Our labour and employment law team, which is made up of some 15 lawyers, including five partners, is one of the largest in Belgium. We advise and assist clients in all matters touching on Belgian and European labour and employment law. We act on the instructions of Belgian and foreign companies, associations and organisations, and private individuals. We regularly appear before the nation’s courts.
Our offering is comprehensive. It combines advisory, contract drafting and advocacy. We work closely and actively with clients to put in place practical, effective and lasting solutions. On the international scene, we have long-standing joint-working relations with the labour and employment law departments of top-rate law firms in all the main jurisdictions around the world, enabling us to assist clients in handling their cross-border or international cases.
Our labour and employment law team has a broad range of experience and language proficiency (French, Dutch, English, German, Spanish).
A. INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
B. ALTERNATIVE PAY SCHEMES AND TERMINATION PACKAGES
C. CORPORATE RESTRUCTURING
D. MERGERS AND TRANSFERS OF UNDERTAKINGS
E. COLLECTIVE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
F. PENSION PLANS AND EXTRA-LEGAL INSURANCES
G. SOCIAL SECURITY
H. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW
I. CRIMINAL LAW IN EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
A. INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Employment contracts, special provisions, regulation and organisation of working time, suspension of the employment contract, problems linked to the performance of the employment contract, advice on the normative terms of applicable collective bargaining agreements, individual dismissals and other forms of employment termination, particular statutory and conventional provisions relative to protection against dismissal, short-term and temp work, posting, advice on the characterisation of the employment relationship, freelance service contracts, etc.
B. ALTERNATIVE PAY SCHEMES AND TERMINATION PACKAGES
Design and optimisation of pay packages: provisions on variable pay – including bonus schemes, financial participation schemes, stock option plans, savings schemes and profit sharing plans - termination packages, etc.
C. CORPORATE RESTRUCTURING
Collective dismissal, plant closures, insolvency: assistance in relation to information and consultation procedures involving employee bodies, negotiation assistance for social plans, constitution of a re-employment unit, applications for firms under restructuring or in difficulty, early retirement, etc.
D. MERGERS AND TRANSFERS OF UNDERTAKINGS
All employment law aspects linked to mergers and full or partial transfers of undertakings, particularly social audits and due diligence reports and purchase agreements, assistance in relation to information and consultation procedures involving employee bodies, outsourcing, harmonisation of conditions of employment, etc.
E. COLLECTIVE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Assistance in setting up employee bodies and defining their competences, assistance in organising social elections and setting up collective bargaining agreements at company level, work rules and company policies, advice relating to the competent joint committee, legal rights of recourse in cases of strikes, industrial disputes, etc.
F. PENSION PLANS AND EXTRA-LEGAL INSURANCES
All legal aspects relative to extra-legal pensions: assistance and advice relative to introduction and amendment of a pension scheme, statutory duties of information and consultation vis-à-vis employees (or their representatives), provisions relating to pensions in case of transfer of undertaking, and pension litigation.
G. SOCIAL SECURITY
Advice and litigation in relation to the scope of application of the employees' social security system, the regulations on contributions, benefits and allowances, etc.
H. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW
International employment contracts, international social security, secondment, application of the rules on the free movement of persons and services within the European Union, hiring nationals of non-EU member states (work permits, professional cards), expat rules, salary splits, etc.
I. CRIMINAL LAW IN EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
Assistance in the event of audits by the social inspectorate in criminal procedures and in case of administrative fines for offences against employment law.