Standby duty... always working hours?

16 maart 2021 - Frederik Dudal
On-call duty, standby duty, etc., often give rise to a discussion as to whether or not a certain part of this time can be considered ‘working hours’. After all, this is important when you need to know whether to pay wages. It may also lead to the maximum limits on working time being exceeded, for which overtime and/or compensatory rest may be due. Recently, the Court of Justice provided more clarity on employees in a ‘deserted’ or ‘difficult to reach workplace’. Or how an almost unreachable idyllic Slovenian mountain landscape shapes the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Workplace elections require thorough preparation - Update: suspension of the workplace election procedure by Covid-19.

29 oktober 2020 - Filip Tilleman
Every four years, the social partners in Belgium hold their Olympic Games: workplace elections. After the votes have been counted we know which of the workplace representatives will be members of the Works Councils and the Health and Safety Committees. Thorough preparation of this process is very important for any company.

More collective redundancies in coronavirus year 2020

19 oktober 2020 - Filip Tilleman
Since 2011, the Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue has published quarterly statistics on collective redundancies on their website. The number of collective redundancies announced at the end of September 2020 is already remarkably high: 6,811 workers. Compared to previous years, this is a clear increase. The coronavirus crisis is making itself felt, as expected, in the loss of jobs.

Coronavirus: what are the consequences for work?

19 maart 2020 - Filip Tilleman
A pandemic such as a coronavirus (COVID-19) has a significant impact on our professional lives. We, therefore, answer some pressing questions. How to fight the virus in the workplace? What to do if a colleague becomes infected? What if I am infected myself? Do I still have to come to work? Am I entitled to my regular wages?

Statistics on collective redundancies

12 februari 2020 - Filip Tilleman
Since 2011, the Belgian Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue has published quarterly statistics on collective redundancies on the website employment.belgium.be. The number of collective redundancies announced in 2018 was around 6,027. This represents an increase compared with the remarkably low figure of 3,829 in 2017. In 2019, the number went back up again in line with 2018, reaching 5,087 announced collective redundancies.

The all-powerful Social Inspectorate

23 januari 2020 - Filip Tilleman
The criminal trial of a well-known restaurant owner has once again drawn attention to the very broad inspection powers of the social inspectorate. The employer refused to allow the social inspectorate to enter his restaurant. Nevertheless, social inspectors are legally entitled to freely enter all possible workplaces at any time of the day or night, without prior notice!

Entitlement to wages for people arriving late for work?

11 december 2019 - Filip Tilleman
Bad weather, heavy traffic, a train strike or you've simply overslept. These are all the reasons employees give when they are late for work. The key question is, according to the letter of the law, what are the valid reasons for latecomers keeping their full wage or avoiding other sanctions?

Severance pay for part-time work

18 november 2019 - Filip Tilleman
What effect does part-time work have on the calculation of severance pay in the event of dismissal? By definition, a part-time employee has a lower salary than a colleague who does the same job full-time, but does this also apply to severance pay?

Take all your holidays in time, by the end of the year!

28 oktober 2019 - Filip Tilleman
Employees must take their legal holiday entitlement before the end of the year. Nonetheless, we see in practice that some employees and employers make mutual agreements to transfer holidays to the following year. This practice is unlawful and is even a punishable offence! It is important that the entire holiday entitlement is taken in time.

The pitfalls of the hidden protection period

16 september 2019 - Filip Tilleman
Employees who are candidates in trade union elections are by law protected against dismissal, despite the fact that their employers do not yet know about their being candidates. During this hidden period, union representatives and candidates in union elections can only be dismissed for two very strictly defined reasons: economic-technical reasons and urgent reasons. Even so, an employer who dismisses an employee during this period takes a huge risk.