As announced in our Newsflash of 10 May 2011, the new termination legislation (1) entered into force on 1 January 2012. These new mandatory provisions on redundancy will be applicable to both blue collar and white collar workers employment contracts taking effect from 1 January 2012 onwards.
The introduction of this new termination legislation imposes adjustments to the existing work regulations.
The Act on Work Regulations (2) imposes the inclusion of “the length of the notice period or the modalities for determining its length, or a reference to the applicable legal or regulatory provisions” into the work regulations. Although it is sufficient to refer to the applicable legal and regulatory provisions, some employers chose to expressly detail the applicable notice period.
As a consequence, the following adjustment will have to be brought to the work regulations applicable to the company:
- If the existing work regulations merely refer to the legal and regulatory provisions, it will be necessary to modify this reference by including the new articles of the law of 3 July 1978 on employment contracts (articles 86/1 to 86/4).
- If, on the other hand, the work regulations mention the length of the notice periods or the modalities for determining its length, they need to be completed in accordance with the new termination legislation.
Such modifications do not require the application of the procedure involving the Works Council. Work regulations can be adjusted unilaterally by the employer.
Once work regulations have been modified, the employer must inform the employees of these modifications and send a copy of it, within a period of 8 days, to the social inspectorate of the place where the company is established.
Non compliance with the obligation to modify the work regulations may lead to an administrative fine of EUR 60 to 600. The absence of transmission to the social inspectorate may lead to a criminal fine of EUR 300 to 3,000 or an administrative fine of EUR 150 to 1,500.
