Notice periods of resigning workers employed before 2014: changes from 28 October!

The law providing for new notice periods in case of resignation will enter into force on 28 October 2023. It stipulates that the notice period in case of resignation may never exceed 13 weeks for all workers.

As a reminder, there is no impact on notice periods in case of dismissal.

What impact?

Henceforth, the notice period in case of resignation in force since 2014 will apply to all (manual/non-manual) workers, including those employed under a contract the performance of which began before 1 January 2014. It will no longer be necessary to distinguish between length of service acquired before 1 January 2014 and that acquired from 1 January 2014.  

To calculate the notice period of workers who resign and who started employment before 1 January 2014, only article 37/2 §2 of the Employment Contracts Act of 3 July 1978 will be applied, as shown in the table below. Your worker's length of service will therefore be at least 8 years and the notice period will thus be set at 13 weeks.

When?

This law will enter into force on 28 October 2023, meaning that all notices notified by your workers from that date will be subject to these new notice periods.

The notice period will be calculated on the basis of the table above:

• If the worker gives notice by registered letter as of 25 October 2023, notice is deemed to have been received on the third working day following the date it was sent, i.e., on 28 October 2023;
• If the worker gives notice by hand (with acknowledgement of receipt) as of 28 October 2023, notification takes place the day the letter is handed over.

More information on the duration of the notice period in case of resignation notified before 28 October 2023, can be found in our Infoflash of April 2023

Important note!

We remind you that your employment regulations must state the duration of the notice periods (or reference to the legal or regulatory provisions on this matter).

Therefore, you will have to modify the employment regulations to include these changes. 

If you have any questions about modifying your employment regulations, contact our Legal Partners via legalpartners@partena.be.

Source: Act of 20 March 2023 amending the Act of 26 December 2013 introducing a unified status for manual and non-manual workers with regard to the terms of notice and the waiting day and accompanying measures, with regard to the adaptation of the maximum legal notice periods in the event of notice given by the worker, Belgian Official Gazette of 28.04.2023.