From 2 May onwards, employment contracts in these languages will be valid in Flanders, at least in certain situations and under certain restrictions.
This is the consequence of European case law. The European Court of Justice ruled on 16 April 2013 that in cross-border labour relations the Flemish Language Decree of 19 July 1973 – which regulates the use of languages in labour relationships between employers and employees, is in breach of the free movement of workers. The Flemish legislator has therefore amended the Flemish Language Decree to render the Decree of 14 March 2014 effective.
Flemish still remains the official language to be used in labour relationships between employers and employees, in the company’s deeds and other documents that are mandatory and for all documents that are intended for the personnel.
This obligation applies to all natural persons and legal entities that have their operational headquarters (place of activities) on Flemish-speaking territory.
The only change is that individual employment contracts can now have a legally valid version in an official language of a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area which is understood by all parties involved.
This is not possible for all employees, but only for employees, who:
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have their place of residence on the territory of another Member State of the EU or EEA;
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have their place of residence in Belgium but have exercised their right to free movement or freedom of establishment;
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are covered by the free movement of workers under an international or supranational treaty.
The punishment for violations of the Decree also changes to a fine of EUR 50 to EUR 500 and the limitation period is extended from one to five years.
In practice, therefore, nothing really changes:
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the Flemish version of the employment contract still has to be drawn up;
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the translation into another (approved) language is legally valid, but
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if there is a difference between the Flemish version and the version of the employment contract in the other language, the Flemish version still prevails.