Question

Are employees of an association automatically deemed to be members of the association?

Answer

As, generally speaking, the individuals concerned are required to provide their consent in order to join an association, it is not possible for association employees to be automatically admitted.

All of the members of an association have the same rights and obligations. If employees are also association members, they have the same voting and electoral rights as the other members and are required to pay the defined annual fee (unless the articles of association state something to the contrary). If employees account for a majority of the members within an association with a low member count, this can be problematic, as the general meeting is deemed to be the associations' most senior body. In this case, the employees could ultimately make decisions regarding the association, which is also their employer.