Partial work resumption: deviation from the minimum weekly working hours

After a period of full incapacity for work, an employee may receive temporary permission from the examining medical officer of the health insurance fund to resume adapted work due to reduced work capacity. In the case of a partial resumption of work, it is assumed that the employee's employment contract is not changed, but that certain modalities of the performance of the contract are modified.

When the employee resumes work part-time, was part-time work legislation to be complied with? Did the minimum weekly duration of 1/3rd of a full-time employee have to be met?

Until now, the legislation on part-time work resumption did not provide an explicit exception. Thus, in principle, the employee who resumed work had to be employed according to a work schedule in accordance with the relevant legislation. This means that, he or she had to be employed at least 1/3rd of the weekly working hours of a full-time employee in the company.

As of 16 October, a derogation from the minimum weekly working hours (1/3rd of the weekly working hours of a full-time employee) will be provided for employees who work under a partial resumption of work. These employees will now be able to be employed under an employment arrangement of less than 1/3rd of a full-time employee.

Source: Royal Decree amending the Royal Decree of 21 December 1992 on the derogations from the minimum weekly working hours of part-time employees established by article 11bis of the Employment Contract Act of 3 July 1978, Belgian Official Gazette of 06.10.2022.