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Law On The Closure Of Businesses (1)

Original Language Title: Loi relative aux fermetures d'entreprises (1)

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belgiquelex.be - Carrefour Bank of Legislation

26 JUIN 2002. - Business Closing Act (1)



ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
PART Ier. - Definitions and scope
CHAPTER Ier. - Definitions
Article 1er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. For the purposes of this Act, it shall be understood by:
1° workers: persons who, under a contract, provide work benefits, for remuneration and under the authority of another person;
2° Employers: persons who occupy the workers referred to in 1°;
3° company: (a) the technical operating unit referred to in Article 14, § 1erthe Act of 20 September 1948 on the organization of the economy; each division of the enterprise is assimilated to it;
(b) the company not having an industrial or commercial purpose; each division of the company is assimilated to it.
The King defines, by deliberate order in the Council of Ministers, what must be heard by company not having an industrial or commercial purpose for the purposes of this Act.
Licensees of liberal professions are considered to be companies that do not have an industrial or commercial purpose for the purposes of this Act.
A liberal profession for the purposes of this Act means any independent professional activity for the provision of services or goods, which does not constitute an act of trade or an artisanal activity referred to in the Act of March 18, 1965 on the register of crafts and which is not covered by the Act of July 14, 1991 on trade practices and information and consumer protection, excluding agricultural and livestock activities;
4° break-out allowance: compensation provided for in sections 39 and 40 of the Act of 3 July 1978 relating to employment contracts;
5° Fund: the Workers' Compensation Fund dismissed in the event of business closure, established by section 27.
Art. 3. § 1er. For the purposes of this Act, it is necessary to hear by closing the company, the final termination of the main activity of the company, when the number of workers is reduced below one-quarter of the number of workers employed there on average during the calendar year preceding the year of termination of activity.
The King may derogate from the provisions of paragraph 1er on the one hand, the condition for the number of workers still occupied and, on the other, the reference period of a calendar year.
§ 2. The closure is expected to be effected on the first day of the month following the one in which the number of occupied workers fell below the quarter of the average referred to in paragraph 1er § 1er.
§ 3. The King determines the method of calculating the average of employed workers during a calendar year.
Art. 4. The Fund's management committee may assimilate to a business closure the movement of the operating seat or the merger of the business. It sets the date for the movement of the operating seat and the merger of the company.
Art. 5. The Fund's management committee may assimilate to an enterprise closure the restructuring of a company provided that it has resulted in at least two of the number of collective terminations required for the application of the regulations relating to collective terminations and provided that it meets the criteria set by the King and subject to the approval by the Fund's management committee of a refund plan that meets the conditions set by the King. The Fund Management Committee sets the date of commencement and duration of restructuring, which cannot exceed two years.
Art. 6. § 1er. The King defines what to hear by conventional corporate transfer. The date of the conventional business transfer is set by the Fund Management Committee.
§ 2. For the purposes of this Act, it is necessary to hear by unrepeased workers in the event of a contractual transfer of business, dismissed workers whose employment contract ended before the date of the contractual transfer of business or on the occasion of that transfer.
Art. 7. For the purposes of this Act, it shall be understood by:
1° asset recovery:
- the establishment of a real right on all or part of the assets of a business in bankruptcy or subject to judicial concordat with the continuation of the principal activity of the enterprise or of a division of the enterprise;
- the continuation of the principal activity of the enterprise or of a division of the enterprise by an employer who has not taken over all or part of the assets of the business in bankruptcy or subject to judicial concordat; it is indifferent that the principal activity of the company is pursued with workers re-energized by the employer who has taken over the asset or by third parties.
On the proposal of the Fund Management Committee, the King may assimilate other situations to a resumption of assets;
2° workers not recovered in the event of recovery of assets after bankruptcy or judicial concordat: workers who do not meet the conditions set out in section 42;
3rd bankruptcy date: the date of bankruptcy declaration within the meaning of section 6 of the Bankruptcy Act of 8 August 1997;
4th date of the judicial concordat: the date on which the court of commerce authorizes the permanent stay under section 33 of the Act of 17 July 1997 on judicial concordat. The date of recovery of assets after bankruptcy or judicial concordat is set by the Fund Management Committee.
Art. 8. For the purposes of this Act, "adjustment of prepension" means: the compensation provided for in a collective labour agreement entered into by the National Labour Council providing for the granting of a supplementary allowance to certain older workers in the event of termination or by a collective labour agreement concluded in accordance with the Act of 5 December 1968 on collective labour agreements and joint benefit commissions within a body
CHAPTER II. - Scope of application
Art. 9. This Act applies to workers and their employers.
Art. 10. § 1er. Title II, title III and title IV, chapter II, section 2, of this Act apply only to companies that have occupied on average, in the past calendar year, at least twenty workers.
The King determines the method of calculating the average of employed workers during a calendar year.
§ 2. The King may, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, reduce the number of workers referred to in § 1erParagraph 1er. It shall make use of this faculty on the advice of the competent joint commission or subcommission and for the whole or part of the employers that fall within the competence of that commission or subcommission. This notice is, however, given by the National Labour Council when the Regulation falls within the competence of several Joint Commissions or Subcommissions. In the absence of relevant Joint Commissions or Subcommissions or where they do not work, the notice is also given by the National Labour Council. The notice is communicated within four months of the application, in the absence of which, it has gone beyond.
Art. 11. Parts II, III, IV, chapter II, sections 1re, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8, do not apply to companies that do not have an industrial or commercial purpose.
The King may, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, make these provisions applicable, in whole or in part, to these undertakings.
Art. 12. § 1er. Title IV, chapter II, section 4, of this Act applies only when the recovery of the assets occurs within six months from the date of bankruptcy, or in any other period established by a collective labour agreement entered into by the National Labour Council and made mandatory by the King.
Where the activity is provisionally pursued by the curators or by a third party under their control with all or only part of the assets of the undertaking, the recovery period set out in paragraph 1er is nine months old.
§ 2. Title IV, chapter II, section 4, of this Act applies only when the recovery of the assets occurs within nine months from the date of the judicial agreement.
Art. 13. After notice of the competent parity organ, the King may exclude from the benefit of this Act or from certain provisions of it, the workers whom He determines when benefits of the same nature are granted to them by collective labour agreements made mandatory by him.
Art. 14. Is excluded from the benefit of this Act, the worker who has been convicted by a criminal decision cast in force of a measure tried, for an offence in the management of the business that is closed within the meaning of sections 3, 4 and 5.
If the offence referred to in paragraph 1er has given rise to criminal proceedings, the rights resulting from the application of this Act are suspended until the time it has been renounced or until the prosecution has been completed.
Art. 15. Is excluded from the profit of title III:
1° the worker who reached the age of 65;
2° the worker who is entitled, before or on the occasion of the closure of the enterprise, to the guarantee of the Fund, as provided for in section 51, for the payment of the additional pre-payment allowance referred to in section 8;
3° the worker who meets the conditions to be entitled to the transitional allowance provided for in Part IV, Chapter II, Section 4.
PART II. - Information in case of business closure
Art. 16. The task of the Joint Commissions and Subcommissions is to determine, by a collective labour agreement made mandatory by the King, information prior to business closure and the methods by which it is communicated to the authorities, institutions and workers concerned.
Art. 17. In the absence of a collective labour agreement made mandatory by the King, II determines the information before the business closure and the methods by which it is communicated to the authorities, institutions and workers concerned.
PART III. - Closing allowance
CHAPTER Ier. - Workers involved
Art. 18. In the event of a closure referred to in sections 3 and 4, the worker having at least one year of seniority in the business and whose employment contract for an indefinite period is broken either by the employer or by the worker because of the facts that constitute a serious reason attributable to the employer, is entitled during the period of the twelfth month preceding, as the case may be, the date of the closure or the date of the termination of the business seat or
The King may, on the proposal of the competent parity organ, replace the year of seniority in the undertaking, as provided for in paragraph 1er, by a year of seniority in enterprises with the same parity organ and at the same time determine the methods of calculation.
For employees, the twelve-month period before, as the case may be, the date of closure of the business or the date of movement of the operating seat or merger of the business, as provided for in paragraph 1er, is raised to eighteen months.
For workers involved in the business liquidation activities, the twelve-month period, as the case may be, taking place on the date of the business closure or on the date of the movement of the business headquarters or the merger of the business, as provided for in paragraph 1er, is three years old.
However, this closure allowance is not payable:
1° in case of termination for serious reasons;
2° if the worker was immediately returned to work in another company with the maintenance of his remuneration and seniority by the employer or the intervention of the employer, provided that he is not terminated by the new employer within six months;
3° if the worker refused a written job offer within the meaning of 2°, accompanied by a written commitment from the employer who wishes to hire him.
Art. 19. In the event of restructuring referred to in Article 5, only workers terminated during the restructuring period established in accordance with the same article shall be entitled to the application of this title, provided that they have one year of seniority in the company and that they are engaged in the bonds of an indeterminate employment contract.
The King may, on the proposal of the competent parity organ, replace the year of seniority, provided for in paragraph 1er, by a year of seniority in enterprises with the same parity organ and at the same time determine the methods of calculation.
Art. 20. Unrepecified workers, in the event of a conventional business transfer, which meets the requirements set out in Article 18, are entitled to a closing allowance provided that the following conditions are met:
- Unresumed workers must represent at least 20% of the average occupied staff during the last calendar year prior to the change in employer;
- workers not taken back on the date of conventional business transfer must be at least twenty.
The King determines the method of calculating the average of employed workers during a calendar year.
Art. 21. In the event of a recovery of assets after bankruptcy or judicial concordat, subject to the provisions of Part IV, Chapter II, Section 4, unregistered workers who meet the requirements set out in Article 18 shall be entitled to a closure allowance provided that the following conditions are met:
- Unregistered workers must represent at least 20 per cent of the average staff in the last calendar year prior to the one in which bankruptcy or judicial concordat occurred;
- workers not recovered on the date of recovery of assets after bankruptcy or judicial concordat must be at least twenty.
The King determines the method of calculating the average of employed workers during a calendar year.
Art. 22. In the event of a business closure referred to in sections 3 and 4 and in the event of a contractual business transfer referred to in section 6, the Management Committee of the Fund may decide that the closing allowance must also be granted to workers whose performance of the employment contract is suspended on the dates fixed in accordance with sections 3, 4 and 6 and who cannot resume their work after that period of suspension.
CHAPTER II. - Closing allowance
Art. 23. § 1er. The allowance granted to workers is EUR 116.56 per year of seniority in the company or, if applied under section 18, paragraph 2, per year of seniority in enterprises under the same unit, with a maximum of EUR 2.331.19. Under the same conditions, workers are entitled to an additional charge of EUR 116.56 per year of age beyond forty-five years, with a maximum of EUR 2.331.19.
These amounts are attached to the pivotal index 114.20 and are increased or decreased in accordance with section 4 of the Act of 2 August 1971 organizing a linkage regime to the index of prices to the consumption of salaries, wages, pensions, allowances and subsidies to the public treasury, certain social benefits, the limits of pay to be taken into account in the calculation of certain social security contributions of workers, as well as the obligations imposed on social workers independent of
The increase or decrease is applied from the second month following the end of the two-month period during which the average index reaches the figure that justifies an amendment.
§ 2. The age and age conditions must be met on the day the notice period takes place or, in the event of a break without notice, on the day of the labour contract switch. For workers referred to in section 22, these age and age conditions must be met, as the case may be, on the dates set out in sections 3, 4 and 6.
§ 3. For the calculation of seniority in the company, consideration should be given to the period during which the worker remained uninterrupted in the service of the same company and the periods of unintentional unemployment, immediately preceded and followed by an occupation period in the same company. occupancy periods in another employer are assimilated to work periods in his or her employer, provided the worker has accepted the occupation to escape unemployment and has subsequently returned to his or her first employer.
Art. 24. The King may amend the amount of the closing allowance set out in section 23.
Art. 25. The closing allowance may be combined with the termination allowance, with social security allowances and with the allowances referred to in section 16 of the Act of 19 March 1991 providing a special termination regime for staff delegates to the boards of business and safety committees of hygiene and workplace beautification as well as for staff candidates.
Art. 26. The employer shall pay the closing allowance within fifteen days after the dates set out in accordance with sections 3, 4 and 6 or, in the event of termination after these dates, within fifteen days after the day of the notice of termination.
For workers referred to in section 22, the employer is required to pay the closing allowance within fifteen days of notification of the decision of the Fund Management Committee made under the same section.
PART IV. - Worker compensation fund terminated
CHAPTER Ier. - Institution and operation
Art. 27. It is established, with the National Employment Office, a Fund known as the "Funds for the Compensation of Workers Licensed in the Event of Business Closing". This Fund has a legal personality.
Art. 28. § 1er. The Fund is administered by a management committee composed of members who sit in the management committee of the National Employment Board. The deputy head of the National Employment Office and his deputy head are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.
§ 2. For matters relating exclusively to the enterprises referred to in Article 2, 3°, (b) , the competence of the management committee shall be exercised by a particular committee composed of representatives of the representative organizations of the employers of the enterprises referred to in Article 2, 3°, (b) , and representatives of the representative organisations of the workers.
This particular committee is chaired by the chair of the management committee referred to in § 1er.
The King determines, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, the composition of this particular committee and appoints the members. Subject to exemptions established by the King, this particular committee shall operate according to the same rules as those provided for in the management committee referred to in § 1er.
Art. 29. The control of the Fund is exercised by government commissioners and reviewers who exercise control of the National Employment Office.
Art. 30. The management and control of the Fund is exercised in accordance with the legal and regulatory provisions applicable to the management and control of the National Employment Office. The King may exempt the Fund from respect for some of these provisions.
For companies with no industrial or commercial purpose, the Fund maintains separate accounting. No transfer may be made between the accounting for the enterprises referred to in Article 2, 3°, (a) and the accounting for companies with no industrial or commercial purpose.
Art. 31. The Fund is assimilated to the State for the application of the laws on the rights of stamps, transplants and mortgages, on taxes assimilated to the stamp, as well as on other direct or indirect taxes. It is exempt from all taxes or taxes for the benefit of the provinces and municipalities.
Art. 32. The National Employment Board shall make available to the Fund, against retribution, services, personnel, equipment and facilities necessary for the operation of the Fund.
CHAPTER II. - Fund missions
Section 1re. - Closing allowance
Art. 33. The purpose of the Fund is to pay to interested workers the closing allowance provided for in Part III when the employer, curator or liquidator did not make the payment in accordance with section 26.
Section 2. - Compensation for collective dismissal
Art. 34. In the event of bankruptcy, judicial concordat or contractual transfer of business, the Fund is also responsible for paying compensation due in the event of a collective termination, under a collective labour agreement concluded within the National Labour Council, to the unregistered worker who is not entitled to the termination allowance due under sections 20 and 21.
The unrepeased worker is entitled to this allowance under the conditions set out in section 18. Where the Fund pays compensation under this section, it is no longer required to pay that allowance on the basis of section 35.
Section 3. - Compensation, allowances and benefits
Art. 35. § 1er. Where, in the event of a business closure within the meaning of sections 3, 4 and 5 or in the event of a recovery of assets not subject to section 4 of this chapter, the employer shall not fulfill its financial obligations to its workers, the Fund shall also pay them:
1° compensation due under individual or collective labour agreements;
2° compensation and benefits due under the law or individual or collective labour agreements.
§ 2. In the event of recovery of assets subject to the provisions of section 4 of this chapter, the Fund is required to pay the monetary obligations set out in § 1er, 1° and 2°, to unrepeased workers, when the former employer does not comply with its obligations to its workers.
It is also required to pay to the worker who is entitled to the transitional allowance the monetary obligations provided for in § 1er, 1° and 2°, with the exception of the termination allowance, where the former employer does not meet its obligations with respect to its workers.
§ 3. In the event of a contractual transfer of business, the Fund is required to pay to the worker not resumed the financial obligations set out in § 1er, 1° and 2°, where the former employer does not meet its obligations with respect to its workers.
Art. 36. § 1er. The provisions of section 35 shall apply when the contract of employment has ended in the twelve months preceding the dates fixed in accordance with sections 3, 4 and 6 until the end of a twelve-month period taking place on the same dates. For workers involved in the business liquidation activities, the twelve-month period taking place on the dates set out in sections 3, 4 and 6 is extended to three years.
For employees, the twelve-month period prior to the business closure or the replacement of the employer set out in paragraph 1er is raised to 18 months.
§ 2. The deadlines set out in § 1er, are not applicable to dismissed workers:
1° to which the monthly payment of the termination allowance applies in accordance with section 39bis of the Act of July 3, 1978 relating to contracts of employment for only the allowance referred to in section 39bis;
2° that are entitled to the supplementary pre-pension allowance referred to in section 8;
3° that benefit from a decision made at the end of a legal proceeding validly filed before the closure for the amounts arising from this decision.
Art. 37. The King may set a maximum amount for payments made by the Fund.
Art. 38. The Fund may only be required to intervene for the categories of workers designated by the King with respect to the supplementary pension allowance referred to in Article 8.
Art. 39. In the event of a dispute over the amount to be paid by the Compensation, Compensation and Benefits Fund referred to in section 35, the Fund shall pay, as an advance, the amount for which no dispute exists. In the same case, in respect of employees, the Fund pays, as an advance on the termination allowance, the minimum compensation in accordance with the notice deadlines referred to in article 82, § 2 and § 3, paragraph 2, of the Act of 3 July 1978 referred to above.
Art. 40. Prior to the payment of the break-up allowance for a period during which interim unemployment benefits or temporary work disability benefits are paid under the regulations relating to unemployment insurance or health care insurance and allowances, the Fund may deduct the amount of such allowances or allowances, the amount of the termination indemnity and the amount of the worker indemnity of the National Employment Agency
Section 4. - Transition allowance
Art. 41. As soon as the conditions set out in section 12 are met, workers whose activity has been interrupted as a result of bankruptcy or judicial concordat and who have been re-engineered by the employer who has made a recovery of the assets are entitled to a dependant transition allowance of the Fund for the period that takes place on the date of the interruption of their activity following the total or partial interruption of the activity of the termination
Art. 42. To be entitled to the transitional allowance, workers must:
1° be bound by a contract of employment or apprenticeship on the date of bankruptcy or judicial concordat, or have been terminated in the month preceding that date and be entitled to a termination indemnity that has not been paid in full on that date;
2° and having entered into a contract of work or apprenticeship, after bankruptcy or judicial agreement, with the employer who made the asset recovery:
- before the asset recovery occurs;
- either at the time of recovery of assets;
- in an additional period of six months following the recovery of the assets.
In the event of successive recurrences of all or part of the asset, this additional six-month period runs from the last total or partial recovery of the asset. When different parts of the asset are taken at different times, this short period, for each part of the asset, from the time of its recovery.
Derogation from paragraph 1er2°, the period of employment is limited, in the cases referred to in Article 12 § 1erParagraph 2, and § 2, to twelve months after bankruptcy or judicial concordat.
Art. 43. The transitional allowance is not payable for periods covered by a break-up allowance paid by or on behalf of the employer, curator, liquidator or an existing security fund.
In the event of a partial payment of the break-in allowance, the worker may only claim his or her right to the transitional allowance for the period beyond that covered by that allowance.
Art. 44. § 1er. The transitional allowance is not payable when, after being hired by the employer who made the recovery of the assets, in the ties of a labour contract with a test clause, the worker is terminated or resigned during that trial period.
§ 2. The transitional allowance is no benefit due to:
1° the periods covered by compensation or compensation due during the period of total or partial interruption of the business activity or during part of the business;
2° the periods covered by social security allowances assimilated by the King to compensation or compensation when the worker is bound by a contract of work or a contract of apprenticeship during the period of total or partial interruption of the activity of the company or during part of it.
Art. 45. When the worker is not bound by a labour contract or apprenticeship contract during the period of total or partial interruption of the business activity or during part of the business, the Fund may deduct from the amount of the transitional allowance the amounts paid under the laws relating to unemployment and health care and benefits and pays them, as the case may be, to the National Office of the Worker
Art. 46. § 1er. The transitional allowance is equal to the gross remuneration of which the worker benefits at the time of the interruption of the activity, capped to an amount fixed by the King.
The King determines what to hear by remuneration for the application of this section. As part of this section, the Fund is responsible for paying an employee who has been re-engineered by the employer who has made the recovery of the assets an allowance equal to the vacation pay that would have been due for the period covered by the transitional allowance.
The King determines the order in which the Fund will make payments under Chapter IV and this Section.
The King may set a maximum total amount of intervention from the Fund.
§ 2. The King sets out the procedures for calculating the transitional allowance, where the full-time or part-time worker was employed in a working regime in which the weekly working period is calculated in accordance with the provisions of articles 20bis and 26bis, § 1er, the Act of 16 March 1971 on Labour or Article 11bis of the Act of 3 July 1978 referred to above.
Section 5. - Intervention in the event of force majeure
Art. 47. In the event of a business closure within the meaning of Article 3 which originates in a case of force majeure, the Fund is responsible for paying the workers, whose employment contract ended because of the final impossibility of carrying out this contract because of this business closure, the allowances referred to in Article 35 that would have been due to them by their employer if they had been terminated.
Art. 48. Payment of these allowances may only be made by the Fund as long as the Fund ' s management committee has recognized the force majeure case.
The King may set the criteria to which such recognition must be submitted.
Section 6. - Additional benefits due to certain protected workers
Art. 49. Pursuant to section 9 of the Act of March 19, 1991 on a special termination regime for staff delegates to business councils and occupational safety, hygiene and beautification committees as well as for staff candidates, the King may charge the Fund for payment, in the event of the employer's default, of the supplementary allowance due to the delegate or candidate-delegated staff.
Art. 50. The supplementary allowance shall be paid by the Fund from the time when the inspection of social laws finds that it has not been paid within the time limit set by or under section 9 of the Act of 12 April 1965 concerning the protection of workers' remuneration.
Section 7. - Complementary allowance
Art. 51. The Fund is also responsible for paying workers the supplementary pension allowance referred to in section 8 in the event of the employer's default.
Art. 52. The Fund can only intervene for the categories of workers designated by the King.
The King may set a maximum amount for payments made by the Fund.
Section 8. - Temporary unemployment
Art. 53. The Fund supports part of the amount of unemployment benefits paid by the National Employment Office for workers whose performance of the employment contract is suspended under sections 49, 50 and 51 of the Act of 3 July 1978 referred to above.
The King shall, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, after the advice of the Management Committee of the Fund and the National Labour Council, determine the amount of the party that is covered by the Fund.
Art. 54. § 1er. The proceeds of the employer's lump-sum special premium, as provided for in section 18 of the Act of 10 June 1993, transposing certain provisions of the 9 December 1992 inter-professional agreement, are increased annually to a decrease in the amount covered by the Fund under section 53.
§ 2. The Fund's Management Committee may, in whole or in part, exempt from the payment of the contribution, as provided for in section 18 of the Act of June 10, 1993 referred to above, the employer who:
1° or, use days of unemployment to save opportunities for conversion and meet the conditions determined by the King;
2°, is confronted with a situation of persistent bad weather.
The exemption that is based on the ground specified in paragraph 1er, 2°, may be granted by the management committee only at the request of the competent parity board to which the employer appeared. The parity commission bases its application on data from the Royal Meteorological Institute.
The King sets out the execution modalities of this article.
§ 3. The King sets out the terms and time limits for payment to the National Employment Board of the party, as provided for in section 53, which is responsible for the Fund.
It may provide the Fund with the obligation to pay advances to cover the payment by the National Employment Office.
Section 9. - Exclusion or limitation of certain Fund interventions
Art. 55. The King may exclude or limit certain interventions of the Fund.
CHAPTER III. - Fund resources
Art. 56. The Fund's resources are made up of the proceeds of the contributions, increases and delayed interests referred to in section 60, which are paid to it by the National Social Security Office and the Caisse de Secours et de Prévoyance for the sailors navigating under Belgian Pavilion and by the proceeds of reimbursements made under sections 60 to 64.
These resources are also intended to cover the expenses of the Fund relating to services, personnel, equipment and facilities that the National Employment Board makes available to the Fund under section 32, as well as the charge of borrowings under section 57.
Art. 57. In order to cope with unforeseen expenses, the Fund may use borrowing in the form of credit advances to meet actual needs, except for companies with no industrial or commercial purpose.
Art. 58. § 1er. For each year, the King may, after the advice of the Fund Management Committee and the National Labour Council, impose on employers subject to this Act the payment of contributions to which II sets the amount. It sets, after the advice of the Fund Management Committee and the National Labour Council, a specific contribution for companies with no industrial or commercial purpose.
The consulted body submits its opinion within two months of the application made to it, in the absence of which it has gone beyond.
§ 2. Contributions are due from the first year of subjection to the provisions of this Act. For the purposes of sections 33 and 34, the payment of contributions, due for the year in which the company occupied at least twenty workers on average, will only be made from the following calendar year.
Art. 59. The King may dispense, in whole or in part, from the payment of contributions, employers whose workers are excluded from the application of all or certain provisions of this Act.
Art. 60. The contributions due under this Act shall be payable, in accordance with the terms and times established by the King, respectively to the National Social Security Office or the Caisse de Prévoyance and Secours for the sailors navigating under the Belgian flag, as the employers fall under the law of 27 June 1969 revising the merchant order of 28 December 1944 concerning the social security of the workers or the decree of 1945
The failure to pay within the time frames thus set results in the application of increases and interest in delay at the same rates and under the same conditions as those provided by the law of 27 June 1969 and by the decree-law of 7 February 1945 referred to above and by their enforcement orders.
The National Office of Social Security and the Caisse de Prévoyance et de Secours des marins naviguant sous Pavilion Belgique may apply to the Fund the administrative costs resulting from the application of section 56 and the preceding paragraphs of this section.
Art. 61. § 1er. The employer, the curator or the liquidator are required to reimburse the Fund when the Fund paid them:
(1) the amount of compensation paid by the Fund under section 33;
2° the amount of compensation, allowances and benefits paid by the Fund under section 35;
3° the amount of the supplementary allowance paid by the Fund under section 49;
4° the amount of the supplementary pension allowance paid by the Fund under section 51.
§ 2. The Fund shall be subject to the rights and shares of the worker in respect of his employer, curator or liquidator to:
(1) the amount of compensation paid by the Fund under section 33;
2° the amount of compensation, allowances and benefits paid by the Fund under section 35;
3° the amount of the supplementary allowance paid by the Fund under section 49;
4° the amount of the supplementary pension allowance paid by the Fund under section 51.
Art. 62. The Fund is subrogated in full:
1° to the rights and obligations of the State for the recovery of tax deductions made by the Fund from the employer, the curator or the liquidator;
2° to the rights and obligations of the organizations referred to in section 67 for the recovery of social contributions paid by the Fund from the employer, the curator or the liquidator.
Art. 63. § 1er. In the event of an assimilation of a business restructuring to a business closure, the Fund Management Committee sets out the duration of the Fund's repayment period; this period begins to run from the end of the restructuring period. It may reduce or extend this period of refund, without exceeding a maximum fixed by the King.
§ 2. In the event of the assimilation of a business restructuring to a business closure, only workers fired during the restructuring period, as defined in section 5, may benefit from the Fund's intervention. The Fund Management Committee sets out, for each restructuring, the terms and conditions for the Fund's intervention, including the number of workers involved in the restructuring and the total cost. The number of workers and the corresponding cost are to be determined according to the Fund ' s various interventions.
Art. 64. § 1er. The employer, the curator or the liquidator are required to reimburse the Fund for the amount of compensation in the event of a collective termination of which the Fund made the payment under section 34. They are also required to reimburse the Fund for the amount of tax deduction on the allowance referred to in paragraph 1er.
§ 2. The employer, assisted by the suspended commissioner, the curator or liquidator of the failed or subject to a judicial agreement, shall be required to reimburse the Fund for the amount of the transitional allowance paid by the Fund under section 41.
They are also required to reimburse the Fund for the amount of tax deduction on the allowance referred to in paragraph 1er and social contributions paid by the Fund.
§ 3. Where the employer is required to reimburse the supplementary allowance paid by the Fund under section 49, the King may, without prejudice to the interest, provide for an increase in the amounts due to the Fund to cover the additional administrative costs incurred by that mission.
CHAPTER IV. - Payments made by the Fund
Art. 65. With respect to the compensation provided for in sections 35, 41, 47, 49 and 51, the Fund is seized of the application for payment on the initiative of the worker. With respect to the allowances set out in sections 33 and 34, the Fund shall act on the basis of information provided by the employer, curator or liquidator or at the request of the worker.
The King determines the terms and conditions for the introduction of this application, the information that the employer, the curator or the liquidator and the worker are required to communicate to the Fund and the time limit for the worker's record to be retained and the terms and conditions of that retention. In the event of bankruptcy, judicial concordat or liquidation of the company, the curators. liquidators, agents or the employer who has made a recovery of the assets have the same obligations as those for the employer.
The King determines the terms and conditions of the payments made by the Fund and the formalities to be completed by the Fund on the occasion of these payments.
Art. 66. Payments must be made by the Fund within three months of the day on which the Management Committee has declared this applicable law and where the full individual record of the worker and the complete record of the enterprise are in possession of the Fund for the Application of the Missions under sections 33, 34, 35, 41, 47 and 49 and no later than fifteen months from the closure.
Payments must be made by the Fund within sixty days of the day on which the full individual file is introduced by the worker in accordance with the mission provided for in Article 51.
The King determines what is to be heard by a complete record of the company and a complete individual record of the worker.
Interests are due in full right from the day after the last day the payment should have been made.
Art. 67. § 1er. Where the Fund provides for payments under sections 35, 41 and 47, the Fund shall:
1° to make the deductions imposed by tax legislation, social security legislation and collective labour agreements concerning the complementary benefits of social security and to pay the deductions to the bodies referred to in Article 60 and to the State;
2° to pay to the organizations referred to in Article 60 the employer contributions imposed by the social security legislation and by the special or collective labour agreements concerning the complementary benefits of social security.
By derogation from point 2°, the Fund is required to pay only the employer contributions imposed by the social security legislation when paying the transitional allowance referred to in section 41.
§ 2. Where the Fund fails to provide the payments under sections 33, 34, 49 and 51, it is required to make the deductions imposed under tax and social legislation.
Art. 68. In the event of an assimilation of a reorganization to a closure under section 5, the amounts paid by the employer to the workers involved in the restructuring, for which the operation of the Fund is requested and obtained, are paid to each worker on behalf of and on behalf of the Fund up to the total individual amount of its intervention.
CHAPTER V. - Fund information
Art. 69. In the event of a business closure or employer change resulting from a conventional business transfer for which an application for intervention of the Fund was filed, the employer is required to inform the Fund accordingly. The King sets out the deadlines for this information to be given to the Fund and determines the information that the employer must provide.
The King shall determine the terms and conditions under which the employer justifies the payments made on behalf of the Fund in accordance with section 68.
The King determines the information that the employer must disclose to the Fund in the event of a business closure resulting from a case of force majeure for which a request for intervention from the Fund was filed.
Agents, curators and liquidators, as well as the employer who made a recovery of the assets, have the same obligations as the employer's obligations and meet them under the same conditions.
In addition, the curator or liquidator are required to inform the Fund of the assignment of all or part of the assets of the business in bankruptcy or subject to judicial agreement.
Existing security funds are required to provide the Fund with all information necessary to determine its intervention.
CHAPTER VI. - Denunciation
Art. 70. Under the conditions determined by the King, the Fund Management Committee may waive the dependant recovery of all unduly paid amounts.
CHAPTER VII. - Prescription
Art. 71. For three years, the actions available to the National Social Security Office and the Provident Relief Fund for Belgian sailors flying under the Belgian flag against employers subject to this Act, the head of non-payment of dues, increases and late interests within the time constraints of this Act.
For three years from the date of payment, the actions against the National Social Security Office and the Caisse de secours et de prévoyance des marinas naviguant sous Pavilion Belgique in repetition of the undue payment of dues.
Art. 72. Prescribe for one year from the day the worker's file is complete and approved by the Fund's Management Committee, the actions of workers on the payment of the closure allowance provided for in section 18 and the interventions provided for in sections 33, 34, 35, 41, 47, 49 and 51.
This period may be interrupted by a stay addressed to the Fund. The King determines what to hear by standing.
PART V. - Consultation of the National Labour Council
Art. 73. To exercise the powers conferred upon him by this Act, the King shall take the opinion of the National Labour Council. The National Labour Council shall send its opinion within two months of the application made to it, in the absence of which it has gone beyond.
PART VI. - Monitoring and sanctions
CHAPTER Ier. - Surveillance
Art. 74. Without prejudice to the powers of judicial police officers, officials designated by the King shall monitor compliance with this Act and its enforcement orders.
These officials exercise their oversight in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Inspection Act of 16 November 1972.
Art. 75. The Minister of Finance, the Minister of Justice, including prosecutors and court offices, and all courts of the judicial order, and social security organizations, are required, when required by the Administrator General of the National Office of the Employment, to provide him with all information in their possession, to communicate to him, without displacement, any acts, documents, records and documents that they hold. However, acts, documents, records, documents or information relating to judicial proceedings cannot be disclosed without the express authorization of the Attorney General.
CHAPTER II. - Criminal provisions
Art. 76. Without prejudice to articles 269 and 271 to 274 of the Criminal Code, are punished by imprisonment for eight days to one month and a fine of EUR 26 to 500 or only one of these penalties:
1° the employer, its attendants or agents, the liquidators and curators who have committed an offence to the provisions of securities II, III, and articles 61, 64, 65 and 69 and their enforcement orders;
(2) anyone who has impeded supervision under this Act;
3° the employer who has made a recovery of the assets, its agents or agents who have committed an offence under sections 65 and 69 and their enforcement orders.
Art. 77. In the case of recidivism in the year following a conviction, the penalty may be increased to a maximum of two.
Art. 78. The employer is civilly responsible for the fines to which its agents or agents have been convicted.
Art. 79. All provisions of the Booklet of the Penal Code, chapter V excepted, but chapter VII and section 85 included, are applicable to the offences provided for in this Act.
Art. 80. Public action resulting from breaches of the provisions of this Act and its enforcement orders shall be prescribed by three years from the act that gave rise to the action.
PART VII. - Amendments
Art. 81. An article 3bis , as follows, is inserted in the Act of 12 April 1965 concerning the protection of the remuneration of workers
"Art. 3bis . The worker is entitled to payment by the employer of the remuneration that is due to him. This right to pay shall be paid in respect of remuneration, before imputation of the deductions referred to in section 23. » .
Art. 82. Section 10 of the Act is replaced by the following provision:
“Art. 10. Remuneration is of full interest to date of its due diligence.
This interest is calculated on remuneration before the imputation of the deductions referred to in section 23. » .
Art. 83. Article 19, paragraph 1erthe following amendments are made to the Mortgage Act of 16 December 1851:
1° on 3°bis, inserted by the law of 12 April 1965, replaced by the law of 13 January 1977 and amended by the law of 22 January 1985, is replaced by the following provision:
« 3°bis . For workers referred to in Article 1er, of the Act of 12 April 1965 concerning the protection of the remuneration of workers, the remuneration as defined in section 2 of the said Act, before the imputation of the deductions referred to in section 23 of the said Act, without its amount exceeding 7.500 EUR; this limitation does not apply to compensation included in the remuneration, which is due to the same persons for termination of their undertaking.
The amount provided above is adapted every two years by the King, following the advice of the National Labour Council.
- Claims of the Workers Allowance Fund dismissed in the event of closure of based companies:
(a) on Article 61, § 1er, 2° and § 2, 2°, of the law of 26 June 2002 relating to the closure of enterprises for the sums it paid under section 35 of the same law;
(b) on Article 62, 1 and 2°, of the same law for the deductions that it has made on the amounts referred to in (a) and that it has paid under Article 67, § 1er1° of the same law. »;
2° le 4°ter , alinéa 1er, amended by Royal Decree No. 535 of 31 March 1987, the Royal Decree of 19 May 1995 and the Law of 25 January 1999, is supplemented as follows:
", as well as the claims of the Workers' Compensation Fund terminated in the event of the closure of businesses based on section 62, 2°, of the Act of 26 June 2002 on business closures. »;
3° on 4°quinquies, inserted by the Decree-Law of 28 December 1944 and replaced by the law of 22 January 1985, is replaced by the following provision:
« 4°quinquies . Claims of the Worker Compensation Fund terminated in the event of business closures for employers, curators and liquidators based on Article 67, § 1er, 2°, of the law of 26 June 2002 relating to business closures, to the extent that these claims cannot be recovered by legal subrogation, and the claims of the same Fund, based on articles 61, § 1er, 1°, 3° and 4° and § 2, 1°, 3° and 4°, 64, § 1erParagraph 1er and § 2, paragraph 1erSame law. »
Art. 84. Article 1er, 10° and 11°, of the Act of 30 June 1971 on administrative fines applicable in the event of a breach of certain social laws is replaced by the following text:
"10° the employer, curators and liquidators guilty of violating the provisions of Parts II, III, and Sections 61, 64, 65 and 69 of the Act of 26 June 2002 on the closure of companies and their enforcement orders;
11° the employer who has made a recovery of the assets, its agents or agents who have committed an offence to the provisions of sections 65 and 69 of the Act of 26 June 2002 relating to the closure of enterprises and their enforcement orders; "
PART VIII. - Transitional and final provisions
Art. 85. The Fund succeeds in the rights and obligations, assets and liabilities of the Workers Allowance Fund terminated in the event of business closure, established by section 9 of the Act of 28 June 1966 on the compensation of workers terminated in the event of business closure.
Art. 86. Remain in force until their repeal, the royal decrees enforced:
1° of the Act of 27 June 1960 on compensation for workers dismissed in the event of closure of enterprises;
2° of the Act of 28 June 1966 on compensation for workers dismissed in the event of closure of enterprises;
3° of the Act of 30 June 1967 extending the mission of the Workers Allowance Fund dismissed in the event of business closure;
4° of the Act of 12 May 1975 extending the mission of the Workers Allowance Fund dismissed in the event of business closure;
5° of the Act of 12 April 1985, charging the Workers Allowance Fund in the event of the closure of companies of the payment of a transition allowance;
6° of Article 9, paragraph 5, of the Act of 19 March 1991 on a special termination regime for staff delegates to the boards of business and safety, hygiene and workplace beautification committees, as well as the delegated candidates of staff;
7° title IV, chapter IerSection 2 of the Act of 26 June 1992 on social and other provisions.
Royal decrees making the decisions of parity commissions binding on pre- and replacement information methods in the event of business closures remain in force until they are repealed or replaced by orders made in force of this Act or by collective labour agreements made mandatory by the King. This paragraph is not applicable to provisions not in accordance with this Act or its enforcement orders.
Offences to orders maintained under this article shall be sought, found and punished in accordance with the provisions of Title VI.
Art. 87. The King may amend the provisions of existing laws to adapt them to the provisions of this Act.
Art. 88. Are repealed:
1° the Act of 28 June 1966 on compensation for workers dismissed in the event of closure of enterprises;
2° the Act of 30 June 1967 extending the mission of the Workers Allowance Fund dismissed in the event of business closure;
3° the law of 12 May 1975 extending the mission of the Workers Allowance Fund dismissed in the event of business closure;
4° the Act of 12 April 1985 charging the Workers Allowance Fund terminated in the event of the closure of enterprises of the payment of a transition allowance;
5° Article 9, paragraph 5, of the Act of 19 March 1991 on a special termination regime for staff delegates to business councils and occupational safety, hygiene and beautification committees, as well as delegated staff candidates;
6° title IV, chapter IerSection 2 of the Act of 26 June 1992 on social and other provisions;
7° Articles 20 and 22 of the Act of 10 June 1993 transposing certain provisions of the Inter-Professional Agreement of 9 December 1992;
as they have been modified to date.
Art. 89. § 1. This Act applies:
1° to business closures whose closing date is after the date of its entry into force;
2° to cases of movement of the company's operating or merging headquarters assimilated to a business closure whose date is after the date of its entry into force;
3° to cases of recovery of assets in which the date of bankruptcy or judicial concordat is located after the date of its entry into force;
4° to requests for restructuring whose date of introduction is after the date of its entry into force.
§ 2. The provisions repealed by section 88 remain, however, of application
1° to business closures whose closing date is not after the day on which this Act comes into force;
2° to cases of movement of the company's operating or merging headquarters assimilated to a business closure whose date is not after the date of entry into force of this Act;
3° to cases of recovery of assets in which the date of bankruptcy or judicial concordat is not after the date of the coming into force of the Act;
4° to requests for restructuring whose date of introduction is not after the date of entry into force of this Act.
Art. 90. § 1er. The King shall determine the date on which this Act comes into force.
§ 2. By derogation from Article 89, § 1er, Chapter II, sections 3 and 7 of Part IV apply, for companies not having an industrial or commercial purpose referred to in section 2, 3°, (b):
1° to business closures whose closing date is not earlier than six months after the coming into force of this Act;
2° to cases of movement of the company's operating or merging headquarters assimilated to a business closure whose date is not earlier than six months after the coming into force of this Act;
3° to requests for reorganization whose date of introduction is not earlier than six months after the coming into force of this Act.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 26 June 2002.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Minister of Employment,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
____
Note
(1) References documents 2001-2002.
House of Representatives.
Number 1: Bill. - nbones 2 and 3: Amendments. - Number four: Report. - No. 5: Text adopted by the commission. - No. 6: Coordinated text. - No. 7: Amendments. - No. 8: Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate.
Full report: 2 May 2002.
Senate.
Number 1: Project referred to by the Senate. - No. 2: Amendments. - Number three: Report. - No. 4: Amendments. - No. 5: Decision not to amend.
Annales du Sénat : 13 juin 2002.