Use of Subcontractors/ Leased Personnel

The use of personnel that is not employed by a thyssenkrupp Group company ("external personnel") is a suitable instrument to perform the various tasks in the Group.  It can generally be used for the handling of tasks and orders and makes flexibility and, amongst other things, the economically reasonable dealing with peak loads possible.

However, when commissioning and executing activities through external personnel ("FPE"), there may be considerable risks if not used in compliance with the law, e.g. apparent self-employment, illegal/covert employee leasing, illicit work or illegal employment of foreigners.

If a company as a principal infringes duties/obligations when commissioning and using external companies, severe sanctions may be enforced. For example, fines can be imposed and compensation can be claimed for the non-payment of taxes and social security contributions as well as a profit skimming (" liability of the guarantor"). In addition, in the case of apparent self-employment and illegal employee leasing, an employment relationship may automatically arise between the persons used as apparent external staff and the company as the principal. Exclusion from public or private contract awards, etc., is also a risk.

Furthermore, individuals may also have to face an administrative offence or criminal proceedings (e.g. for the withholding/embezzlement of remuneration).

Now what does this mean for thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH?

thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH is an international trading company that organises and executes the purchase and sale of raw materials and steel products.

The use of external companies and personnel (e.g. logistics service providers) is therefore sometimes also important and absolutely essential for the company.

However, in order to guarantee the lawful use of external companies and external personnel regardless of the form of commissioning and to exclude and/or avoid the aforementioned risks involved, thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH is obliged, amongst other things, to carefully select its potential contractual partners, and in this context to obtain and check certain evidence/documents from them, taking into account the legal framework conditions and tk-group-internal requirements. For this purpose, the SAP-Ariba-based platform Pronet Supplier is used.