Essay: Working conditions regulation

General rights and duties
Regulation about working conditions is a comparative assessment between the protec-tion of employees against abuse by the employer and the economical and technical reali-ty of a company. The main principles for all sectors are established in law. (Verplichtingen van de werkgever en de werknemer, n.d.)
 
First of all employer and employee owe each other esteem and respect. Throughout the agreement, they need to observe and make each other observe the properties and public decency. The following rules are the rules set by law. More specifically, these rules are the rules set in article 17 of the law of July 3th 1978 concerning employments agreements. (Verplichtingen van de werkgever en de werknemer, n.d.)
 
The employee is obliged to:
 
• Do its work meticulously, honestly and accurately on the time, place and method agreed.
• Act in accordance with the orders and instructions given by the employer, his mandatory or whoever is appointed to do so, with a view on executing the con-tract.
• Both during the contract and after the termination of it, to keep trade secrets, professional secret or personal secrets he gets to know during de executing of its function/ job, to do unfair competition or to collaborate to do unfair competition. Working for the competitor can be interdicted to the employee after its term.
• To refrain from everything that can cause damage to its own safety or the safety of its colleagues, employer or a third party.
• To return the tools trusted to the employee in good shape.
(Verplichtingen van de werkgever en de werknemer, n.d.)
 
The employer is obliged to:
• Make the employee work in the way, time and place, as agreed, mainly, as the cir-cumstances require and to provide the employee from the necessary assistance, tools and materials;
• Make sure, with due diligence, that the labour can be done in decent conditions regarding the safety and health of the employee and to provide, in case of an ac-cident, the first-aid remedies, in the form of a medical box;
• Pay the salary as agreed;
• Accommodate the employee properly and provide him healthy and enough food, if agreed that the employer would provide room and board to the employee;
• Provide the necessary time to comply duties of faith, as well as to comply civic duties intended by law;
• Spend enough time to the welcome of employees, especially young employees;
• Take care, with due diligence, of the tools that belong to the employee, as well as the personal belongings of the employees that need to be deposited. Under no circumstances is it allowed for the employer to keep the employee’s tools or per-sonal belongings.
(Verplichtingen van de werkgever en de werknemer, n.d.)
Wellbeing at work
The Belgian law sets a basis for wellbeing at work. The first aspect of good working con-ditions is complying law and collective employment agreements. For example, the em-ployer is obliged to following certain rules about working time, leaves and social securi-ty. (Werkomstandigheden, n.d.)
 
Secondly, it is important for employers to have social dialogue with their employees. This way, they can involve employees in management. In addition to that, it is important for the employee that wellbeing at work is guaranteed. The Federal Public Service has established wellbeing at work in six basic areas: safety at work being safety procedures and analysis of safety risks; protection of health; psychosocial workload such as lack of motivation, depression and so on; ergonomics; occupational hygiene and the embel-lishment of the workplace. (Werkomstandigheden, n.d.)
Working time
Apart from these laws, there are five important prohibitions. These prohibitions imply rights and duties for employers and employees.
 
First of all, it is prohibited to exceed the normal limits of working time. Working time signifies the time the personnel are at the disposal of its employer. The working time cannot come to more than 8 hours a day, to more than 40 hours a week or to lower lim-its set in the collective agreement. Also, it is not allowed to employ employees outside their work schedules. It is not allowed to work on sun- or holidays. Finally, it is prohibit-ed to do night work. (Arbeidsduur en rusttijden, n.d.)
 
We can deviate from this legislation without prior consent in case of a five day system if the employee gets at least one half day off a week extra, apart from Sunday. In some cas-es, it is possible to extend the working time to a maximum of 11 hours a day if the em-ployee does not work more than 50 hours a week. In case work cannot be interrupted, the working time can exceed 12 hours a day. In case of force majeure, there are no work-ing time limits. (Arbeidsduur en rusttijden, n.d.)
 
Deviations are allowed after consent if the working time does not exceed 11 hours a day and 50 hours a week for preparatory work or clearing up, transport work, loading and unloading, if the processed substance can easily deprave or in case of an extraordinary increase of work. (Arbeidsduur en rusttijden, n.d.)
 
Generally, it is mandatory to assign compensatory time off in case of exceeding working time, even though the employee is not obliged to take this compensatory time. An em-ployee can ask as well to pay the overtime immediately instead of getting compensatory time. In Belgium, it is compulsory to pay more for overtime. Overtime should be paid at a rate of at least 50% above the normal salary. On Sundays or holidays, overtime should be paid at a rate of 100% of the normal salary. These rules apply to all sectors and thus as well to the hospitality sector. (Wetgeving overuren horeca: Uiteenzetting horeca, n.d.)
Breaks and work interruption
If the working time exceeds 6 hours of working, the employee is entitled to a break. The duration of this break is set in the collective agreement. If there is no duration of break set in the collective agreement, the break should have duration of at least 15 minutes. Per period of 24 hours, an employee is entitled to at least 11 consecutive hours of work interruption. The working time should be between 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. because night work is in principle prohibited. (Arbeidsduur en rusttijden, n.d.)
 
In principle, night work is indeed prohibited but hospitality sector is an exception. Night work is allowed in hospitality sector on certain conditions. First of all, new employees can only do night work voluntarily. In case of health issues because of night work, the company doctor can decide that an employee can no longer work at night. Employees older than 55 that have done night work for over 20 years are entitled to working ar-rangements without night work without medical reasons. Pregnant employees or young employees can only do night work under certain conditions. Employees that do night work are entitled to a bonus. This bonus is arranged in the collective agreement. (Nachtarbeid, n.d.)
Breast-feeding breaks
Apart from normal breaks and work interruptions, a employee that just gave birth, is entitled to a breast-feeding break, if the employee decides to breast-feed her new born. These breaks are not paid by the employer but by her insurance company. The pay comes to 82% of the last unlimited gross salary. The breast-feeding break can take half an hour. An employee, who works four hours or more, has the right to take one breast-feeding break. The employee who works for at least 7,5 hours a day, has the right to take two breast-feeding breaks. These breaks can be taken separately or at once. Breast-feeding breaks are allowed until nine months after birth of the child. The employee will have to get an agreement with her employer about when she can take the breaks. She also has to acquaint her employer about her wish to take breast-feeding breaks by regis-tered letter or by handing over a letter of which the employee gets an original signed by her employer. The employee will have to deliver proof that she breast feeds her child. She can get a certificate at the child health care centre or a medical certificate. (De verschillende vormen van ouderschapsverlof, n.d.)
Documentation
An employee has the right to get paid the salary agreed in the employment contract, to be protected as set by law, to join a trade union and to be able to work in a safe and healthy environment. The employer is in this way, obliged to provide this safe and healthy working environment, to pay the correct salary and to give you the following documents: the employment contract, the working regulations and the documents that outline the payments and performances. If the employer does not provide these docu-ments, it is likely that the employee is working undeclared. (Verplichtingen van de werkgever en de werknemer, n.d.)
Labourer versus white-collar worker
In Belgium, there are differences in the rights and duties of employees in different sec-tors because first of all we have different statutes for white-collar workers and labour-ers. However, the difference between these statutes is under debate.
 
First of all, we need to define what a labourer and a white-collar worker are.
A labourer is an employee that mainly does manual labour. A white-collar worker on the other hand, is an employee that mainly does brainwork. Now, what are the differences in Human Resource Management? (Het statuut van arbeider versus bediende: alle verschillen op een rij, n.d.)
Payment
Firstly, there is a difference in payment. Labourers must be paid at least twice a month with a maximum of 16 days between the two payments while white-collar workers are paid monthly. Secondly, there is a difference in guaranteed salary in case of disability. Labourers get there usual salary for a maximum of 7 days while white-collar workers can get it up to 30 days. (Het statuut van arbeider versus bediende: alle verschillen op een rij, n.d.)
Holiday pay
Holiday pay for labourers is paid by the paid leave fund while for white-collar workers; the employer pays it. The amount of holiday pay for labourers is calculated based on the received salary of the previous year, for white-collar workers, it is calculated based on the received salary in the month the employee takes the holiday. (Het statuut van arbeider versus bediende: alle verschillen op een rij, n.d.)
Employee’s social security
For a self-employed worker, Social security contribution needs to be paid 4 times a year and how much someone has to pay depends on the annual income. This income is sepa-rated in four income brackets. Per bracket, the social security contribution is different. In general, a self-employed worker pays 22% of the income for social security. The amount that needs to be paid is calculated based on the net taxable annual income of three years ago. The net taxable annual income is the gross annual income less the pro-fessional expenses and the social security paid that year. (Het statuut van arbeider versus bediende: alle verschillen op een rij, n.d.)
 
Employees in the hospitality sector are labourers with several rights that deviate from the general rules. The personal social security contribution for labourers in general, in-cluding employees of the hospitality sector, comes to 13.07% of 108% of the gross sala-ry. For white-collar workers it amounts up to 13.07% of the gross salary. (Het statuut van arbeider versus bediende: alle verschillen op een rij, n.d.)
Employer’s social security
The employer’s social security contribution for labourers comes to about 38.38% on 108% of the gross salary. But there are exceptions for several sectors such as construc-tion sector and hospitality sector. The employer’s social security contribution for em-ployees in the hospitality sector is reduced to 1.40 to 1.45% for employers if they em-ploy an employee permanently and use a registered till system in which they register the working employee. The reduction has the purpose to reduce undeclared working in Belgium. (Het statuut van arbeider versus bediende: alle verschillen op een rij, n.d.)
Undeclared work
Frequently occurring offences in the hospitality sector in Belgium are social and finan-cial fraud committed by undeclared work. That way, restaurants, hotels and cafés try to avoid taxes. In 2015 Belgium introduced a law to fight this type of fraud by introducing the Fiscal Data Module (FDM) also known as ‘black box’. The black box is connected to the cash register. It makes sure everything that is sold, is registered, so the tax authori-ties can do specific checks fast and transparently. (Veelgestelde vragen, n.d.)
 
Another measure taken to fight undeclared work is the rule that hospitality workers cannot be paid in cash anymore. That way, employers have to pay their employees by transferring it into their account. (Veelgestelde vragen, n.d.)
 
Leaves
Annual leave
Anyone who works in the private sector, is entitles to a number of days off in relation to the days he worked the previous year. Annual leave is both for labourers and white-collar workers, limited to a maximum of 4 weeks. The calculation of the amount of days off depends on the professional category. For labourers, it is calculated based on the number of days worked. For white-collar workers, one assumes that every month worked entitles him to 2 days off. Annual leave can never be transferred to the next year. (Jaarlijkse vakantie, n.d.)
Youth holiday
A young person that graduates and is under 25 is entitled to youth holiday in addition to the incomplete annual leave he receives. The youth holiday exists because the first year a young person works, he is not entitled to a complete annual leave if he has not worked the complete year. The National Employment Office therefor pays a substitute payment for the days the young person takes holiday. He will receive a payment of 65% of his gross salary. The payment is limited to an amount of €2,191.26. The youth holiday is limited to a holiday of 4 weeks. (Jeugdvakantie, n.d.)
Senior holidays
An employee is entitled to a certain amount of days off based on the previous calendar year. Consequently, it is possible that an employee that restarts working after a period of inactivity, is not entitled to a full 4 weeks of annual leave. To make sure a senior em-ployee can take enough days off they can take senior leave. Similar to the youth holiday, the senior holidays can only be taken after the amount of days of annual leave is already taken. A senior needs to be at least 50 years old to be allowed to claim senior leave. The employer does not pay salary to his employee during senior leave. The employee obtains a payment by the National Employment Office. The payment also amounts to 65% of the gross salary. As well as for a youth holiday, the payment is limited to €2,191.26 (Seniorvakantie, n.d.)
Foster leave
If an employee has been appointed as a foster parent, he is entitled to be absent from work to comply his duties. Foster leave has a maximum duration of 6 days per calendar year. The employee cannot claim any salary from his employer. He will receive a pay-ment. Employees are entitled to foster leave if they have been appointed as a foster par-ent by court, foster care service or special youth care. (Pleegzorgverlof, n.d.)
Adoption leave
In Belgium, an employee can get adoption leave. Adoption leave has to be taken within two months after the child is registered with the municipality. The leave comes to a max-imum of six weeks if the child is younger than three years. If the child is older than three years and younger than eight years, the leave comes to four weeks. The employer will pay the first three days of this leave. From then on, it will be paid by the health insur-ance fund.  When the adoption child is disabled, mentally or physically, for more than 66%, the maximum of adoption leave doubles.  (Adoptieverlof, n.d.)
Pregnancy leave
When a woman gets pregnant, it is important that she acquaints her employer as soon as possible, because in Belgium, pregnant women enjoy a special protection against dis-missal. Pregnant women can get pregnancy leave and maternity leave.
Pregnancy leave adds up to six weeks of which five weeks are optional and one week is obliged. That week should be the week before the expected date of birth. The other weeks can only start from the sixth week before the expected date of birth. The pregnant employee has to get her employer a medical certificate in which the expected date of birth is mentioned. The pregnancy leave will be increased to eight weeks in case of a multiple birth of which seven weeks are optional and one week is obliged. The days of pregnancy leave the employee has not taken can be transferred to maternity leave. (Moederschapsverlof, n.d.)
Maternity leave
Starting the day of delivery, the employee is not allowed to work for nine weeks. The pregnancy leave she hasn’t taken before the delivery can now be added to these nine weeks. To calculate these days, one counts starting from the actual date of birth and not from the expected date of birth. (Moederschapsverlof, n.d.)
Paternity leave
Expectant fathers are entitled to 10 days of paternity leave, to be taken within 4 months counting from the day of birth of the child. Those 10 days can, but don’t have to, be taken at once. During the first three days of paternity leave, the employee maintains his com-plete salary paid by the employer. The employee only is entitled to his complete salary if he acquainted his employer about the delivery beforehand. After the first three days, the employee does not get his salary anymore. He now gets a payment by his health insur-ance. This payment consists of 82% of the limited gross salary. To get this payment, the expectant father has to submit an application to the health insurance company, with an extract of the birth certificate enclosed. (Vaderschapsverlof, n.d.)
Paternal leave
Paternal leave means the employee is entitled to take leave for parenting his child. Full time employees are entitled to 4 months of parental leave. This can be taken in several forms. First of all, an employee can interrupt his job completely for 4 months. However, the employee is not obliged to take parental leave in that way. A parent can also take the leave by reducing temporarily his full time job to a part-time job for duration of 8 months. A third option is that the employee reduces his full time job with a fifth for du-ration of 20 months. It is not compulsory to pick one of the three options. It is allowed to combine them as well. During parental leave, the employer does not pay the salary. The employee gets a replacement income from the National Employment Office. (Ouderschapsverlof, n.d.)
 
Apart from the traditional paid parental leave, parents can take unpaid parental leave as well. The unpaid parental leave comes to 4 months but is, of course, less interesting in financial terms.  (Ouderschapsverlof, n.d.)
 
 
Time credit or career break
If an employee wants to put his career on hold in Belgium, he can either make use of time credit or career break. In de private sector this is called time credit while in the public sector, it is called a career break. During time credit or a career break, the em-ployee gets a payment.
 
Not everyone is entitled to time credit or a career break. People who work in private sector are always entitled to get time credit, as well as people who work for a non-profit organisation. (Tijdkrediet: voor wie?, n.d.)
 
Officers, permanent or temporary personnel in education, personnel of pupil guidance centres, personnel of university or personnel of child care are not entitled to time credit because they work in the public sector. They can get a career break instead. (Tijdkrediet: voor wie?, n.d.)
 
A career break can be fulltime or part-time. A fulltime career break can be 60 months at the most. Apart from that, an employee is entitled to an extra 60 months of a part-time career break and three other sorts of career breaks. A complete career break lasts 3 months at the least and 12 at the most. During the career break, the employee does not get money from his or her employer. Instead, he gets a payment from the National Em-ployment Office. (Tijdkrediet: voor wie?, n.d.)
Compassionate leave
Employees are entitled to be absent from work on full pay for particular family events, to comply civic rights and duties or to appear in court. This is called short leave. The du-ration of short leave is determined in the collective agreement.
Leave on compelling personal grounds
Leave on compelling personal grounds means that an employee is entitled to be absent from work under certain terms, he is not paid for this leave, except if it is regulated dif-ferently in the collective agreement.
 
The employee can take leave on compelling personal grounds if he cannot be present due to an event beyond his will and there is no other solution. He is entitled tot his leave in case of sickness, an accident or hospitalization of a person the employee lives with or a close relative the employee does not live with, in case of severe material damage or if he has to appear in court. Leave on compelling personal grounds can have a maximum duration of 10 days. For a part-time employee, the maximum duration is calculated based on work performance.
Political leave
Political leave is a leave an employee in the private sector can take to carry out a politi-cal mandate. Any private sector employee is entitled to political leave on certain terms. First of all, the maximum duration of a political leave depends on the mandate that needs no be carried out. (Poltiek verlof, n.d.)
 
Mayor, deputy mayors, president or members of the District Councils or president of public social welfare centre can choose between two formulas: they can choose to keep working at their jobs and be absent for a maximum of 2 days or they can choose to stop working for the duration of the mandate. (Poltiek verlof, n.d.)
 
If the employee chooses the first formula, he has to acquaint his employer which days of the week he is going to be absent, at the latest on Wednesday of the week preceding the week he is going to be absent. If the employee opts for the second formula, he must ac-quaint his employer in writing of the date he will stop working and the duration of the interruption. The interruption needs to be at least 12 months. The employee has to ac-quaint his employer within one month before the interruption starts. (Poltiek verlof, n.d.)
 
Members of the Municipal Council or the Council for Social Welfare are entitled to politi-cal leave. The maximum days of leave depend on the amount of inhabitants of the mu-nicipal as you can see in the following table. (Poltiek verlof, n.d.)
 
Number of inhabit-ants Members of the Council for Social Welfare that are not the president Members of the Municipal Council that are not the mayor or deputy mayor;
Members of the Council for Social Wel-fare that are not the president
 
Less than 10,000 1 day ½ day
Between 10,000 and 50,000 2 days 1 day
More than 50,000 2 ½ days 1 day
(Poltiek verlof, n.d.)
Paid training leave
Employees are entitled to be absent from work in case they are following a certified training. The employee will maintain his salary. (Betaald educatief verlof, n.d.)
Palliative care leave
Both in private and public sector, employees have the right to interrupt or reduce their work performance for the purpose of taking care of a person suffering from an incurable disease. This person does not have to be a family member. (Palliatief verlof, n.d.)
 
Palliative care can be any assistance, so it can be medical, social, administrative or psy-chological assistance. And can be taken in several ways. First of all, employees, both part-time and fulltime can take palliative care leave by interrupting the work perfor-mance completely during a maximum of one month. This period can be extended with a maximum of one month. (Palliatief verlof, n.d.)
 
Any fulltime employee has the possibility to reduce his performance work with a fifth or ½ during a maximum of one month per patient. This period can also be extended once for one month. Any part-time employee, of whom the normal average amount of work-ing hours per week comes to at least ¾ of the average of working hours of a fulltime employee, has the possibility to reduce his work performance up to ½ of a fulltime working week for a maximum of 1 month per patient. This period can be extended once for one month as well. (Palliatief verlof, n.d.)
An employee that wants to take palliative care leave has to hand in a medical certificate of the treating doctor of the patient. If the employee wants to extend the palliative care leave, he has to hand in a new certificate. The employer will not pay salary to the em-ployee. Instead, the employee will receive an income provided by the National Employee Office. (Palliatief verlof, n.d.)
Leave to care for a seriously ill member of the family or household
If a member of an employee’s family or household is ill, the employee is entitled to sus-pend his professional activity to take care of that member. Any fulltime or part-time em-ployee can suspend his working hours completely for a period with a maximum dura-tion of 12 months per patient. The interruption of working activity must to be taken blocks of 3 months. (Verlof voor bijstand of verzorging van een zwaar ziek gezins- of familielid, n.d.)
 
A fulltime employee is entitled to reduce his working hours with 20 to 50% for a maxi-mum duration of 24 months. The interruption can only be taken in blocks of 3 months. A part-time employee is entitled to reduce his working hours by 50% if his average work-ing hours at least equal 75% of an average fulltime workweek. (Verlof voor bijstand of verzorging van een zwaar ziek gezins- of familielid, n.d.)
 
If the company the employee works for is a small or a medium-sized business, the leave can only consist of a complete suspension and not of a reduction of working hours. The leave can only be taken for an ill member that is a relative by blood or marriage up to the second degree. (Verlof voor bijstand of verzorging van een zwaar ziek gezins- of familielid, n.d.)
 
In case a single employee’s child younger than 16 becomes ill, the complete suspension of his working time can increase to 24 months. The maximum duration of reduction of working hours increases to 48 months. The employee will get a suspension allowance paid by the National Employment Office. (Verlof voor bijstand of verzorging van een zwaar ziek gezins- of familielid, n.d.)
 
Payroll
An employee’s gross salary is his salary without deduction of taxes or social security. On top of the gross salary, the employer also pays an employers contribution. After deduc-tion of taxes and social security, the employee gets his net salary.
Tax-free basic income
The amount of deduction depends on tax rates in Belgium. The tax-free basic income in Belgium comes to €7,090 a year. If an employee has dependent children, the tax-free basic income increases per child. If he has one dependent child, the tax-free basic in-come increases with €1,510. If he has two children, it increases with 3,880. For three children the tax-free basic income comes to €15,790. If he has 4 dependent children, the tax-free income increases with €14,060. From 5 children, add €5,370 per child. (Belastingvrije som, n.d.)
tax brackets
If an employee earns more than the tax-free basic income, he has to pay taxes. The Bel-gian personal income tax increases progressively; the tax percentages increase per tax bracket. In Belgium, there are 5 tax brackets. The first income bracket is taxed for 25%, the second with 30%, the third with 40%; the fourth with 45% and the fifth with 50%. The amounts that belong to those 5 tax brackets are indexed annually and adapted to inflation. In fiscal year 2015-2016 the following amounts where used to calculate taxa-tion: In the first tax bracket, income between €0 and €8,710 are taxed with 25%. In-comes from €8,710.01 to €12,400 are taxed with 30%. In tax bracket 3, incomes from €12,400.04 to €20,660 are taxed with 40%. From €20,660.01 to €37,870 are taxed with 45% and income brackets that are over €37,870.01 are taxed with 50%. (Belgische belastingschijven, n.d.)
 
The Belgian government added some measures for tax reduction. These measures are known as the tax shift.  In the period of 2016-2018, the tax bracket of 30% will slowly disappear. Incomes in this bracket will eventually end up in the bracket of 25%. The lower limit of the bracket of 40% will increase so less people will end up being taxed with 45%. (Belgische belastingschijven, n.d.)
Minimum salary
In Belgium, law does not set the minimum salary. The minimum salary is set in the col-lective agreements and is calculated based on agreements between trade union, em-ployees and employers. The minimum salary depends on age, job function and years of experience. The absolute minimum of salary is the guaranteed average monthly income, set by the National Labour Council. Since December 2012, this guaranteed income comes to €1,501.82 for an employee of 18 years old or older. If the employee is 19.5 years old and his length of service comes to 6 months, his minimum guaranteed average monthly income is €1,541.67. It is important to know that these numbers are gross in-comes. (Loon, n.d.)
 
Hospitality sector
In the hospitality sector, minimum salaries are not set monthly but per hour. Every func-tion in hospitality sector is linked to a category. For example, a bartender will earn at least €12.5414 per hour because this function belongs to CAT V, a dishwasher will earn at least €11.3625 because this is a job that belongs to CAT III. The amounts listed in the following table are gross salaries per hour. (Loontabel, 2016)
 
Category €/hour
CAT I 11.2971
CAT II 11.2971
CAT III 11.3625
CAT IV 11.8618
CAT V 12.5414
CAT VI 12.8733
CAT VII 14.6371
CAT VIII 15.7692
CAT IX 16.7705
 
(Loontabel, 2016)
End-of-year bonus
Employers are not always obliged to pay an end-of-year bonus or thirteenth salary. Whether the employer has to pay the bonus or not, depends on the applicable regula-tions of the Joint Committee. It is also possible that it has been agreed in the collective employment agreement or the individual employment agreement. In those cases, the employer is obliged to pay the end-of-year bonus. (Heb ik recht op een eindejaarspremie?, n.d.)
 
Dismissal and resignation
 
Any party can terminate the employment contract at any time, but there are several rules that need to be observed, depending on the nature of the contract.
 
In case of a contract of indefinite duration, any party can terminate the contract early, on condition that certain rules are observed. The parties can choose for dismissal by termi-nation or disruption of the contract with a termination indemnity.
Duties of employers in case of dismissal
In case the employer dismisses the employee, he needs to observe the regulation about procedural requirements, motivation of dismissal, notice period, the employment con-tract, dismissal document, job protection and specific cases. (Eenzijdige beëindiging van de arbeidsovereenkomst voor een bepaalde tijd of voor een duidelijk omschreven werk, n.d.)
 
Firstly, the procedural requirements imply that as an employer, it is obliged to acquaint the employee of the dismissal by written letter. (Eenzijdige beëindiging van de arbeidsovereenkomst voor een bepaalde tijd of voor een duidelijk omschreven werk, n.d.)
 
Secondly, the employer is not obliged to mention a motivation of dismissal unless the dismissal is a dismissal for urgent reasons. In some cases, the employee can enforce a motivation through a judge, but most employers choose to mention a motivation any-way. (Eenzijdige beëindiging van de arbeidsovereenkomst voor een bepaalde tijd of voor een duidelijk omschreven werk, n.d.)
 
Thirdly, the employer cannot throw out an employee from one day to the next. The em-ployer has to abide by the firing rules for notice and he is obliged to assign the employee notice. The duration of notice is determined by law and is different for labourers and white-collar workers.  To determine the period of notice, one needs to observe the begin date of the contract, whether the termination is coming from the employee or employer and whether the employee is a labourer or a white-collar worker. (Eenzijdige beëindiging van de arbeidsovereenkomst voor een bepaalde tijd of voor een duidelijk omschreven werk, n.d.)
 
In case of a contact of limited duration, in principle, the determined period has to be ex-ecuted completely. The party that decides to determine the agreement without urgent reasons before the final date has to pay the other party an indemnity. The notification of cancellation has to be sent by registered letter or writ. The employer can also hand over the written cancellation to his employee in duplicate.
(Eenzijdige beëindiging van de arbeidsovereenkomst voor een bepaalde tijd of voor een duidelijk omschreven werk, n.d.)
 
In case of a dismissal, it is important to know the reason of dismissal. In case of dismissal because of urgent reasons, the employment contract is terminated without indemnity or notice. Reasons for dismissal because of urgent reasons can be multiple absences, in-subordination, theft, aggressive behaviour or acts of unfair competition. If an employer calls in urgent reasons, he needs to prove the existence of the urgent reasons. (Rol en plichten van de werkgever bij ontslag, n.d.)
 
In case of dismissal without urgent reasons, the employee has a notice period. If the em-ployer does not comply with the notice period, the employee is entitled to a termination indemnity. An employee can also choose to end the employment relationship immedi-ately. In that case, the employee is obliged to pay severance compensation. (Rol en plichten van de werkgever bij ontslag, n.d.)
 
Every employer is bound to the conditions set in the collective and individual employ-ment agreement. In most cases, specific conditions for dismissal have been set in the employment agreement. In certain cases, employees are protected by law against dis-missal. An employer can never dismiss a sick or pregnant employee. (Rol en plichten van de werkgever bij ontslag, n.d.)
Employees’ rights in case of dismissal
During the period of notice, the dismissed employee is entitled to job interview leave. The employee has the right to take a leave of two half days or one day of leave a week during the 26 last weeks of the period of notice. The period before that, the employee is entitled to one half day of leave a week. That time, the employee must used to look for a new job. (Welke rechten heeft uw werknemer?, n.d.)
 
A dismissed employee is entitled to several compensations. In case of breach of contract, he is entitled to severance compensation. That compensation is calculated based on sal-ary. Secondly, dismissed employees are entitled to holiday pay in case of the termination of employment. This pay is calculated based on gross salary and the holidays that not have been taken yet. In addition, the employer has to pay an end-of-year bonus to the dismissed employee if agreed in de collective or individual employment agreement. (Welke rechten heeft uw werknemer?, n.d.)
 
 
Retirement
The Belgian pension system covers two social risks which are age and widow(er)hood. Apart from the pension system, people who retire are also entitled to a welfare payment. This payment is granted after checking the livelihood of the person who applied for the payment. In addition to the legal pension, extra-legal pensions are becoming interesting. More and more companies offer their employees a collective supplementary pension. Any employee has the possibility to start a pension saving plan at any time in his work-ing career. The employee transfers a certain amount of money to a financial institution on a yearly basis. (Het Belgische pensioenlandschap, n.d.)
 
In Belgium the retirement age is 65. From 2025 on, the retirement will be 66 and in 2030 it will increase to 67.  In some cases, it is possible to retire early. For an early re-tirement, the employee has to meet certain criteria. In 2016, an employee becomes eli-gible for an early retirement, if at the age of 62, the employee has a career of 40 years. If the employee reaches the age of 60 or 61 and has a career of respectively 42 or 41 years, he is eligible for an early retirement too. Under the age of 60, it is not possible to go on an early retirement. (Voor wie?, n.d.)
 
It is not necessary for an employee that reaches the age of 65, to submit a pension claim.
It is not obliged to retire if you reach the age of 65 either. It is allowed to keep working, if the employer agrees. That way, an employee can increase his retirement payment. If an employee chooses to keep working after reaching the age of 65, he will need to sub-mit a pension claim, the moment he wants to retire. The employee can submit a pension claim via the website www.pensioenaavraag.be, at the council of his principal residence or at the retirement services. (Wanneer aanvragen?, n.d.)
 
An employee’s pension is calculated based on his salary. If this salary does not reach a certain limit, than the retirement services increase the pension to the guaranteed mini-mum pension. In case an employee has had an entire career, he will get a minimum pen-sion of €17,525.38 on an annual basis in case the employee has a family. If the employee is single, he will receive an annual pension of €14,112.89. If the employee’s husband has passed away, the employee will receive a survivor’s pension of minimum €13,804.22 yearly. (Gewaarborgd minimumpensioen, n.d.)
Reference:
Careeers Advice. Accessed: 24 Dec 2017. URL: https://www.cvtemplatemaster.com/careers-advice/