European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Law of 29/03/2012: Articles 62, 63 and 65; Law of 24/03/2024: Article 2, 45/1 and 3
In case of collective redundancies (within 60 days, at least 10 dismissals in companies with 20-99 employees, 10% of the workforce in companies with 100-299 employees, at least 30 dismissals in companies with 300 or more employees), companies must spread redundancies proportionally with regards to the age of their employees in order to maintain the age pyramid in the workplace as it was before the collective redundancies. A deviation of 10% is accepted for redundancies spread across the different age categories (namely: younger than 30; 30–50; 50 and older). Employees with fixed-term contracts and those hired for a specific project can be excluded from this scheme. Employees in key roles in the company may also be excluded. Unions' representatives have a particular protection against layoffs which can be removed only by the relevant joint committee or the labour court.
The Belgian law of 24 March 2024 introduces new protections for employees (both women and men) who are absent from work due to fertility treatments or medically assisted reproduction programmes. Specifically, it prohibits employers from unilaterally terminating such employees from the moment they inform the employer with a medical certificate, up to two months after, unless the employer can prove unrelated grounds. If violated, the employee is entitled to compensation equal to six months’ gross pay. It also strengthens anti-discrimination provisions to include such absences.
The Act of 19 March 1991 introduced a special dismissal protection regime for employee representatives in works councils and committees for workplace safety, health and embellishment, as well as for non-elected candidates. Under this framework, such workers could only be dismissed for serious misconduct recognised by the labour court or for economic and technical reasons validated by the competent joint committee. The protection aimed to safeguard the independence of employee representatives during and after social elections.
The Act of 3 December 2023 amended this act to align with the gradual increase in the statutory retirement age. Previously, protection ended at 65 years. The amendment extends this threshold to 66 years from 1 February 2025 and to 67 years from 1 February 2030. All other conditions of dismissal remain unchanged. This adjustment ensures continued protection for representatives in the final years of their careers, maintaining consistency with pension reforms.
The obligation to respect the age pyramid does not create special protection or rights for individual employees but it is an important condition for companies wishing to maintain their entitlement to a reduction in social security contributions. The goal of this obligation is to prevent the targeting of specific age groups within the company in case of dismissals. In some cases, employers would want to dismiss older employees in favour of younger ones, since they are more expensive because of their seniority years.
Eurofound (2015), Belgium: Selection of employees for (collective) dismissals, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/selection-of-employees-for-collective-dismissals/belgium
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