Belgium: overview of the key measures of the bill on the single status for blue and white-collar workers

The bill the government adopted on September 27 lays down the foundation to permanently get rid of the outdated difference between blue and white-collar workers.  This complicated text nevertheless clarifies several gray areas hovering over the historical compromise it transposes, which the social partners reached in July.  However, for the social partners, the issues of layoff grounds and managing absenteeism after the removal of the waiting day are still open and a new trial of strength is about to start between employers and unions.  (Ref.  130617)
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More flexible notices. The harmonization of the notice period between blue-collar and white-collar workers was at the heart of the bill introducing a single status, adopted on September 27 (see article No. 130573). Now, the notice when the employer terminates the contract applies to all and ranges between 2 weeks when the worker has been in the company for less than 3 months up to 15 weeks for workers who spent between 4 months and 5 years in the company. Beyond that limit, the notice...

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