New, more flexible measures governing working time entered into force. These are the Law of 17 August 2013 regarding the modernisation of the labour law and other provisions (Wet betreffende de modernisering van het arbeidsrecht en houdende diverse bepalingen; Loi relative à la modernisation du droit du travail et portant des dispositions diverses) and the Royal Decree of 11 September 2013 determining the negotiation procedure to raise the internal threshold of labour time which must be applied during a reference period and the quota of overtime for which the employee can decide not to take compensatory rest as determined in Article 26 bis, §1 bis and §2bis of the Labour Law of 16 March 1971 (Koninklijk Besluit tot vaststelling van de onderhandelingsprocedures voor het verhogen van de interne grens van de arbeidsduur die in de loop van een referteperiode moet worden nageleefd en van het quotum overuren waarvoor de werknemer kan afzien van de inhaalrust in toepassing van artikel 26bis, § 1bis en § 2bis, van de arbeidswet van 16 maart 1971; Arrêté royal déterminant les procédures de négociations pour augmenter la limite interne de la durée du travail à respecter dans le courant d'une période de référence et le quota d'heures supplémentaires pour lesquelles le travailleur peut renoncer à la récupération en vertu de l'article 26bis § 1erbis et § 2bis de la loi du 16 mars 1971 sur travail). These measures implement part of the agreement of 27 February 2013 between the social stakeholders.
The Law of 17 August 2013 modifies the internal threshold that must be respected within the reference period during which the average weekly working time must be observed in accordance with Article 26bis of the Labour Law of 16 March 1971. As soon as the internal threshold of 65 overtime hours (130 hours in specific cases and after a negotiation procedure) is reached during the reference period, compensatory rest must be granted immediately.
As of 1 October 2013, this threshold is increased to 78 hours. If the reference period is extended from a semester to one year, the threshold is increased to 91 hours. However, that threshold of 91 hours can only be applied as of the fourth month after the start of the reference period of one year. In specific cases and after a negotiation procedure, it is possible to raise the threshold further to 130 hours. The new Law creates a possibility to negotiate (by collective bargaining agreement at sector level), in a second phase, for the purpose of raising the threshold from 130 to 143 hours.
The “overtime credit” for which the employee can choose not to recuperate his working time (on account of an extraordinary increase of work or unforeseeable necessity) is also modified. This overtime credit was capped at 65 hours (130 hours after a negotiation procedure) per calendar year, but will be increased to 91 hours per calendar year as of 1 October 2013. If a negotiation procedure is followed, it is possible to increase the capped number of hours to 130. The new Law creates a possibility to negotiate (by collective bargaining agreement at sector level), in a second phase, for the purpose of raising the maximum number of hours to 143.
A third modification is that for the extension of the reference period from a trimester to one year by collective bargaining agreement, it is no longer necessary to follow the procedure to modify the work rules. In the past, such a modification was only possible by implementing it in the work rules, for which the burdensome procedure of the modification of the work rules had to be followed. Now, such modifications are part of the work rules as of the date of the registration of the collective bargaining agreement with the competent authorities.
