Supervision and sanctions in the field of well-being at work

Infringements and sanctions in the Social Criminal Code

General information and comments

Since 1 July 2011, infringements of the provisions of the Act of 4 August 1996 on well-being of workers in the performance of their work and the Code on Well-being at Work have been recorded and punished in accordance with the Social Criminal Code.

In some circumstances, even if the conduct does not constitute an infringement under the Act of 4 August 1996 on well-being of workers in the performance of their work and the Code on Well-being at Work it may be punishable under the common criminal code, see in particular articles 418 to 420 of the criminal code, which concern homicide and involuntary bodily harm for lack of foresight and precaution.

Inventory of infringements in the Social Criminal Code

Chapter 1 "Offences against the worker" and Chapter 7 "Offences concerning collective labour relations" of book II of the Social Criminal Code contain several articles punishing infringements of the Act of 4 August 1996 on well-being of workers in the performance of their work and of the Code on Well-being at Work.

Book II of the Social Criminal Code specifies for each infringement that it mentions which categories of persons may be incriminated (e.g. the employer, his appointee or representative, the contractor, his appointee or representative). In general, the worker, in their capacity as a worker, is not covered by the infringements of the Social Criminal Code in the field of well-being at work, except for the offence of violence or harassment at work and unless the worker is also an appointee of the employer. In addition, workers could be subject to disciplinary action by their employer and/or be punished based on the common criminal code.

Sanctions

Imprisonment, criminal and administrative fines

Article 101 of the Social Criminal Code defines four levels of sanctions.

The amounts of the criminal and administrative fines specified in article 101 of the Social Criminal Code must be increased by the multiplication coefficient.

On the website of the Social Information and Investigation Service (SIIS), you can view two tables containing the 4 levels of sanctions, available in French and Dutch: Social fraud > Sanctions.

• The first table, "Social Criminal Code: sanctions", contains the amounts of the sanctions provided for in Article 101 of the Social Criminal Code, before application of the multiplication coefficients.
• The second table "Social Criminal Code: sanctions (with multiplication coefficients)" contains the amounts of the sanctions, after application of the multiplication coefficients (i.e. a combination of Articles 101 and 102 of the Social Criminal Code).

Where the fine is to be multiplied by the number of workers or persons concerned, the article containing the incrimination makes explicit provision for this in each case. This rule applies to both criminal and administrative fines.
Pursuant to Article 103 of the Social Criminal Code, the multiplied fine may not exceed the maximum fine multiplied by one hundred.

You will find more information on administrative fines and multiplication coefficients under the 'About the FPS': administrative procedure section.

In order to find out the sanction applicable to the relevant conduct, the article of the Social Criminal Code that describes the infringement must be consulted.

Prohibition to operate, prohibition to practice or closure of the business.

Articles 106 and 107 of the Social Criminal Code contain special criminal sanctions. These sanctions may be imposed by the judge especially when certain infringements relating to well-being at work are committed.
These include the prohibition to operate, prohibition to practice or closure of the business.

Definitions:

• Prohibition to operate = "prohibiting the convicted person from operating, for a period of one month to three years, either by themselves or through an intermediary, all or part of the business or facility where the offence was committed, or from being employed in any capacity whatsoever" (Article 106 of the Social Criminal Code).

• prohibition to practice = "by convicting a member of a profession consisting of advising or assisting one or more employers or workers in the performance of the obligations sanctioned by the Social Criminal Code, whether on their own account or as a manager, member or employee of any company, association, group or business, prohibiting the professional, for a period of one month to three years, from directly or indirectly practising the aforementioned profession in any capacity whatsoever" (Art. 107 of the Social Criminal Code)

• closure of the business = the order to close, for a period of one month to three years, all or part of the business or facilities of the company, association, group or undertaking of the convicted person or of which the convicted person is a director (Articles 106 and 107 of the Social Criminal Code).

These penalties are supplementary penalties. They can only be imposed by the judge, i.e. only when there is a criminal prosecution before the criminal court.

These penalties are optional. The judge is not obliged to deliver them, even if the conditions are met. It is up to the judge to assess, depending to the seriousness of the facts, whether these require such a supplementary penalty and to determine the duration of the penalty.

The possible duration is one month to three years. The judge will have to adapt this to the circumstances of the case.

These three penalties are only possible when the law so provides. The article of the Social Criminal Code containing the incrimination must therefore mention the possibility of such penalties so that they can be imposed by the judge in the event of criminal proceedings.

These penalties can only be imposed for offences punishable by the Level 3 sanction provided that the health or safety of persons is endangered by such offences and for Level 4 infringements.

The judge may impose such penalties only when it is necessary to put an end to the infringement or to avoid its repetition and provided that the penalty is proportionate to all the social and economic interests involved.

Supervision

The Royal Decree of 28 August 2002 designating the officials responsible for monitoring compliance with the Act of 4 August 1996 on well-being of workers in the performance of their work and the Code on Well-being at Work has been maintained provisionally in force pending the adoption of a single Royal Decree fully implementing article 17 of the Social Criminal Code.

Officials carry out this supervision in accordance with the provisions of the Social Criminal Code.

General rule: DG Supervision of Well-being at Work of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue

Since the various administrations have been reorganised into Directorates General, supervision has been carried out by the Directorate General for the Supervision of Well-being at Work of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue. This Directorate brings together the former Technical Inspection and Medical Inspection which were part of the former Occupational Safety Administration and the former Occupational Health Administration respectively, as well as inspectors from the former Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Special case

The social inspectors of the following services and institutions are responsible for monitoring compliance with Chapter V, Section 4 - Presence Registration system on temporary or mobile construction sites - of the Act of 4 August 1996 on well-being of workers in the performance of their work and its implementing decrees:

• the Directorate General Supervision of Social Legislation and the Directorate General Supervision of Well-being at Work of the Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue;
• the Directorate General Social Inspection of the Federal Public Service Social Security;
• National Social Security Office
• National Employment Office;
• Federal Agency for Occupational Risks (Fedris);
• Fund for Occupational Diseases;
• National Institute for the Social Security of the Self-employed;
• National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance;
• National Office for Annual Vacation (Office national des Vacances annuelles);
• National Office for Family Allowances for Employed Persons;
• National Pensions Office;
• National Social Security Office for Provincial and Local Governments.

Text of the Social Criminal Code

The Act of 6 June 2010 introducing the Social Criminal Code has been amended several times.

The coordinated version of the text of the Social Criminal Code containing all these amendments is available in French and Dutch on the of the FPS Justice website (select "Social Criminal Code" in "Legal nature").