In Belgium, working hours (the time during which the worker is at the disposal of the employer) must not exceed eight per day or thirty-eight per week. It is forbidden in principle to work more than the legal working hours, outside the applicable schedules, on Sundays, bank holidays and at night. Exemptions with and without prior authorisation: it is possible, however, to derogate from the principle of eight hours per day and thirty-eight per week. In some cases, exemptions are possible with prior authorisation and provided that the work does not exceed either eleven hours per day or fifty hours per week. The employer must ask for this authorisation.
Exemptions without prior authorisation are also possible. The daily working hours can thus be extended to nine hours in the context of a five-day week when the regulation on working hours provides for a half-day, one day or more than one day of rest per week, other than on Sunday. Working hours cannot exceed twelve hours per day in the case of work that cannot be interrupted. In most cases of force majeure, there is no limit. If work arrangements include nightwork, a collective labour agreement must be concluded with the organisations represented in the trade union delegation. These work arrangements can be introduced by amending the labour regulations. Flexible working time: you should not confuse flexible working time and variable working time. The latter allows workers to choose their arrival and departure times more freely. Flexible working time is set by collective agreement or, in the absence of this, by the labour regulation. It can authorise work that goes beyond normal working hours, without however exceeding nine hours per day and forty-five hours per week, and the application in the company of working hours that differ from the normal ones, with the worker being informed by notice displayed seven days beforehand. Compensatory rest times and overtime: in most cases where working beyond the statutory working hours is authorised, either in the context of regular work regimes or in the context of overtime, compensatory rest times are compulsory. They must be granted in such a way that normal weekly working hours are respected on average during a reference period. Overtime is paid at 50% above the normal rate, or 100% in the case of work on Sundays or public holidays. Sunday work: working on Sundays is forbidden by the law. Some activities may be performed on Sundays, however: when the normal work of the company does not enable these activities to be performed on another day of the week, and for work in certain undertakings (hotels, catering establishments, and health care establishments and services). Workers who work on Sundays are entitled to compensatory rest during the six ensuing days. Nightwork: nightwork is forbidden between 20:00 and 06:00, however exemptions may be obtained. They apply indifferently to male and female workers, provided that they are at least 18 years of age. Nightwork is authorised provided that the nature of the work or activity justifies it. Thus nightwork is permitted for instance in hotels, entertainment and public gambling undertakings, newspaper firms, health care, prophylactic and hygiene establishments, chemists, for agricultural work, in bakeries and traditional pastry-shops, and in education centres and undertakings providing accommodation, etc Source: European Union © European Communities, 1995-2009
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