News

July 10, 2020

Towards new EU rules for preventing packaging waste

The European Commission is collecting data and feedback from stakeholders about the European Union’s current rules on packaging and packaging waste.

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July 7, 2020

The National Labour Council has confirmed its initial proposal to hold the social elections between 16 and 29 November 2020

The Act of 4 May 2020 suspended the ongoing social elections procedure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The procedural steps up and including day X + 35 still had to be completed. However, all procedural steps falling after X + 35 were postponed until an unspecified date. The new election dates, and therefore also the […]

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The obligation of prior environmental assessment once again interferes with our energy supply

The Court of Justice has recently decided that Flemish rules establishing a framework for the development consent for wind turbines infringe the EU rules on prior environmental assessment.

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June 30, 2020

Share-related benefits granted by a foreign parent company: new Esko ruling strengthens the NSSO’s position that social security contributions are due

Share-related benefits granted by a foreign parent company: new Esko ruling strengthens the NSSO’s position that social security contributions are due

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June 18, 2020

10 quick-and-key questions on a safe return to work with Covid-19

 

With the exit from the lockdown now in full force, more companies are bringing their staff back to their work premises.
We have listed 10 quick-but-key questions that every business manager or HR specialist must deal with during this restart.

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June 11, 2020

No retroactive suspension of the notice period in the event of ‘corona’ temporary unemployment

Up until now, there has been no suspension of a notice period served upon an employee who has been made temporarily unemployed under the ‘corona’ regime. Such a notice period started during the corona temporary unemployment and continued to run during this period. Given, as a consequence, employers would be able to dismiss employees ‘cheaply’, a draft bill was submitted in Parliament to have the notice period suspended in the event of corona temporary unemployment. The draft bill was criticized as it provided for a retroactive application of this new rule. After having obtained the Council of State’s opinion, which stated that the law cannot have retroactive effect, the Chamber of Representatives has now voted for the law without retroactive effect. However, the new law does apply to notice periods served after 1 March 2020 for periods of corona temporary unemployment that fall after the entry into force of the law.

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June 9, 2020

The CJEU has clarified the transparency rules on the publication of online flight prices

On 23 April 2020, the Court of Justice of the EU clarified earlier case law that obliges each airline to indicate in its initial online price offer(s), the airfare and, separately, the taxes, charges, surcharges and fees that are unavoidable and foreseeable.

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May 28, 2020

Webinar Video | Privacy, telework, electronic contracts: 3 key legal themes in Covid-19 times

Gerrit Vandendriessche, Esther Soetens and Mathieu Maniet provide you with a hands-on digest about what your company should know from a legal perspective about privacy, tele-working and electronic contracts during these Covid-19 times.

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May 22, 2020

Employment Ministry’s and DPA’s new positions on checking employees’ temperatures

The controversial issue of whether employers can check their employees’ temperatures has been much debated. Both the Employment Ministry and the Data Protection Authority (DPA) have recently changed their positions in this respect. The Employment Ministry allows temperature checks, but only during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided that the decision to introduce such checks, as well as the method of implementation, is included in the company’s work rules in line with the procedure provided for in Collective Labour Agreement Number 100 on the performance of alcohol and drug tests.

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May 21, 2020

Extension of Doel 1 and Doel 2 is illegitimate but our energy supply is safe for now …

On 5 March 2020, the Constitutional Court annulled the extension of Doel 1 and Doel 2 because this extension infringed EU legal provisions concerning environmental assessments.

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May 7, 2020

Belgian federal government restricts the sale of personal protective equipment and medical devices that can be used in the fight against Covid-19 – Updated

On 23 March 2020, a Ministerial Decree on special measures in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the basis of Book XVIII of the Code of Economic Law was adopted by the Belgian Minister of Economic Affairs, which restricts both the retail and wholesale distribution of certain types of personal protective equipment, as well as of medical devices used for treating Covid-19 patients.

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