Auteur. Onderwerp. Datum

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1 Auteur DLA PIPER Be Aware Employment, Pensions and Benefits Onderwerp Does the employee who uses a company car (even only occasionally) to transport a colleague have to possess a certificate of aptitude for safe driving? Datum May 2008 Copyright and disclaimer Gelieve er nota van te nemen dat de inhoud van dit document onderworpen kan zijn aan rechten van intellectuele eigendom, die toebehoren aan bepaalde betrokkenen, en dat er u geen recht wordt verleend op die desbetreffende rechten. M&D Seminars wil u met dit document de nodige informatie verstrekken, zonder dat de in dit document vervatte informatie bedoeld kan worden als een advies. Bijgevolg geeft M&D Seminars geen garanties dat de informatie die dit document bevat, foutloos is, zodat u dit document en de inhoud ervan op eigen risico gebruikt. M&D Seminars, noch enige van haar directieleden, aandeelhouders of bedienden zijn aansprakelijk voor bijzondere, indirecte, bijkomstige, afgeleide of bestraffende schade, noch voor enig ander nadeel van welke aard ook betreffende het gebruik van dit document en van haar inhoud. M&D Seminars M&D CONSULT BVBA Eikelstraat DE PINTE Tel. 09/ Fax 09/ [email protected] -

2 EVERYTHING MATTERS belgium may 2008 Be Aware employment, pensions and benefits contents 1 Update on Short absences in May and June: solemn communions and secular celebrations 2 Does the employee who uses a company car (even only occasionally) to transport a colleague have to possess a certificate of aptitude for safe driving? 2 Is the system of salary scales applicable under Joint Committee No. 218 discriminatory insofar as it provides different salary scales based on the age of the employee? 3 NEXT SEMINARS MARK THEM IN YOUR DIARIES! Update on Short absences in May and June: solemn communions and secular celebrations Employees are entitled to paid time off work for certain family events. This right exists for all employees under an employment contract and is not dependent on the duration of the contract or the work schedule. Belgian law provides a list of such family events, which include solemn communions and secular celebrations. Other events may be included in any collective bargaining agreements concluded on an industrial or company level. On the occasion of the solemn communion or the secular celebration of the employee s child (or the child of his/her partner), the employee may take time off work during the celebration day. In order to benefit from this entitlement, the employee must give prior notice to the employer. This entitlement exists not only for legitimate children but also for any natural or adopted children. In the event the celebration occurs on a Sunday, a legal holiday or a usual day of inactivity, the employee may be off work on the day which is directly prior or after the ceremony. (Mallorie Lauvaux) 4 DLA piper EPB PUBLICATIONS OF LAST MONTH Next Be Aware Belgium 1

3 Does the employee who uses a company car (even only occasionally) to transport a colleague have to possess a certificate of aptitude for safe driving? This seems to be the view of the police, judging from publications in several newspapers and statements made during television broadcasts. According to the law, a certificate of aptitude is normally required in cases of transportation of personnel by an employer, transporting materials for business purposes and carried out under its own responsibility. This notion of employer-organised and operated transport of personnel has not been defined by legislation, or by case law. If it is understood that this normally concerns the transport organised by the employer of personnel working at different building sites when the employees are driven from one building site to another, it is less evident when we refer to the situation of the transport of a colleague and particularly questionable when the transport of a colleague occurs under exceptional circumstances. Although the Supreme Court had decided in 1975 that this rule did not apply in the case of exceptional transport of personnel, the police seem to consider that such a certificate of aptitude should be required even if the transport occurs under exceptional circumstances. Such an interpretation and application of the law risks having serious consequences for the employee concerned and his employer (fines, loss of driving licence, refusal of claims by the insurance company in case of accident, etc). The FEB argued in its newsletter of 28 February 2008 for an amendment to the law. (Frédérique Gillet) Is the system of salary scales applicable under Joint Committee No. 218 discriminatory insofar as it provides different salary scales based on the age of the employee? The collective bargaining agreement applicable under Joint Committee No. 218 provides a system of minimum salary scales based on the function/category performed, the age and the seniority of the employee. The question of the discriminatory nature of this system was raised before the labour tribunal of Brussels, which rendered a judgment on 11 March 2008 (R.G. No ). An employee, estimating that she was wrongly assigned to a particular category, brought a claim against her employer, asking for a change of category with payment of back pay. The employer considered that the system of minimum salary scales was illegal (under Belgian and European laws), insofar as it is normally based on age criteria this system being discriminatory. The employer thus claimed that this system could not apply. The labour tribunal agreed to reject this argument considering the absence of any discrimination in the case under consideration and the fact that the employer, by using this argument, had merely tried to avoid paying back pay to the employee concerned. We may wonder what the decision of the labour tribunal would have been if this argument had been raised by an employee. Furthermore, attention must be paid to the Inter- Professional Agreement Within the framework of this agreement, social partners agreed to review the system of minimum salary scales based on age criteria currently applicable, considering European laws. This criteria is indeed used under several Joint Committees (and is not specific to Joint Committee n 218). Under Joint Committee n 218, the social partners decided that the currently applicable system should be reviewed and assigned a working group the task of reviewing the it by 1st July 2008, enabling the new system to enter into force on 1st January (Frédérique Gillet) Next Previous Contents Be Aware Belgium 2

4 NEXT SEMINARS MARK THEM IN YOUR DIARIES! 17 June 2008 (GOSSELIES) BP Training is organising a one-day seminar in French on: «Vidéosurveillance, télématique & géolocalisation Sécurisation de réseau, contrôle des s & internet» This seminar will be presented by Frédérique Gillet and Mallorie Lauvaux, EPB lawyers with DLA Piper (Brussels). INTERESTED IN THIS SEMINAR? Please find attached the programmes for these seminars as well as registration forms or do not hesitate to contact Mallorie Lauvaux ([email protected]). DLA EPB piper PUBLICATIONS OF LAST MONTH «La répétition d un même fait dommageable n est pas nécessairement constitutive d un motif grave / Het herhalen van eenzelfde schadelijk feit verantwoordt niet noodzakelijk een ontslag wegens dringende reden» (HR Today) by Damien Stas de Richelle and Frederic Brasseur «Avantages non récurrents liés aux résultats» (Prévent Actu) by Damien Stas de Richelle «Elections sociales 2008 : Collèges, bureaux et présidents» (Prevent Actu) by Damien Stas de Richelle «Terugbetaling van advocatenhonoraria in het kader van processen» By Virginie Simon «Sociale verkiezingen: de verkiezingsdatum komt dichterbij» By Damien Stas de Richelle «Sociale verkiezingen 2008 : indiening van kandidaturen» By Damien Stas de Richelle «Bedrijfswagen» By Frederic Brasseur «Nieuwe regeling inzake de resultaats-gebonden bonus (bis)» By Jurgen Goyvaerts Next Previous Contents Be Aware Belgium 3

5 Key contact Eddy Lievens Partner DLA Piper UK LLP Avenue Louise Brussels Belgium T [email protected] Previous Contents DLA Piper u k llp 1 and DLA Piper s c o t l a n d llp 2 are part of DLA Piper, a global legal services organisation, the members of which are separate and distinct legal entities. For further information please refer to A list of offices can be found at Regulated by (1) the Solicitors Regulation Authority, (2) the Law Society of Scotland UK switchboard +44 (0) DLAP2612/05.08_RT