BDA position paper on standardisation in the field of human resources management

The number of standardisation projects addressing such policies and occupational safety and health is increasing. The content of the resulting standards encroaches time and again into an area that in Germany is the preserve of the social partners and enjoys constitutional protection. The BDA’s paper also points out that technical standardisation follows principles that differ fundamentally from those for the formulation of collective agreements or human resources management within companies: solutions for the latter are far more bespoke and for this reason wholly unsuited to standardisation. The BDA calls for a number of measures to address this issue. Examples include:
•    Provision by DIN of support to both of the social partners during standardisation processes
•    Recognition by DIN of employers’ associations as a stakeholder in their own right, as is already the case for the trade unions
•    Establishment of a body along the lines of KAN for monitoring and intervention in the standardisation of human resources management 
The position paper can be accessed (in German) at: https://arbeitgeber.de/wp-content/uploads/bda-arbeitgeber-positionspapier-grenzen_der_normung_im_personalmanagement-2026_01.pdf