Belgium: new measures to combat social fraud in construction

Joint liability.  From now on, the contractor and subcontractor will be jointly responsible for paying minimum wage to the latter’s employees.  The contractor may ask for copies of the payroll made available to the labor inspectors.  A database will list employers in order.  Contractors who fail to let the Labor Inspectorate know about minimum wage violations may be sanctioned, as well as subcontractors refusing to issue copies of the payrolls.  In order to combat illegal labor, which allegedly accounts for 30% of construction workers in Belgium, the bill also imposes drawing up a record of all the people present onsite – “including self-employed workers, foreign and national alike” added Employment Minister Joëlle Milquet in a press release.  The obligation concerns sites where at least two entrepreneurs are or were involved; minimum floor area will be subsequently determined in a Royal Decree.  Practical registration modalities will be contractually defined by the entrepreneurs and will either take the form of a registering device or of a registering system as part of the electronic statement of building alterations entrepreneurs have to give social security when construction begins.
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or were involved; minimum floor area will be subsequently determined in a Royal Decree. Practical registration modalities will be contractually defined by the entrepreneurs and will either take the form of a registering device or of a registering system as part of the electronic statement of building alterations entrepreneurs have to give social security when construction begins.

Changing the status of bogus self-employed workers. Finally, the new system provides that individuals who want to...

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