Labour and Employment
Our Labour and Employment department is one of the largest employment teams within a full-service law firm anywhere in Belgium and is recognised as a leading practice. Our lawyers advise and assist clients in all matters touching on Belgian and European labour and employment law.
Our team has vast experience and expertise in all legal aspects concerning human resources related issues. Our overall aim is to offer cost-effective, pro-active and pragmatic advice that enables better business decisions. We strive towards tailor-made and creative solutions to perfectly fit your needs.
We advise and assist clients in all matters touching on Belgian and European labour and employment law.
Notable recent and relevant deals in which we are or have been involved include:
-
Assisting an institutional investment company to organize the transfer of personnel from a holding to a bank company bought by our client.
-
Assisting a textile manufacturing company in the take-over of personnel from another textile producing company in the framework of a legal reorganization by means of a transfer under authority of the court.
-
Advising two large energy companies regarding a collective dismissal in one of their joint venture companies.
-
Advising a transport company and a company active in the chemical analysis sector confronted with a decision about changing the competent joint labour committee.
-
Advising a major international firm with respect to setting up a whistleblowing procedure.
-
Assisting a major company with the take-over of the personnel of well-known motorway restaurants and negotiation of collective bargaining agreements in order to harmonize the different employment conditions.
-
Advising a leading listed IT company about the transfer of a non-strategic business division to a Belgian listed company.
Our Labour and Employment team is at your side. Our lawyers aim to provide clear and practical advice and have the ability to adapt to ever- changing business needs.
We have a particularly favorable ratio of experience, ensuring that our clients get the highest level of expertise to achieve their goals. Our Labour and Employment department is organized to guarantee the quality of our work and our responsiveness.
Our lawyers are fluent in English, French and Dutch. Several of them also speak German, Italian or Spanish.
- Headlines Employment & Labour : The new rules on psychosocial risks at work: modification of internal procedures and work rules required
- Headline Labour & Employment: Unified status: don’t forget to modify your work rules!
- Headline Labour & Employment: Social partners conclude CBA on the motivation of the dismissal
- Headline Labour & Employment: Social security contributions due on most end-of-employment allowances
- Headline Labour & Employment: Council of Ministers approves draft bill on unified employment status
- Headline Labour & Employment: Compromise proposal of the Minister for Labour: a new step towards single employment status
- Headlines Labour & Employment: Listening to sales calls is allowed, but do not forget the work rules
- Tougher position towards the employment of employees who illegally stay in Belgium (part II)
- Headline Labour & Employment: The programme Act reinforces the fight against social security fraud in the frame of intra-community mobility
- Headline Labour & Employment: The new Programme Act
- Headline Labour & Employment: The new legislation regarding bogus self-employment in 3 Q&A's
- Headline Labour & Employment: Employment plan for older employees as from 1 January 2013
- Headline Labour & Employment: Introduction of the European blue card for the employment of highly qualified non-EU foreign workers
- Headline Labour & Employment: "Recruitment" - A new possibility to appeal to temporary agency workers
- Headline Labour & Employment: Insourcing can also give rise to "transfer of undertaking"
- Headline Labour & Employment: Legislative initiative to fight the wage gap between men and women
- Headline Labour & Employment: Increased social security contributions on unemployment benefits with an additional company allowance and on other security benefits
- Headline Labour & Employment: Compliance with formalities on part-time work becomes even more important
- Headline Labour & Employment: Supplementary holidays at the beginning or at the resumption of the professional career
- Distinction ouvrier - employé en Belgique: le sort des délais de préavis
- Headline Labour & Employment: New dismissal rules as of 2012: adapt your work rules and standard employment contracts
- Client Memorandum: Indemnity in lieu of notice in case of dismissal during a period of reduced work hours: end of discussion?
- Client Memorandum: New notice periods as from 2012
- La réintégration: mythe ou réalité ?
- Licenciement collectif : questions actuelles issues de la pratique
- De quelques aspects de l’égalité en droit du travail
Seminars
- Vlerick Alumni Seminar (Campus van Vlerick Business School te Gent)
- Labour and Employment Seminar "Eenheidsstatuut" - "Le statut unique"
- Corporate and Finance Seminar in association with Woman on Board
- Labour and Employment Seminar "Niet-discriminatie op het werk" - "Non-discrimination dans le travail"
- Women on Board Seminar "De herstructureringen gezien vanuit de Raad van Bestuur" - "Les restructurations vues du Conseil d'administration"
- Labour and Employment Seminar "Een praktische kijk op ontslag" - "Le licenciement vu de la pratique"
- Insurance Seminar "Assurances et consommateurs" - "Verzekeringen en consumenten"
News
- Key takeaways from the whistleblower directive: Is your organisation ready for the 17 december 2021 deadline?
- Paul Geerebaert and Vincent Busschaert recognised in WWL Thought Leaders: Labour and Employment 2021
- Liedekerke's Expertise Recognised by Leaders League
- Liedekerke announces the appointment of seven newly promoted Senior Associates
- Liedekerke recognized by The Legal 500 EMEA in the 2021 Rankings
- Liedekerke strengthens its leading position in the Chambers Europe 2021 rankings
- New Joiners
- De uitoefening van het (corona-)ouderschapsverlof gewaarborgd: ontslagbescherming en recht op terugkeer in de oorspronkelijke of een gelijkwaardige functie
- Prolongation of the temporary unemployment for force majeure – application needed for prolongation after 31/8/2020
- New opportunity: Senior Associate Labour & Employment
- Act to suspend the notice period for terminations before or during the period of temporary suspension of the execution of the employment agreement for reasons of force majeure due to the COVID-19 crisis
- COVID-19, Frequently Asked Questions Update (19 May) : Employment, Consumer Law and Trade Practices
- COVID-19, Frequently Asked Questions Update (14 May) : Employment, Consumer Law and Trade Practices, Regulatory - Environment
- Paul Geerebaert recognized in WWL Thought Leaders: Labour & Employment 2020
- Liedekerke achieves top rankings in Legal 500 EMEA 2020
- Liedekerke COVID-19 Resource Center
- Liedekerke recognized by Chambers Europe in the 2020 Rankings
- Wat als je niet naar het werk kan omdat je in quarantaine zit?
- Paul Geerebaert recognized in WWL Thought Leaders: Labour & Employment 2019
- Liedekerke achieves excellent rankings in the Legal 500 2019
- Liedekerke recognized by Chambers Europe in the 2019 Rankings
- A new year, a new indexation?
- Aimery de Schoutheete and Chloé Stassart contribute to the Chambers Employment 2019 Global Practice Guide
- Employment Breakfast Seminar – Dismissal in practice
- Headlines: Employment & Labour : Update of the notice periods in Belgium
- Headlines Labour and Employment - Long-term incapacity for work: the importance of a reintegration program and the possibility to terminate an employment agreement due to force majeure
- Leen Holvoet to speak at the “Flex Work, International litigation and Assets Transactions” conference
- Het debat met Monica De Concink over het eenheidsstatuut: “Er is nog veel werk aan de winkel”
- Webinar Social Media: Labor Law and Privacy Law Issues from a European and Belgian Perspective
‘They are quick to respond, patient and sound with their advice‘.
‘They deliver high quality services and are very reactive‘.
‘Paul Geerebaert and Vincent Busschaert are leading practitioners on the Belgian market‘.
‘When you work with Liedekerke, you know that you are dealing with a quality law firm with high quality people. There is always a feeling of trust and confidence‘.
‘Highly practical and commercial‘.
‘The team is solid and very well coordinated‘.
-- Legal 500 Employment 2021
'"my go-to firm because the team is very experienced and strong with international clients.'.
'nice to work with, very practical and business-oriented.'.
'Paul Geerebaert focuses on advising clients on collective and individual dismissals and also on representing them in litigation. A client enthuses: "He has considerable experience and knows how to make Belgian employment law rules easy to grasp and to understand for foreign clients."'.
-- Chambers Europe 2021
‘Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick has an excellent and very knowledgeable team‘. ‘They are punctual, motivated and passionate about the law and their cases‘. ‘Paul Geerebaert has an outstanding reputation. He has a strong sense of urgency and gives each client a feeling of top priority‘.
-- Legal 500 Employement 2020
Advises on collective and individual dismissals and restructurings. Often represents multinational companies in the automotive and insurance sectors, as well as public institutions. Assists with the employment aspects of multi-jurisdictional mandates, such as cross-border mergers. Also handles employment litigation, including disputes concerning discrimination in the workplace and claims arising out of dismissals. Has experience acting on strikes and union negotiations.
Paul Geerebaert has significant experience representing companies and employees in contentious dismissal cases and other employment litigation. Clients particularly highlight his responsiveness as a key strength.
-- Chambers Europe Employment 2020
Clients value the team's "speed of response and that they are comfortable in meeting complex deadlines".
-- Chambers and Partners Employment 2016
Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick’s Paul Geerebaert and Vincent Busschaert are ‘highly commercial and pragmatic’, and Leen Holvoet is also recommended.
-- Legal 500 Labour and Employment 2016
boulevard de l'Empereur 3 Keizerslaan - 1000 Brussels - Belgium
T: +32 2 551 15 15 - F: +32 2 551 14 14
VAT - BE 0478 065 191
