Covid-19 and labour law in Belgium

Abstract

<jats:p> As Belgium and its population were heavily hit by the coronavirus, the Government adopted specific measures to address the economy and the world of work. The initiatives were deployed during the crisis but have also been designed for the exit scenario. Various measures have a strong relation with labour law. In addition to health and safety obligations, as specified in the Belgian Well-being Act, the new measures also refer to teleworking, social distancing, and have relied on the Belgian system of temporary unemployment. </jats:p>

Reimagining state responsibility for workers following COVID-19: A vulnerability approach

“…In terms of collective institutional involvement and rights, the collective agreement does provide that home workers have the same collective rights as employees working in the office and have the right to communicate with employee representatives and vice versa (Article 17, CCTT). However, the underlying message of the collective agreement remains that home working is exceptional, and although ‘structural’, is ultimately a voluntary action taken by both employer and employee which can be reversed (Hendrickx et al, 2020, p. 279). This is potentially unhelpful, as it militates against concerted action by the state and other institutions to really invest in understanding the specific needs of these workers and to improve the structural representation of their interests (Hendrickx et al, 2020, p. 279)…”

“…However, the underlying message of the collective agreement remains that home working is exceptional, and although ‘structural’, is ultimately a voluntary action taken by both employer and employee which can be reversed (Hendrickx et al, 2020, p. 279). This is potentially unhelpful, as it militates against concerted action by the state and other institutions to really invest in understanding the specific needs of these workers and to improve the structural representation of their interests (Hendrickx et al, 2020, p. 279)…”

Educación comprometida con los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible: Calidad, equidad educativa y metodología aprendizaje servicio

“…Bélgica (Hendrickx, Taes y Wouters, 2020), Francia (Carillo et al (2020), Japón (Nagata et al, 2021), España (Ruiz-Frutos et al (2020), etc.]. En este sentido, Hiselius y Arnfalk (2021) indicó que debido a la pandemia, se está probando un cambio hacia el teletrabajo y las reuniones virtuales en lo que puede verse como un experimento a gran escala, y el conocimiento y la experiencia de ese experimento puede tener efectos duraderos en la vida cotidiana, de tal manera que existe un gran potencial para que las herramientas digitales influyan en sí y cómo nos desplazamos y hacemos viajes de negocios, la pandemia ha demostrado que tales herramientas pueden hacer posible lo imposible.…”

Processing employees’ personal data during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Scholars also tend to agree with this approach, stating that the GDPR will only apply if one is dealing with an automated processing operation or if the data will be entered into a file. 134 Automated processing occurs if the body temperature is measured using thermal cameras in the workplace. If the camera allows for recognition of a specific person, the GDPR is applicable.…”

“…The approach to limiting intrusions into employees privacy also features in the guidelines of some authorities (e.g. SE, 152 AT) 153 guidelines as they emphasise that there are more moderate 154 means of collecting employee health data (e.g. health checks conducted by a physician), especially, since fever is only one of several possible symptoms of Covid-19.…”