Belgium: starting 01 January 2023, Saturdays will no longer count as working day

The law of 08 April 2022, published on 01 July 2022 in the Belgian Official Gazette, provides that as of 01 January 2023, Saturdays will no longer count as a working day. The change directly impacts the time limit employers have to respect when notifying employees of employment dismissals by registered letter. The letter is deemed to have been received by the employee on the third working day following the day the letter was posted. Employers will therefore have to adapt their HR practices accordingly. For example, they will have to send dismissal notifications via registered letter on Tuesdays so that the notice period can start on the following Monday, i.e. one day earlier, given that Saturdays will longer count for the calculation of the notice period will instead be treated in the same way as Sundays and public holidays. However in situations when employers have to dismiss for serious misconduct, they will have an additional day to inform the employee. In accordance with the rule of the double delay of three days, if the employer becomes aware of serious misconduct on a Wednesday, then the employer has until Monday to dismiss the employee and therefore until Thursday to inform the employee of the reasons for the dismissal, the law group L&E Global has anaylsed.