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Posting of employees. Information procedure established by Royal Decree of 17 July 2013

Newsflash
Employee representation
Business law and corporate governance

The Law of 24 July 1987 concerning temporary employment, temporary agency work and the posting of employees for the benefit of users was radically amended at the beginning of this year with regard to the posting of employees. The Royal Decree providing the information procedure for the Works Council, however, was still lacking at that time.The Royal Decree of 17 July 2013 (Belgian Official Gazette 29 July 2013) now introduces this information procedure.

As explained in our Newsletter of 11 January 2013, since the amendment of the 1987 Law a number of strict conditions now need to be fulfilled if the user in the context of the execution of an agreement gives instructions to the posted employees.

Furthermore, the user must immediately inform his Works Council about the existence of such agreement. The Royal Decree of 17 July 2013 determines the procedure:

- the user immediately informs the secretary of the Works Council about the existence of the agreement containing instructions. This can be done by written or electronic notification;

- the secretary, in turn, informs the members of the Works Council;

- within 14 calendar days after the notification (or, if the agreement is of shorter duration, before the end of the agreement) the user delivers to the requesting members a copy of the section of the agreement containing the instructions.

If there is no Works Council, the person indicated in the bylaws of the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW) must be informed about the existence of the agreement, and this person will, in turn, inform the members of the CPPW. If there is no CPPW either, all members of the union delegation must be informed directly.

If the user omits to deliver a copy to the requesting members, the agreement will be regarded as non-existent, resulting in a prohibited posting.

> Action point

Inform your social consultation bodies about the existence of a Service Agreement with instructions for the posted worker.

Deliver in a timely manner a copy of the instructions to the members of your social consultation bodies that request this.