Article

Articles 62-70

Description

As soon as unions' representatives have been informed about the intention to proceed to collective dismissals (namely, within 60 days, dismissals of at least 10 workers in firms with 20-99 employees, of at least 10% of the workforce in companies with 100-299 employees or at least 30 workers in firms with 300 or more staff), the employers are required to notify the regional employment office (VDAB in Flanders, FOREM in Wallonia and ACTIRIS in Brussels). From that moment, the information and consultation procedure starts with no time limit with regards to when it should end. As soon as this step is completed, employers are required to notify the regional employment office in writing, providing proofs that the consultation procedure has been respected and providing information related to the affected employees, the activities of the employer, and the characteristics of the consultation (who was consulted when on what) that has taken place with the works council.

A copy of the notification letter must be also sent to the Federal Public Department for Employment, Labour ans Social Consultation. The law does not specify any obligation for the public authority to respond to the notification.

From that moment, union representatives have 30 days to object about the information and consultation process. During this period, the employer cannot proceed to any layoff. If no objections are expressed during this period, at the end of it the employer is allowed to proceed with the collective dismissal. However, if objections are expressed, the regional employment office can extend this period up to 60 days. In this case, the employer has to address the issue raised by the unions by the end of the extended period.

Commentary

Based on data from the Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, the following table illustrates the number of companies  which started an information and consultation procedure each year, and the number of employees involved.

Additional metadata

Cost covered by

Not available

Involved actors other than national government

Public employment service

Involvement (others)

None

Thresholds

Affected employees: 10
Company size: 20
Additional information: No, applicable in all circumstances

Sources

• Wet houdende bepalingen tot bevordering van de tewerkstelling
• Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French - in Dutch)
• Ius Laboris (2009), Collective Redundancies Guide, Brussels
• Alpha Consulting (2003), Anticipating and Managing Change - A dynamic approach to the social aspects of corporate restructuring, Brussels, European Commission
• Restructuring in Belgium
• Bingen A., Hégalé M. and Layon E. (2006), L'accompagnement des travailleurs licenciés collectivement, Courrier hebdomadaire n° 1943-1944, p. 71
• Dorssemont F. (2006), 'The Renault Saga (revisited)', European Company Law, Issue 1 (3), pp. 5–10
• Restructuring statistics - Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue