Industry-level agreement on outplacement within Joint Committee no. 218 - CBA of 10 July 2014 on the entitlement to outplacement for certain white-collar workers
On 10 July 2014, the Ancillary Joint Committee for white-collar workers (JC no. 218) adapted the industry-level rules on outplacement to the new rules on outplacement.
Within the framework of the single employment status, the entitlement to outplacement was considerably expanded as of 1 January 2014. The industry-level rules on outplacement existing within Joint Committee no. 218 therefore had to be adapted to this extension. This has now been done through the industry-level CBA of 10 July 2014.
The existing industry-level rules on outplacement with the intervention of Cevora for employees aged 45 or older are maintained. These industry-level rules on outplacement will as of now also largely be applied to white-collar employees who are dismissed with a notice period of at least 30 weeks.
In addition, for white-collar employees who are dismissed with a severance pay of at least 30 weeks' salary, an optional outplacement arrangement is provided at Cevora. The employer who opts for this specific industry-level regulation must pay 1/12th of the annual salary to the Social Fund of Joint Committee no. 218, if the employee accepts the outplacement offer (with a minimum of 1,800 EUR and a maximum of 5,500 EUR). The salary of four weeks is then withheld from the severance pay that is due.
The CBA shall retroactively enter into force on 1 January 2014, except for the provisions relating to a dismissal with payment of a severance pay of at least 30 weeks' salary as these enter into force on 10 July 2014. A special transitional regime applies for employees aged 45 or older whose employment contract is terminated before 1 September 2014 with a severance pay of at least 30 weeks' salary.
> Action point
If your company falls under Joint Committee no. 218, you must take into account the rules on outplacement at industry-level as set out in the CBA of 10 July 2014.