Law on Feasible and Manageable Work - Simplification of part-time work (2)

The Law on Feasible and Manageable Work simplifies and modernises certain aspects of part-time work. The emphasis is on reducing administrative red tape for employers.

This reduction concerns:

• The content of the terms & conditions of employment (work regulations);
• Drafting of employment contracts;
• Measures relating to notification and monitoring of hours worked.

Measures relating to notification and monitoring

Notification

Keeping of a copy of the contract where the terms & conditions of employment (work regulations) can be consulted

A copy of the part-time worker’s employment contract (or an extract containing the working hours, the identity of the worker to whom they apply and the signature of the worker and the employer) must be kept, in either paper or electronic (new) format, in the same place that the terms & conditions of employment (work regulations) can be consulted.

Communication of daily working hours to workers employed on a variable working hours basis

Where the working hours are variable, workers will be notified of their working hours in advance by means of a written and dated notice in accordance with the methods and timeframe stated in the work regulations.

The timeframe in question is 5 business days before the start of work. A shorter timeframe (minimum of one business day) could be provided for via a collective labour agreement made binding by royal decree.

Furthermore, from the moment and for as long as the working hours are in force, this notice with individual working hours, or a copy, must be placed, in either paper or electronic (new) format, in the same location that the work regulations can be consulted. It must be retained for a period of one year from the date on which the working hours it contains are no longer in force.

IN PRACTICAL TERMS: notification and display, in accordance with the provisions of the work regulations, of variable working hours in a single written and dated “message” that may be in electronic or paper format.

There is no longer any requirement for two notifications as in the current legislation (notification of the worker + display of a notice for labour law compliance).

Comment/reminder - Employers that already employ part-time workers with variable working hours before 1 October 2017 have until 31 March 2018 to amend their work regulations. Until then, the “old” provisions remain applicable.

In summary

Monitoring

Irrespective of the notification measures for working hours, the employer must record, in an inspection document, all derogations from the working hours set out in the employment contract or from the variable working hours.

A time recording system can be used to replace this inspection document under certain conditions.

The time recording system must contain the following data for each worker concerned:

• The identity of the worker;
• The start and end of work, each day, and the worker’s rest periods; this data must be recorded, respectively, at the time the work begins or ends and at the start and end of rest periods;
• The period to which the data recorded relates.

The time recording system must contain the data recorded during the period concerned and it must be possible for the part-time worker and the labour inspectorates to consult it. The data recorded must be retained for a period of 5 years.

This system does not have to be electronic. It can be paper-based.

It should also be noted that the trade union delegation must, in accordance with Collective Labour Agreement no. 5 of 24 May 1971 relating to the status of trade union delegations, be able to exercise its powers concerning the time recording system and the data recorded.

This system does not necessarily have to be electronic, provided that the system chosen satisfies the aforementioned conditions.

It should be noted that other methods of monitoring could be set down by royal decree based on a proposal by the joint committee or for workers that perform work outside the company’s premises. An attendance record mentioning the work start and end time and break times may also be used to replace the inspection document. These rules already existed and have not been modified.

Where not recorded in the inspection documents or where a time recording system is not used, part-time workers are presumed, unless otherwise proven, to have performed their work under an employment contract as a full-time worker (rule unchanged).

In summary

Source: Articles 56 to 67 of the Law of 5 March 2017 on Feasible and Manageable Work, Belgian Official Gazette, 15 March 2017.

Author: Brigitte Dendooven

29/03/2017