Belgium
Key Facts
| Population | 10,840,000 |
|---|---|
| Collective Bargaining Coverage | 96% |
| Proportion of Employees in Unions | 52% |
| Principal Level of Collective Bargaining |
national (sets framework) |
| Workplace Representation |
union and works council (union dominates) |
| Board-level Representation |
no |
| Company Board Structure |
monistic |
Trade Union
Trade unions in Belgium are divided between competing confederations, which have clear political traditions. The two largest CSC/ACV and the FGTB/ABVV are linked to the christian and socialist movements respectively, while the smaller CGSLB/ACLVB is linked to the liberals. Despite this the unions are able to co-operate and more than half the workforce is unionised – with union membership growing.
more ...Collective Bargaining
A national agreement sets the key elements of pay and conditions every two years and this agreement itself is tightly constrained by legislation limiting pay increases to forecast pay costs in Belgium’s neighbours. With automatic pay indexation linked to inflation, negotiators have only limited room for manoeuvre.
more ...Workplace Representation
Belgium has structures at workplace level representing both all employees and trade unionists, but, with only trade unions able to nominate to the works council, the key body is the union delegation. It is the union delegation which negotiates key issues with management, although the works council has extensive information and consultation rights, and although it is a joint body with an employee majority, it has decision-making powers in some areas.
more ...Board-level Representation
Employees are not represented at board level in Belgium, except in a handful of publicly-owned companies.
more ...European-level Representation
The hierarchy for choosing European representatives from Belgium for European bodies is the works council, the health and safety committee and the union delegations.
more ...Health and Safety
Health and safety committees have been created in all undertakings habitually employing an average of 50 or more workers.
more ...Financial Participation
Employee financial participation in Belgium is in line with the European average. Regulations supporting profit-sharing and employee share ownership were introduced in 2002.
more ...