New right to de-connect
The Belgian government wants to modernise the labour legislation and has introduced several changes to this end through the so-called 'Labour Deal'. This Labour Deal contains several measures aimed at creating a higher employment rate in Belgium and a better work-life balance for employees. One of these measures is the right to de-connect, which we discuss in this newsletter.
For whom?
Only employers who employ 20 or more employees are obliged to comply with this new right to de-connect. Employers employing less than 20 employees may, of course, introduce this right to de-connect in the company as well.
What does this right entail?
The right to de-connect gives the employee some safeguards to avoid having to be constantly available or 'online' after working hours. Concretely, as an employer, you should work out the following three modalities.
- The practical modalities of the employee's right not to be available outside his or her working schedule. For example: guidelines not to answer e-mails or calls outside working hours, turning off servers outside working hours, activating absence messages and referral messages, using e-mail signatures that emphasise the non-necessity of an immediate response...
- The guidelines for the use of digital tools so that the employee's rest periods, holidays, private and family life are safeguarded.
- Training and awareness-raising actions, both for employees and managers, on the wise use of digital tools and the risks associated with excessive connection.
Introduction in the working regulations (or company CLA)
Employers employing 20 or more employees must lay down the three above modalities of this right to de-connect in the working regulations or in a collective labour agreement (CLA) at company level at the latest by January 1, 2023.
However, the employer's obligation to introduce this right to de-connect in the working regulations or in a company CLA, will lapse if a CLA at sectoral level or a CLA declared generally binding at national level is concluded on this matter. For the time being, no such CLA's exist.
! Action points
- If your company employs more than 20 employees, contact our Legal Team (legal@pro-pay.be), so that we can include the right to de-connect in your working regulations. Please note that a certain procedure to modify the working regulations must be followed, which takes at least 15 days before the changes can enter into force. Therefore, please contact us in time so that the right to de-connect is applicable in your company by January 1, 2023 at the latest.
- If appropriate, prepare an analysis of the measures that your company can realistically take and/or wishes to take in the context of the right to de-connect.
- In the context of the Labour Deal, other measures also have to be compulsorily included in the working regulations (or company CLA). We will inform you of these other measures in due time so that the various changes can be incorporated into the working regulations at once.
