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Auteur
DLA PIPERBe Aware – Employment, Pensions and Benefits
www.dlapiper.com
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
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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)
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! 4 dla piper epb pUblicationS
of laSt Month…
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Be Aware Belgium | 1
be aware
eMployMent, penSionS and benefitS
May 2008 belgiUM
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Be Aware Belgium | 2doeS 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. 08 004977).
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 2007-2008. 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 2009. (Frédérique Gillet)
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Be Aware Belgium | 3neXt 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 e-mails & 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 »
(HR Magazine) By Virginie Simon
« Sociale verkiezingen: de verkiezingsdatum komt dichterbij »
(HR Magazine)
By Damien Stas de Richelle
« Sociale verkiezingen 2008 : indiening van kandidaturen » (HR Magazine)
By Damien Stas de Richelle « Bedrijfswagen » (HR Magazine) By Frederic Brasseur
« Nieuwe regeling inzake de resultaats-gebonden bonus (bis) »
(HR Magazine) By Jurgen Goyvaerts
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dlap2612/05.08_rtKey contact
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services organisation, the members of which are separate and distinct legal entities. For further information please refer to www.dlapiper.com/structure
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