In that regard, the Belgian government has launched several aid measures, including the law of 6 March 2020 for the safeguarding of employment after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (the “Law of 6 March 2020”).

The objective of this law consists of limiting the loss of employment, caused by Brexit, as much as possible. To do so, three possible instruments are being offered to employers: temporary employment, time credit and collective reduction of labour hours. These will be discussed below. The instruments allow for the minimization of labour costs by downsizing the volume of labour.

Inspiration for these measures was drawn from the aid measures applicable during the crisis of 2009-2011.

In addition to the above mentioned crisis measures, aid measures are being put into place to limit the salary loss for the employee, as much as possible.

Where the parliamentary preparatory works state that the law of 6 March 2020 would only enter into force in case of a no-deal Brexit, the Royal Decree of 31 January 2021 (laying down the date of entry into force and expiry of the titles 1 and 2 of the law of 6 March 2020, B.G. February 15th 2021), provides for the crisis measures to be applicable during the period between March 22nd 2021 and March 21st 2022.

These measures will be available to all employers experiencing economic hardship as a result of Brexit, which requires an express recognition by the minister of Employment.

The law of 6 March 2020 sets out a minimum requirement of a 5% decrease of turnover, of production or of orders placed as a consequence of Brexit in order to be eligible for aid. This decrease will have to be proven by means of a comparison between the numbers of one of the two months which precede the application and the date of the corresponding month of one of the two calendar years which precede the application.

In addition to the recognition as an ‘employer in hardship’, the employer concerned also has to be bound by a collective labour agreement, put into place by the competent joint labour committee, setting out the specifically implemented crisis measures. Or, in absence of this:

• For companies with union delegation: a collective labour agreement decided at the level of the company;
• For companies without union delegation:
  • A approved application for recognition as defined above, or;
  • A collective labour agreement decided at the level of the company;

As mentioned above, the package of crisis measures, implemented by the law of 6 March 2020, consists of forms of temporary unemployment, time credit and collective reduction of working hours and will be at the disposal of the employers from March 22nd 2021 until March 21st 2022.

We will now discuss each of the three crisis measures in detail.

A. Temporary unemployment

Firstly, the employer in hardship can choose to apply for the temporary unemployment of its employees, during the period of recognition.

For blue-collar workers the maximum period of this measure is limited to eight weeks if the employment agreement is entirely suspended and to six months if a system of partial employment is put into place.

During the period of temporary unemployment, the blue-collar worker is entitled to a supplement of at least 5,63 EUR a day for each day he does not work, on top of his unemployment allowance. This supplement will be paid by the employer.

For white-collar workers the maximum period of the temporary unemployment is also limited to eight weeks per calendar year in case of an total suspension and to thirteen weeks per calendar year in case a system of partial employment is put into place.

Here too, the white-collar worker will be entitled to a daily supplement for each day he does not work. This supplement will at least be equal to the supplement granted to the blue-collar workers employed by the same employer.

Moreover, for white-collar workers, this supplement can be charged to the Welfare Fund, if a collective labour agreement, declared generally binding by Royal Decree, would be issued to this end.

B. Time credit

The second instrument which is offered to the employer in hardship, concerns the system of time credit.

The employer can propose to each full-time employed employee to reduce his working hours with 1/5 or down to a part-time job during a certain period, which cannot be shorter than one month and which may not exceed six months.

Moreover, in application of this law, an employee employed with working hours of at least ¾ will be considered as a full-time employee.

If the employee agrees with this time credit, the temporary reduction of working hours will need to be put in writing between the employer and the employee in accordance with article 11bis of the Law regarding Employment Agreements, which sets out the requirements for an employment agreement for temporary labour.

The aforementioned agreement can be renewed, without exceeding the legally determined maximum term of 6 months.

During the period of reduced working hours, the employee will receive a similar allowance as the employees who benefit from the general regulation on time credit in application of the collective labour agreement 103ter.

The time credit as put in place by the law of 6 March 2020 will not be deducted from the 51 months of time credit to which the employee is normally entitled.

C. Collective reduction of working hours

Finally, the employer can also opt for a system of collective reduction of working hours. Because of this, the employer can decide to reduce the working hours of all or of a specific category of employees with at least one forth or one fifth, if it concerns full-time employees. Furthermore, a four day working week can also be put into place.

This collective reduction of working hours has to be governed by a collective labour agreement at the level of the company or has to be set out in the company’s work rules, if there is no union delegation. In any case, compensation for salary must be provided for, and will be financed by ¾ of the target-group reduction which the employer will benefit from because of the reduction of working hours.

D. Conclusion

As mentioned before, these three measures will be at the disposal of the employer, recognised as an ‘employer in hardship’ by the minister of Employment, during the period of March 22nd 2021 until March 21st 2022.

At present it is not yet possible to apply for such recognition, since the application form which is to be used, has not yet been established by the minister of Employement.

Nevertheless, we will keep you informed on any further developments in this regard.

Do you have other queries regarding this subject or do you wish to be assisted in your application for recognition?

Our employment law department will gladly assist you.

The post Temporary crisis measures in support of employers facing economic difficulties as a result of Brexit first appeared on Racine.

This measure should meet the concerns of parents, schools etc. in order to provide additional care now that economic activities will be restarted in phases from Monday the 4th of  May as well.

Additional favour

The corona parental leave comes on top of the existing parental leave. It therefore does not affect the credit for ordinary parental leave.

As a reminder, ‘ordinary’ parental leave is a right which exists for employees with at least one year’s seniority which can be exercised until their child reaches the age of 12 (21 years in the case of a disabled child). When parental leave is taken in one period, it may not exceed four months.

Prior consent of the employer required

The corona parental leave can only be taken in consultation with the employer. An application for corona parental leave must therefore always be approved in advance by the employer. An employer can thus refuse such a request, albeit substantiated. After the corona-paternity leave has been approved, an employee can submit his application to the NEO.

Although the government decision has not yet been published in the Belgian Official Gazette, since 1 May 2020 an employee can try to reach an agreement with his employer on taking this corona parental leave. If an agreement is reached, parental leave can, in principle, also start immediately. As long as the decision is not published, an application for ‘ordinary parental leave’ will have to be submitted to the RVA (which will then be converted into corona parental leave).

For whom?

Each parent who has at least one month of seniority with their employer and has at least one dependent child under the age of 12. For parents with a disabled child, the age limit is 21 years. Foster parents can also make use of the corona parental leave.

Modalities

For full-time employees, the corona parental leave can be taken in the form of a 1/5th break (1 day per week). For employees who work at least 75%, this can be taken in the form of a half-time break.

Period

The corona parental leave can be taken between 1 May and 30 June 2020 (either in a continuous period or in several periods of one month / one week).

Benefits from NEO

During parental leave, the employee does not receive any pay from his/her employer. However, he does receive an interruption benefit from the National Employment Office which – according to the Minister of Labour – would be 25% higher than the benefits within the framework of the ordinary parental leave.

Would you like to know more?

Contact the Racine employment team.

Would you like to receive updates? Follow us on LinkedIn!

The post EMPLOYMENT FLASH COVID-19: CORONA PARENTAL LEAVE first appeared on Racine.

In principle (and hopefully) phase 1A of the COVID 19 exit strategy will start soon. The start date for this is currently scheduled for Monday 4 May 2020.

Industrial and B2B companies will be able to resume their activities from this date, regardless of their size and/or sector. Below you will find the most important points of attention with a view to restarting these activities:

• Prior to the restart, each employer must implement strict safety standards regarding hygiene and social distance.  Please note that teleworking remains the norm – wherever possible.
  In a generic guide (FR /NL) , the Minister of Work has bundled the minimum protection measures that each employer must take. This guide must be a source of inspiration for every employer to be able to restart safely. The joint committees are currently working on additional specific sector-specific measures.
• The consultative bodies in undertakings, as well as the internal or external prevention adviser, should be consulted in due time and as much as possible in the choice and concrete implementation of the safety measures.
• Communicate the date of the restart to your employees in a timely manner.
• After the restart, each employer will have to ensure that the measures taken are respected at all times on the work floor. Controls by the competent authorities can be expected in this context.

Would you like to know more?

Contact the Racine employment team.

The post Guidelines for the restart of industry and B2B services first appeared on Racine.

NEWSFLASH EMPLOYMENT – COVID-19

Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on social elections: suspension of electoral procedure legally confirmed

In a previous Newsflash, we informed you that the social partners in the National Labour Council reached an agreement on the suspension of the election procedure because of the COVID-19 crisis. This has now also been legally confirmed. Yesterday an act regulating the suspension of the social elections procedure of the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 corona crisis pandemic was voted in Parliament. This act will soon be published in the Belgian Official Gazette (with retroactive effect from 17 March).

This act puts an end to the uncertainties that existed with regard to the current electoral procedures and the actions that still had to be taken in this context.

The most important principles in this act can be summarised as follows:

The period in which the new election dates will take place has not (yet) been determined. Earlier, the NLC had proposed the period from 16 to 29 November 2020 in this context, but so far this has not been confirmed by the government. We may have to wait and see how the pandemic will evolve and how long its consequences will last.

1)    The period in which the new election dates will take place has not (yet) been determined. Earlier, the NLC had proposed the period from 16 to 29 November 2020 in this context, but so far this has not been confirmed by the government. We may have to wait and see how the pandemic will evolve and how long its consequences will last.

2)    All electoral acts up to and including X + 35 had to be carried out according to the initial calendar. In concrete terms, this means that the candidate lists had to be submitted no later than day X + 35 (i.e. in principle no later than 30 March according to the initial calendar, except for companies that start the election procedure later, or were delayed due to legal proceedings).

The candidates who appear on these candidate lists from day X + 35 will benefit from special protection against dismissal.

3)    All further electoral acts shall be suspended for an indefinite period of time as of day X + 36. This means that all actions from day X + 36, such as, for example, the posting of the candidate lists or the phase of complaint and appeal against these candidate lists, cannot be continued. If this should nevertheless happen, the act explicitly stipulates that these acts are null and void.

All further electoral acts shall be suspended for an indefinite period of time as of day X + 36. This means that all actions from day X + 36, such as, for example, the posting of the candidate lists or the phase of complaint and appeal against these candidate lists, cannot be continued. If this should nevertheless happen, the act explicitly stipulates that these acts are null and void.

Only when no single candidate list has been submitted (and this for none of the personnel categories), the procedure may be terminated since the original day X + 36. For this purpose, the ordinary termination procedure must be followed.

As mentioned above, the date on which the election procedure can be resumed from X + 36 has not yet been determined.

4)    Compliance with the eligibility conditions will be assessed for all candidates in relation to the initial election date Y (and not in relation to the new election date yet to be determined).

5)    The existing consultative bodies (Works Council and/or Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work) will continue to function until the newly elected bodies are in place (i.e. at the latest on the new day Y + 45). On the basis of the election period proposed by the NLC, this date would be situated between the 31st of December 2020 and the 13th of January 2021.

6)    Consequently, all candidates, all non-elected candidates and all members of the existing consultative bodies remain subject to the special protection against dismissal until the new day Y + 45 – and this also during the period of suspension.

This special dismissal protection consists of a fixed part (in function of the seniority on the date of dismissal) and a variable part if the employee requests his reintegration and the employer does not agree to this.

However, for all candidates in 2016 who no longer appear in 2020, there is a special arrangement for the variable part of the special protection against dismissal:

• For those who were already dismissed before the 17th of March 2020, the calculation of the variable protection indemnity will be limited in function of the initially foreseen day Y + 45 (normally June 2020);
• For those who are dismissed after the 17th of March 2020, the normal calculation of the variable protection indemnity continues to apply, more specifically as a function of the deferred day Y + 45 (possibly at the end of 2020 – beginning of 2021).

7)    The occult period of protection against dismissal is closed at X + 35 for the candidates who were effectively nominated as candidates on this day.

For the substitutes of these candidates, who will only be nominated after the period of suspension, the occult period does not run for the moment. This occult period will only start for them from the 36th day prior to the new day X + 36 to be determined within the new election calendar.

As soon as the new election dates are confirmed by Royal Decree, a new election calendar can be drawn up. We will of course keep you further informed and remain at your disposal for further questions in this respect.

Would you like to know more?

Contact the Racine employment team.

Would you like to stay informed? Follow us on LinkedIn!

The post Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on social elections: suspension of electoral procedure legally confirmed first appeared on Racine.

Whether your company complies with these measures, you can check for yourself on the basis of a specific prevention checklist COVID-19:

• CHECKLIST IN FRENCH
• CHECKLIST IN DUTCH

However, this possibility of self-monitoring is now also used by the inspection services of Supervision Welfare at Work to check by telephone / e-mail whether the coronary measures within your company are being complied with.

Therefore, prepare yourself now by discussing this checklist with your internal or external prevention service so that you can give clear answers in case of a check by the inspection authorities. In addition, it is advisable to already gather evidence, for example by taking some pictures of the adapted workplaces and listing the concrete measures that have been taken to secure the workplace.

Penalties for employers in the context of well-being at work are severe, ranging from administrative to criminal fines, and even imprisonment. If the inspection authorities consider that the health or safety of workers is endangered, a decision may be taken to stop the activity of your company or to seal the workplace.

Attention, your employees can also contact the inspection services directly if they are of the opinion that you, as an employer, do not comply with the mandatory coronary measures. They can also report infringements via a specific website. Such a complaint naturally increases the risk of an inspection. It is therefore absolutely advisable to organise the work in accordance with the coronation measures and to communicate transparently with your employees in this respect.

If you have any questions about the COVID-19 virus in the workplace, don’t hesitate. We will be happy to assist you in these very unusual circumstances.

The post Is your company prepared for a corona compliance check? first appeared on Racine.

• Temporary unemployment
• Overview of measures for companies
• Impact of Corona virus on submission deadlines for public tenders
• Corona virus and the execution of public procurement contracts
• Corona virus and its impact on ongoing B2B contracts
• Corona virus and relief measures
• Corona virus and flexibility for HR matters
• Corona virus in Belgium
• Corona – Useful links

The post COVID-19: Racine updates first appeared on Racine.

Until recent two scenarios for temporary unemployment were possible: (i) either temporary employment due to force majeure or, (ii) either temporary employment due to economic reasons (because of the lack of work)

Given the large number of short-term applications and the fact that the conditions and formalities of the aforementioned scenarios differed significantly, the Council of Ministers decided to set up one uniform procedure for temporary unemployment which is the same for blue and white collar workers.

If an employer is faced with temporary unemployment due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (and therefore there is no or a lack or work), this situation will be qualified as a situation of force majeure.

We hereby list the most important changes of the corona procedure:

• All corona related forms of temporary unemployment are now automatically considered as temporary unemployment due to force majeure.
• The competent office of the ONEM should no longer be notified in advance of a situation of temporary unemployment based on force majeure (and their decision should therefore no longer be awaited). This measure applies provisionally until the 5th of April 2020.
• If you have already submitted an application for temporary unemployment due to economic reasons and you already reported the coronavirus when you notified the ONEM, the latter will convert your case into a file for temporary unemployment due to reasons of force majeure without further formalities or requirements. The aforementioned also applies when certain employees are still able to work or work certain days.

Important to note is that the DRS (scenario 5) form “force majeure” already indicates the reason for the temporary unemployment (and this by mentioning the code “nature of the day” 5.4 and with the reason “coronavirus”).

As an employer, you are obliged to submit this form as soon as possible so as the ONEM can use this form to determine the amount of the benefits for the workers wo are temporarily unemployed.

Hence, you do not have to postpone the submission of the DSR (scenario 5) from until the end of the month. As soon as all the data until the end of the moth are given, you will be able to submit the document. As a result of this, your employees to be paid more quickly

The following link refers to the aforementioned DSR (scenario 5) form :

In Dutch: https://www.socialsecurity.be/site_nl/employer/applics/drs/onem/scen5/about.htm

In French: https://www.socialsecurity.be/site_fr/employer/applics/drs/onem/scen5/about.htm

• Even if the coronavirus was not mentioned in the initial application for temporary unemployment for economic reasons, you can perfectly switch to the corona procedure by specifying “force majeure” as the reason for the temporary unemployment in the DSR (scenario 5) (by entering the code ‘nature of the day’ 5.4 and with ‘corona virus’ as the reason)
• If you have not yet applied for temporary unemployment, it is sufficient to submit a DRS (scenario 5) to the ONEM indicating “force majeure” as the reason for the temporary unemployment (by using code 5.4 and mentioning “coronavirus” as the reason). We advise you to contact your payroll agency as soon as possible in order to complete these formalities.
• During the corona procedure, the obligation of the employer to provide a control form C3.2A to each temporarily unemployed worker on a monthly basis will be expired for the months March, April, May and June 2020. Consequently, employees are no longer obliged to have a C3.2A card for those four months.
• The temporarily unemployed worker must add a simplified form C3.2 – EMPLOYEE – CORONA when submitting his application for his benefit claim to his payment institution. He will have to send this simplified form to his union or, if he is not a member of a union, to the HVW (the auxiliary cash office).
• Every worker who is temporarily unemployed on the basis of the corona procedure will be entitled to unemployment allowances without any specific conditions precedent (such as going through a waiting period). This benefit amounts to 70% of the average capped salary (capped at EUR 2,754.76 per month) provisionally provided until the 30th of June 2020.

On top of that, all workers concerned will receive a supplement of EUR 5.63 gross per day (on top of the daily unemployment allowance) to be paid by the ONEM.

However, a withholding tax of 26,75% on the professional income will be deducted from the unemployment allowance.

In order to accelerate the payment process, the federal government has expressed its intention to pay an advance of EUR 1,450.00 per month to all the employees concerned. The correct amount will only be determined, and, if necessary, regularised at a later stage.

• As part of the corona procedure, workers can alternate days of unemployment with working days. In this event, it is important to note that an unemployed day must contain a full day each time. Therefore, a day where a worker solely works in the morning and is unemployed in the afternoon (or vice versa) will not be qualified as an “unemployed day”.

If you have any further questions and/or require assistance in this respect, the Employment Team of Racine would be glad to assist.

The post Corona – Temporary unemployment first appeared on Racine.

On the occasion of the meeting of the National Security Council and the Minister-Presidents on 27 March 2020 with the aim of preventing further spread of the COVID-19 virus, the measures taken previously were extended until 19 April 2020, with a possible further extension until 3 May 2020.

During this period, the following measures shall remain in force:

1. Citizens are required to stay at home to avoid contact outside their family as much as possible:

• Except to go to work.
• Except for essential travel (to the doctor, food shops, post office, bank, pharmacy, to refuel or to help people in need).
• Outdoor exercise is allowed and even recommended. You can exercise together with family members living under the same roof and together with one friend. Trips with family members living under the same roof are allowed. It is important to keep a reasonable distance.
• Larger gatherings of people are not allowed.

2. Companies – irrespective of their size – are obliged to organise working from home for every position where this is possible, without exception.

• If this is not possible for certain employees, social distancing will be strictly respected. This rule applies both to the performance of work and to transport organised by the employer. If companies cannot meet these obligations, they must shut down.
• If the authorities find that the social distancing measures are not being complied with, first a heavy fine will be imposed on the company; in the event of non-compliance after the fine has been imposed, the company will have to shut down.
• These provisions do not apply to key industries and essential services. However, they will have to ensure that the social distancing rules are respected as much as possible.

3. Non-essential shops and retail outlets will remain closed, with the exception of food shops, pharmacies, pet food shops and newsagents.

• In addition, access to supermarkets will be regulated, with the number of customers being limited (1 person per 10m² and a maximum presence of 30 minutes).
• Bars are obliged to put their terrace furniture inside.
• Night shops are allowed to remain open until 10 PM and must comply with the social distancing instructions.
• Regarding hairdressers, one client at a time is admitted per hairdresser’s salon.

4. Public transport should be organised in such a way as to ensure social distancing.

5. Non-essential travel outside Belgium is prohibited.

6. Outdoor markets are shut down. Food stalls are only allowed in areas where they are indispensable.

7. Horeca and leisure activities will be closed during the whole week.

In addition to these measures, regional or local authorities may have taken stricter preventive measures (following the example of the municipality Knokke-Heist).

These measures have a significant impact on your business, from an operational, logistic and HR point of view.

Existing B2B contracts may also be impacted.

In the following contributions, we elaborate on these issues:

• Temporary unemployment
• Relief measures you may benefit from
• Possibilities for HR matters
• Impact of COVID-19 virus on your lease agreements, distribution contracts, deliveries, …

The post Corona virus in Belgium first appeared on Racine.

To provide some support during this difficult time, the government has announced some relief measures relating to taxes and social security contributions which can provide companies with some financial breathing room.

1. Social Security Contributions

For the first two quarters of 2020, companies can request a payment plan for their  social security contributions (maximum spread over 24 months) if they demonstrate to suffer economic consequences of the COVID-19 virus, making it difficult to pay the contributions in time. The payment plan will be determinted  in joint agreement with the social security services.

An application form is available on https://www.socialsecurity.be/site_nl/employer/applics/paymentplan/index.htm (in Dutch). In the section “Your motivation”, the company needs to clarify how it suffers financially as a result of the coronavirus. A response can be expected within 10 days (in case of questions or need for clarification, the Social Security Services will contact the company).

2. Fiscal measures

Companies which can demonstrate to be economically affected by the coronavirus can request a payment plan regarding company tax, VAT, company withholding tax, with the exemption of penalties or interests.

Such requests have to be filed before 30 June 2020 via an application form available on the website of the Treasury department. One application may be submitted per debt, which will apply to all measure, at the time of receipt of a notice of assessment or payment.

A reply is expected within 30 days of submission of the application.

3. Nuisance premium of the Flemish government

The Flemish government offers a premium for companies that have to close due to a mandatory safety measure related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

In case of complete closure, undertakings are eligible to apply for a premium of a lump sum of 4.000 EUR for the first period until 3 April, plus 160 EUR per day thereafter. Undertakings converting to alternative activities, (e.g. restaurant converting to take away), can still claim the same premium.

In case of a weekend closure, the undertaking is eligible for a lump sum of 2.000 EUR for the first period until 3 April, plus 160 EUR per day thereafter.

The premium is limited to one premium per undertaking and does not apply per branch or per shop. For horeca, the premium is per bar/restaurant on the condition that at least one full-time equivalent is employed.

How to apply for this premium will be communicated on http://www.vlaio.be.

Would you like to know more?

The Racine team is at your disposal to answer your specific questions.

The post Corona virus and relief measures first appeared on Racine.

Also in the field of HR, companies are confronted with numerous questions following CORONA.

A few principles  should be taken into account in this regard:

• an employee cannot be forced by the employer to take holidays;
• although employees and employers can mutually agree to home work if home work is possible, neither the employee nor the employer can in principle unilaterally enforce home work;
• the employer cannot bluntly deny an employee access to the company;
• the employer must ensure safe working conditions which, depending on the concrete circumstances, may be a cause to oblige a particular employee (e.g. when he would return from an infected area) to work from home;
• as an employer, you can exempt an employee from work, in which case wages will continue to accrue;
• employees who have to care of an infected family member or want to take care of their children can take (unpaid) temporary absence from work for compelling reasons (10 days a year). Alternatively, the employee may opt to take holidays (paid) or other forms of unpaid leave.
• since travelling abroad is not recommended, business trips should preferably be postponed or cancelled;
• for employees who present a medical certificate proving their incapacity for work, the employer must, in principle, pay the guaranteed salary to white-collar workers for one month and to blue-collar workers for seven days. After this period, the employee concerned can receive a benefit from the health insurance fund.
• for employees who find themselves in quarantine, temporary unemployment due to force majeure due to CORONA can be requested, as a result of which they receive 65% of their average capped salary (capped at EUR 2,754.76 per month (and until 30 June 2020 70% of the average capped salary).

Would you like to know more?

The Racine team is at your disposal to answer your specific questions.

The post Coronavirus and flexibility for HR matters first appeared on Racine.