Proposition 54K1944

Projet de loi modifiant l'article 8 de la loi du 24 juillet 1987 sur le travail temporaire, le travail intérimaire et la mise de travailleurs à la disposition d'utilisateurs, aux fins de supprimer la règle des 48 heures et d'élargir la possibilité de recourir à des contrats de travail intérimaire électroniques.

General information ¶

Submitted by

MR Swedish coalition

Submission date

June 30, 2016

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

work work contract labour law electronic signature temporary employment simplification of formalities

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE ∉ Open Vld N-VA LDD MR PVDA | PTB PP VB

Abstained from voting

PS | SP DéFI

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Discussion ¶

July 20, 2016 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

On Wednesday, July 13, the Social Affairs Committee discussed a bill concerning the abolition of the 48-hour rule in outsourcing work.

In January 2012, the social partners represented in the NAR concluded a principle agreement on the modernisation of the regulation on temporary work. This resulted in a unanimous opinion. Three parts of the agreement have been implemented. These include the adjustment of the regulations in the field of information and the control of the use of outsourced work, a regulation for successive day contracts and the implementation and the regulation on inflow motive. This has already been translated. On the transposition of the last part, the abolition of the so-called 48-hour rule and the expansion of the possibilities of using electronic employment contracts, the social partners have recently reached a final agreement. This was confirmed in a unanimous opinion.

This draft legislation implements the amendments that the social partners have called for in that opinion. An employment contract for outsourced work will have to be concluded in writing from now on, at the latest at the time the outsourced force enters into service. In particular, the employment contract for outsourced work will now be able to be signed by means of a qualified electronic signature, a qualified electronic seal or by means of another electronic signature as developed on the online platform by the broadcasting sector.

A number of members underlined in the committee the beneficial effect of this bill for both the employment offices and the employment forces themselves. It provides both parties with greater flexibility and simplifies the administrative burden associated with temporary employment contracts. Some members added that thanks to this draft, workers also enjoy greater legal certainty.

Members also welcomed the fact that the social consultation was respected and thus respected. However, some members ⁇ that the NAR in its opinion criticized the provisions on electronic archiving. These require the provider of electronic archiving or the employment agency to ask the employee after a first five-year period of archiving for registered shipments what should be done with the electronically stored contracts. At the request of the staff, the agreement is then sent to Sigedis. The NAR actually finds this a ⁇ difficult and expensive procedure. Other members of the committee indicated that a possible solution could be found before the end of that five-year period and that at this stage the social partners have not expressed their desire to amend it. There was an amendment by a PS colleague on this point, but that was not adopted in the committee. However, the committee noted the opinion of the social partners, in which it called for an evaluation of the procedure relating to electronic archiving. The Minister noted that the cost of automatic archiving is still to be decided by the government.

Responding to questions from Members regarding a possible extension of this regulation to other groups such as students and to other sectors, the Minister responded that the introduction of an electronic agreement will also be examined for other types of work. There, however, it is less urgent, now it is especially urgent for the broadcasting sector.

The Minister also answered a number of questions. They wondered if everything would be in order by 1 October, the date of entry into force. He assured that by then people without digital access could also go to the interim offices and that everything would be in order before the entry into force. Finally, on a question on the sector’s information, the Minister indicates that the broadcasting sector has committed to providing information in an appropriate manner and to fully self-finance all costs arising from this reform, such as the development of a new platform.

In the end, the bill was approved with 13 votes in favour and three abstentions. As already stated, the amendment was not accepted.

My speech will be brief, which is why I make it from my bank. We are obviously satisfied with the bill submitted because it is the concrete implementation of a unanimous opinion that was given within the National Labour Council.

However, at the request of the Minister, as changes had occurred, the file was submitted again to the National Labour Council. The Minister undertook to translate any new changes that the social partners would like to make to this bill before it is deposited on the banks of the parliament. The National Labour Council, as part of its unanimous opinion, desired that an amendment be made; that is why we had deposited an amendment in committee which we are today re-deposing on the banks of the House in order that it be taken into consideration.

The National Labour Council and all the social partners requested that there be a change because, in the current bill, three months before the expiry of the five-year archiving period, the provider of electronic archiving services or the temporary work company will have, by recommended sending, to ask the temporary what is the fate to reserve to the contract. The social partners believe that this solution is not fully satisfactory because there will need to be a recommended shipment for each temporary employment contract. In the current state of affairs, we are approximately 11 million temporary employment contracts per year in Belgium. This will represent a cost of approximately €66 million per year for temporary work companies.

In addition, it is known that a number of recommended mailings never find their recipient or receive no response. That is why the National Labour Council and the social partners, in a unanimous opinion, wanted a change, namely that it is the provider of electronic archiving services that retains the whole. This implies a cost. According to the ministry’s own statements, this cost would be in the order of 600,000 euros to one million euros. This is a one shot because it is about inflating, in the social security sector, the devices that allow this archiving.

Over a five-year period, this represents a total expenditure of 600,000 euros to one million euros compared to an estimated cost, in the head of the temporary work companies, of 330 million euros over five years.

When we balance between an investment of 600,000 euros to one million euros and an economy of about 330 million euros in five years on the corporate side, we say that this could be relatively favourable to temporary labour companies and thus avoid them additional costs, hoping that the whole will result in a reinvestment in our economy and, consequently, in job creation. The PS Group considers this to be a positive aspect. Unfortunately, the majority did not accept this amendment. That is why we re-depose it in the hope that, since the work in committee, the measure we propose could have been evaluated by the majority, so that it can then mark its agreement.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister is absent, but I would like to remind you that today we are discussing the last part of a large project that was undertaken in 2012 and that concerns the modernization of the regulation of temporary work. Several chapters were voted in the previous legislature.

We support this project, as it represents a plus for workers in terms of legal certainty, but also for interim agencies in terms of simplifying administrative burdens. I would like to point out that the text in question transposes a unanimous agreement of the social partners, and that is so much better. It was important that we voted today, because a huge job will have to be done by the sector for the operationalization and the passage, scheduled for 1 October, of more than ten million e-contracts. Of course, the industry must be ready for this date. The government submitted this project at the last minute. I think he should have done it a little earlier. It was therefore appropriate to vote on this text before the end of the session and on 21 July.

However, one aspect remains problematic for the future. This question falls within the competence of the Minister of Employment and the Government. It concerns electronic archiving for five years, which represents a cost and burden not negligible for the sector.

As Mr Massin recalled, the social partners made a proposal in this regard, but the additional cost, for social security, of the measure they advocated to take had not been quantified. This cost is not negligible since it is in the order of the million euros.

Knowing the government, this cost would be assumed at the expense of other policies such as granted time credits, measures for families, etc., which would, in my opinion, be a very bad idea. That’s why I think it’s better to anticipate a medium-term assessment, but also to look at other paths that would not have such a large cost for social security in order to disconnect this node from electronic archiving.

We will therefore not support the PS amendment, and we renew an appeal to the Minister of Employment and the Government to consider this assessment, as requested by the social partners, but also to find a solution favorable to all.

With the exception of this point which must be regulated in a near future, we will support this project of law which transcribes the agreement of the social partners.

Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased that we can vote on this bill today.

It has long been waiting for itself. Since 2012, there has been an agreement between the social partners to abolish the 48-hour rule. We have repeatedly insisted on this, but the deadline was regularly postponed. The proposed draft law constitutes the closing point for properly regulating outsourcing work. The absence of the legislative text had, of course, all to do with the fact that one must still have a valid electronic alternative for the written signing of a employment contract. It took some time, but it is there now. From October, everything should work.

We would like to bring two points of attention to the further concrete development of the electronic platform.

First, the prior sending of the electronic employment contract should give the employee the time to effectively read the contract. That is, the contract must definitely be sent some time before the employee leaves home to work.

Second, it also provides for the possibility that the employee may refuse a contract. For example, if there is an error in the contract, whether accidentally or not, the electronic platform should be able for the staff to indicate that there is an error in the contract. That possibility of refusal should nevertheless be included in the electronic platform.

However, we would like to bring these two concerns to the concrete development.

In any case, we hope that the platform will have a smooth start in October. We hope that, after a positive assessment, it can also be applied in other sectors, especially for student work, where abuses are still very frequent. The platform could be a good tool to work away with a lot of abuse.

I understand the concerns of colleagues regarding archiving. Electronic archiving would be a better solution, but I understood from the Minister during the committee discussions that the commitment exists to arrange this before the end of this legislature.

I suggest, therefore, to take some time to arrange things in a good way, for the benefit of all.

In any case, we hope that both the Employment Offices and the Employment Forces can implement the agreement with great success. Everyone will benefit from this scheme: for the employee offices, the administration will be lighter and the employee will receive better protection and greater legal certainty.

We will be happy to approve the bill at the vote.

With this bill we complete the implementation of a proposal that was already approved in the National Labour Council in 2012. It involved four parts, the last part of which includes electronic contracts, and the development and abolition of the 48-hour rule. The social partners reached a final agreement on this in the National Labour Council in February 2016. With the current draft law, we are implementing the necessary changes, which the social partners had called for in their latest opinion. These amendments are introduced in Article 8 of the Act of 24 July 1987 on temporary work, out-of-the-job and the placement of workers for the benefit of users.

The last point that has been discussed here is about archiving. In this regard, my colleague Peeters has already made clear in the committee meeting that an evaluation is being discussed in the government, in which we examine how we can respond to that comment.

In any case, I would like to thank Parliament for its support.