Practice Areas


Expertise

Our
Expertise

Social law


Presentation


All department lawyers handle matters relating to both labour law and social security law, each of them being, moreover, specialised in certain areas of this broad branch of law. Individual labour law and collective labour relations are the main areas of activity of the department, which also has extensive expertise in the international aspects of these two complementary fields.

For more than 30 years, the department has been handling the restructuring of companies, whether through conventional transfer or otherwise (i.e. transfers, mergers, divisions and collective layoffs). This expertise also extends to assistance with social security regulation matters such as commercial procedures of collective regulation and company closures, as well as the occasional bankruptcy of major economic groups.
 

As for private individuals, whether drafting an employment contract, executing or terminating it, we advise them, issue notices of law suits and negotiate agreements or defend them in legal proceedings (civil or criminal) or even in arbitration and mediation proceedings.

In this area of law, where regulations are constantly changing, we also believe it is important to offer companies and groups legal updates, or even an audit service for social security regulations, to help them adapt their human resources policy and update and optimise their legal instruments (e.g. special clauses in employment contracts, optimisation of salaries, labour regulations, collective labour agreements, internal regulations on work organisation, visits from external occupational health and safety services).

The complementary nature of the lawyers of the department also enables them to address all these aspects with regard to social security for employees and self-employed people (e.g. taxable compensation, tax deductions, work-related accidents, economic unemployment, early retirement) and to develop an in-depth knowledge of extra-legal schemes.

Finally, the department manages all aspects of law relating to medicine, hospitals and healthcare professionals.

Our services


  • Employee selection, recruitment and health evaluations, non-discrimination
  • Drawing up management, service provision, independent collaboration and labour contracts
  • Special clauses: tuition clause, confidentiality clause, exclusivity clause, non-competition clause, conventional notice, temporary unemployment
  • Collective labour agreements, labour regulations, car policies, Internet regulations and technological tools
  • Safety and well-being; violence and harassment prevention at work, health at work, status and operation of internal and external occupational health and safety services, status of risk prevention advisors
  • Responsibilities of managers and employees
  • Conventional transfer, merger, division, collective layoffs, negotiation and drawing up of layoff compensation plans
  • Labour law of collective regulation procedures (liquidation, compositions, bankruptcies)
  • Corporate organised labour coordination: union elections and operation of ECs, advisory committees for occupational health and safety and union delegations, fulfilment of elected terms and protection against layoffs
  • Drawing up the company-level collective labour agreement
  • Social audit of a company and legal monitoring of labour law for the company
  • Assistance with social inspection service visits
  • International labour law: employee outplacement, work permits, LIMOSA declarations (monitoring of temporary employment), European and international social security
  • Organisation of layoffs or resignations, negotiation of their details; law suits before labour courts
  • Dealings with social security institutions, social security appeals before labour courts, including the sectors of professional risk and pensions
  • Handling matters for hospital managers, medical boards or physicians, nursing staff and hospital pharmacist associations, providing counsel, negotiation and/or coordination services and disciplinary, administrative or legal actions

Our experience


The department intervenes for all sectors of economic activity, including the social economy, as well as for the non-profit sector and the liberal professions.

The lawyers of the department are consulted in particular by companies as well as by employees in the air transport, metallurgy, construction, banking, distribution and technology sectors. The department is also a regular partner of the hospital sector, external occupational health and safety services and accredited social secretariats.

The Department provides training in employment law to companies, social secretariats and chambers of commerce and industry; its lawyers are regular trainers for the UCM and the BECI. 

The Department also regularly intervenes in various types of cases:

  • Closure and/or collective dismissal of various companies belonging to the automobile sector, the pharmaceutical sector, of a Belgian airline, etc
  • Restructuring of a pharmaceutical company and transfer of the financial department
  • Assistance to a company prosecuted for various breaches under social criminal law 
  • Social-law audit of a French company based in Belgium (drafting of contracts, employment regulations, etc.)
  • Dismissal of a member of the Workers' Council due to the acceptance of secret commissions
  • Defense of a director prosecuted for theft of confidential data
  • Defense of a director of various European companies for non-payment of social security contributions in the self-employed scheme

Our team


Senior Counsel
* SC Janson Baugniet CV


Contact

Brussels: + 32 2 675 30 30
Nivelles +32 67 21 79 95
Ghent: +32 9 240 77 20
Mons: +32 65 22 10 00
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