Our mission

Our mission is to provide employers in the private and public sector at regional, national and international level pragmatic, fast and efficient legal services related to Human Resources Management and Human Capital, with an experienced team of specialised attorneys and other legal experts, creating in-depth external client partnerships.

In doing so, Claeys & Engels offers its people a stimulating and inclusive learning and growth environment, respecting each other's talents, diversity and complementarity.

Advocaten & HR: hoe bouwen we aan een sterke basis?

Transparante communicatie, betrokkenheid en betekenisvol werk zijn slechts enkele topics die tijdens het debat van de Orde van Vlaamse Balies (OVB) aan bod kwamen op maandag 20 november 2023. Keynote-spreker Professor Stijn Baert en de panelleden, waaronder onze Managing Partner Olivier Wouters, identificeerden de uitdagingen op vlak van HR en reikten oplossingen aan om een solide basis te leggen voor advocatenkantoren en hun medewerkers. 

Our profile

At Claeys & Engels, we offer a full range of legal services in all areas concerning human resources. We like to think that what sets us apart is how we partner with our clients and accomplish results that matter to our client's business.

Each question is dealt with by a specialist team of lawyers experienced both in providing advice and in litigation.

In addition, our lawyers can draft and implement with you, internal policies and codes of conduct that dovetail with your human resources policy.

Our office is the first specialist law firm offering a full service to both national and international clients on all aspects of human capital. In view of the growing internationalisation of the economy, Claeys & Engels is actively participating in a specialist international alliance, Ius Laboris.

Our Service Commitment

YOUR PERSPECTIVE + OUR APPROACH = REAL RESULTS

Listen first

In human resources, small problems do not exist. Every decision you take, big or small, can affect your business. The close and open relationships we develop with our clients helps us understand your real needs. It's the listen-first approach that allows us to provide you with tailor-made solutions.

We have a longstanding succesful history working for a variety of clients based in Belgium and abroad. We understand that they all have their own specific HR challenges and that a one-size-fits-all approach simply does not work in HR.

Our Complementary Client Services

We want to keep our clients abreast of legal developments related to human resources. and offer following free update services:

Our History

Claeys & Engels was established on the 1st of January 2001 by Thierry Claeys & Chris Engels.

The firm has grown from around 40 to over 85 lawyers.

The firm has offices in Brussels, Antwerp, Liège and Kortrijk since the beginning and opened an office in Gent in 2002 and in Hasselt in 2007.

From its inception, the focus of Claeys & Engels has been on HR legal services, an area in which the firm quickly became the recognised market leader in Belgium.

We confidently look towards the future of our HR law practice.

Managing people and workforces is critical for the success of businesses in the global economy. At the same time, HR law is increasingly complex.

With our collective specialised knowledge, we can contribute to the success of your business.

Guarantees & insurances

Information regarding our insurances.

Privacy and information security

In 2020 we obtained the ISO 27001:2017 certificate through which we seek to demonstrate that information security is not only important on paper for us, but that we also had this verified by an independent auditor.

We also obtained the ISO 27701:2019 certificate. For our firm, it is important to ensure that our internal proceedings provide sufficient guarantees that we handle personal data securely.

Policy regarding the reporting of breaches

Claeys & Engels wants to act ethically and with integrity and therefore wants to ensure that its staff members, lawyers and other self-employed collaborators have the possibility to report any actual or potential breaches of statutory and regulatory rules at Claeys & Engels in the most serene and confidential manner.