Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) - Belgium (Ratification: 2017)

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The Committee notes the joint observations of the General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB), the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC) and the Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (CGSLB), received on 1 September 2022. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Article 3(1) of the Convention. Adoption of a national policy. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the measures established in the Horeca plan (for hotels, restaurants and cafés) adopted in 2015 to combat undeclared work. The Committee notes that the aim of these measures is to reduce charges relating to employment while creating flexibility regarding status. The Government does not provide any information on their potential impact on working conditions in the sector or on the existence of a national policy to this end. The Committee also notes that the FGTB, CSC and CGSLB observe that the measures of the Horeca plan merely offer favourable treatment in terms of tax and social benefits to the actors in the sector without improving the working conditions of employees. In this regard, they denounce low wages, flexible work (including in the evening and at weekends) and the absence of bonuses. Recalling that Article 3(1) of the Convention obliges Member States which have ratified the Convention to adopt and apply a policy designed to improve the working conditions of hotel and restaurant employees, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged with a view to formulating such a policy, in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee also requests the Government to provide its comments on the observations of the social partners concerning working conditions in the sector and to indicate the impact of the Horeca plan on the structure of employment in the sector.

Article 4(2). Reasonable normal hours of work and overtime provisions. The Government indicates that any employer calling on a worker performing a “flexi-job” is obliged to use a system for recording and updating the exact start and finish times of the work done by the worker (Act of 16 November 2015, section 24). The Government adds that employees must be registered in the Horeca sector via a “registration fund” (a system certified by the Ministry of Finance which has become mandatory for the vast majority of Horeca operators in Belgium) or through an alternative system developed by the National Social Security Office (ONSS). The FGTB, CSC and CGSLB observe that not all employers in the Horeca sector are obliged to observe the rules concerning the registration of employees. Furthermore, despite the Committee’s request in this regard, the Government does not provide any information concerning compensation for overtime. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the manner in which observance of the limits on adjustments to working time in the sector is ensured and to provide its comments on the observations of the social partners in this respect. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure that overtime worked is compensated by time off with pay, by a higher rate or rates of remuneration for the overtime worked, or by a higher rate of remuneration (Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Recommendation, 1991 (No. 179), Paragraph 7(3)).

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the detailed information sent by the Government concerning enforcement of the labour legislation in the Horeca sector and the measures taken to support the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Committee notes that half the inspections carried out during the 2019–22 period resulted in the recording of a violation and that the survey of flexi-jobs in 2021 did not reveal any significant abuses. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing up-to-date, detailed information on the application of the Convention in practice, particularly statistical information on the number of labour inspection visits, the outcome thereof and, if applicable, the follow-up measures taken.