent desk sharing entirely, but it has considerable influence on its design. Rules on conduct relating to order and the use of a booking system can be subject to co-determination. Section 111 BetrVG is relevant only in exceptional cases, because according to the prevailing view desk sharing alone does not regularly constitute an operational change, and the accompanying measures can be decisive. Involve the works council early and have specific questions legally clarified.
As a rule, there is no general entitlement to a personal desk; the employment contract and the individual case are decisive. For special protection needs, for example severe disability or a medically confirmed need, exceptions should be set out in the works agreement. Where a fixed workstation is not required, organisational solutions for the employees concerned can also be considered. The assessment in the individual case should be carried out by a lawyer.
The technical rollout of Seatti usually takes less than two weeks. It starts on the first day with the kick-off and technical installation. Admin training and office configuration follow in the first week, and user onboarding and go live in the second week. Coordination with the works council and data protection comes first and depends on your company.
