Ever turned up at a bank or department store (typically early in the morning) and found the doors unexpectedly closed and adorned with a cryptic notice about a "Betriebsversammlung"? The dictionary will tell you it's a "company meeting", but companys have meetings all the time without having to close to the public, don't they? Well, a Betriebsversammlung is actually a legally-required meeting to inform employees about the situation in their company, and so no-one has to get up early or go home late, they're usually held during normal company hours, and include everyone. So doors closed.There are two kinds of Betriebsversammlung: one run by the Betriebsrat (works council, a liasion committee between employers and employees), which has to be held once every quarter; and an annual one where the employer directly informs the employees about various situations within the company.

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