
Stijn Lamberigts
Business Criminal Law
Fraud and internal investigations
Dispute Resolution
stijn.lamberigts@lydian.be
On May 8th, 2024, the House of Representatives approved the Bill amending the Social Criminal Code and various labour law provisions. This Bill is the result of a review of the Social Criminal Code (hereinafter "SCC"), among other things in light of the recent reform of the old Criminal Code of 1867 and with a view to combating social fraud more effectively. In this e-zine, we will summarize some of the relevant changes for the practice of labour law.
The violations stipulated in the SCC will still be punished with a sanction of level 1-4.
Administrative and criminal fines of level 1 and 2 the sanction of imprisonment of level 4 remain unchanged. Administrative and criminal fines of level 3 and 4, on the other hand, are increased as follows (the amounts below have already been multiplied by the current surcharges (x8)):
Criminal fine (EUR) | Administrative fine (EUR) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Before | After | Before | After | |
Level 3 | 800 - 8.000 | 1.600 - 16.000 | 400 - 4.000 | 800 - 8.000 |
Level 4 | 4.800 - 48.000 | 4.800 - 56.000 | 2.400 - 24.000 | 2.400 - 28.000 |
For criminal fines of level 2-4 imposed on legal persons, the Bill takes over the conversion mechanism of the old Criminal Code currently still in force. For level 2-3, this means that the minimum and maximum amounts as listed in the chart above will apply. For level 4, the criminal fine is determined as follows:
For certain violations, the Bill provides for more severe sanctions than the current SCC, for example the non-payment or late payment of salary and non-compliance with the rules on deductions from salary (both from level 2 to level 3, subject to exceptions).
In addition, the timeframe for repetition is extended from 1 to 3 years. Consequently, the maximum criminal or administrative fine may be doubled.
On the other hand, some - rather "administrative" - violations will be less severely sanctioned.
The Bill includes other novelties, such as:
The articles of the Bill will not all enter into force on the same date.
For some provisions, a specific timing is set. For example, the entry into force of Book 1 of the new Criminal Code determines the entry into force of the new rules on fines applicable to legal persons, certain provisions on violations will enter into force on a date to be determined by the government, subject to compliance with utter dates, and for certain provisions on the organization of the subcontracting chain, the date of entry into force will be one month after publication in the Belgian Official Gazette. The other provisions, will enter into force 10 days after publication in the Belgian Official Gazette. Of course, prohibitions on the retroactive application of the stricter criminal laws must also be taken into account.
The act has yet to be published in the Belgian Official Gazette.
Employers will certainly have to take into account the increase in certain sanctions and the existence of new violations when assessing any risks in the event of non-compliance with labour law.
Business Criminal Law
Fraud and internal investigations
Dispute Resolution
stijn.lamberigts@lydian.be