Under Belgian law, an employment contract is defined by Articles 2 and 3 of the Employment Contracts Act of 3 July 1978 as “an agreement under which the employee undertakes to perform certain work under the authority of an employer for remuneration”.
To date, it was generally accepted that, in order to assess whether or not work is performed in the framework of an employment contract, the purpose or the cause of the work was decisive, and had to be that the employee wanted to earn remuneration to live on, in return for the work performed.
Based on the above, the Employment Court of Appeal of Brussels had ruled that the work performed by “volunteers” (i.e. in the particular case concerned, checking the tickets of the audience at a concert and backstage security in the concert venue) in exchange for limited remuneration (i.e. free admission to the concert and food and drink vouchers) did not constitute “work performed in the framework of an employment agreement” as the purpose or the cause of the work was in essence for recreational purposes only.
The National Social Security Office appealed against this decision to the Court of Cassation, which in turn ruled that “work is performed in the framework of an employment agreement for remuneration and under the authority of an employer, irrespective of whether or not the remuneration is limited and whether or not the work is carried out as a recreational activity, rather than to generate income to live on”.
Please note that, the Volunteers’ Rights Act of 3 July 2005 regulates most volunteer work. However, the practice of relying on “volunteers” who fall outside the scope of this Act – which was, to date, widespread e.g. during music festivals, sporting events or cultural activities – will probably now have to come to an end and be replaced by formal employment contracts and remuneration, on which social security contributions are payable by both the employer and the employee!
