Collective Agreement Belgium

The proposed „collective redundancies”, which would affect costs for a period of 60 days (and must be followed), are governed by specific procedural and material rules: emigration on the spot, slowdowns, etc., cannot be prevented or punished. Picketing and picketing third are allowed. Participation in a strike should not be invoked as a reason for terminating an employment contract, even if the strike is irregular. Mandatory arbitration agreements or clauses are null and void. Workers can take legal action in labour court at any time. Collective bargaining between social partners (i.e. trade unions and employers` organisations) plays a key role in the development of labour law rules in Belgium. Collective agreements are concluded at the national or sectoral level by representatives of both organizations or, at the enterprise level, between representatives of employers and unions. Collective agreements at the national or sectoral level are often declared to be of general application to the private sector as a whole or to all employers and workers in the sector.

In addition, 96% of private sector employees are subject to collective agreements. These agreements are legally binding and, unless otherwise stated, some employment contracts cannot deviate from their provisions. In recent years, since the economic crisis, the margin of negotiation on wages at the national level has been very limited and it has been difficult to reach an agreement with the three confederations on an inter-professional agreement (IPI/IPA). Negotiations at this level take place every two years and the two-year contract for 2017-18, signed in January 2017, which, in addition to automatic wage indexation on prices (see below), provides 1.1% without wage fees (see below) is the only one agreed since the 2009-10 agreement. The ceding employer is required to inform the ceding workers of the transmission, either collectively or in the absence of an individual social organization. There are signs that the strict caps on wage increases set in national agreements have led to increased use of company-based negotiated bonuses. [6] 2.5 Under what circumstances will an enterprise committee have participation rights, so that an employer cannot continue until it has obtained the agreement of the Works Council on the proposals? Unions can form „union delegations” in companies according to a given procedure. They represent workers in collective bargaining (at all levels) and, in labour disputes, before the labour tribunal. They also represent the interests of employees within companies (for example. B by negotiating collective terms of employment). They have the right to be informed in advance of changes that may affect the contractual and usual terms of employment and remuneration.

You can initiate collective actions. Labour tribunals are responsible for all labour disputes (for example. B termination of employment contracts, pay, equal treatment and unfair competition). In principle, they are not competent for collective labour disputes. However, they may impose a penalty for collective and litigation disputes. This structure means that the proportion of employees is high in the private sector. A Eurofound report using Belgian employment services (SPF/WAD) figures estimated coverage at 96% in 2014. [1] In principle, there is no participation in Belgian labour law, with the exception of very specific cases such as the implementation of the labour regulation or the definition of selection criteria in the context of a collective dismissal procedure.