BRUSSELS. Revolution in the labor regulations in Belgium, with an agreement in the Federal Government for a vast reform that provides, among other things, the possibility of spreading the weekly hours of a full-time contract over 4 working days, earning an extra day of rest per week. It will be “concrete progress for all workers!”, Labor Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne tweeted Tuesday night, announcing the agreement after the tiring negotiation at the ministerial committee.
The new structure provides for “the concrete right to training, protection of workers on digital platforms, a balance between professional and private life, and measures to strengthen employment”. “The Covid period forced us to work more flexibly, the job market had to adapt,” said Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. The new flexibility of hours, also conceived as a support to parenting, will allow workers in Belgium to ask to work more hours a week to do less the next. The new rules then provide for the introduction of a real right to training, with the request, for example, of a plan to develop the skills of workers to all companies with more than 20 employees. Rules will therefore be established for the right to disconnect (always in companies with more than 20 employees), as well as providing more aid to those who are fired. Those who work with a variable part-time, such as the cashiers of a department store, must be informed of the time seven working days in advance (from the current 5).
The ambitious goal of the reform is to reach an employment rate in the country of 80% by 2030, compared to the current 71%. Some measures have already been launched in October. The initiative to ask for a working week with hours spread over 4 days instead of 5 will be left to the employee, while the employer will have to justify the refusal. Every six months, the employee can then decide whether to renew the requested shifts. To get to have spread 40 hours over 4 days, however, an agreement at the level of a collective agreement will also be necessary.
One of the pillars of the Belgian government’s plan is training. From this year, at least 3 training days per year will be provided for employees, which will have to rise to at least 4 in 2023 and 5 in 2024. The new rules set compensation criteria between the old and new employer to make easier the steps, and for older employees the last third of the notice period can also be converted into training or outplacement through employer contributions. Some stakes are introduced to better protect the workers of the gig economy, in particular when they can be considered self-employed and when employees. All will be covered by insurance in the event of an accident at work.