Appointing person of trust will soon be mandatory in companies with 50 employees or more
25 Oct 2023
A draft act holding various employment-related provisions is currently being finalised by the Chamber of Representatives. One of its provisions concerns the obligation for companies employing 50 or more employees to designate a person of trust (‘vertrouwenspersoon’/’personne de confiance’) in the sense of the regulations on preventing psychosocial risks at work.
Introduction – person of trust
The position of person of trust is one of the key actors in the regulations on preventing psychosocial risks at work. They can play an important role as the first point of contact in the informal internal procedure for psychosocial risks, during which the employee involved and the person of trust can – in an informal and confidential manner – look for possible solutions.
The person of trust must be able to exercise their role fully autonomously and therefore cannot e.g. be part of the managerial staff, form part of the union delegation or hold a seat in the company’s works council or committee for prevention and protection at work.
There’s currently, however, no general obligation for a company to appoint a person of trust. Only when all employee representatives in the company’s committee for prevention and protection at work request it, the employer is required to designate a person of trust. Going forward, this will change.
Appointment soon required in companies employing 50 or more employees
Indeed, in the framework of the Federal Action Plan for Mental Well-being at Work, companies employing 50 or more employees will in the future be required to appoint one or more persons of trust. The process for this appointment focuses on trying to reach a consensus: the employer must first get an agreement from all employee representatives within the committee for prevention and protection at work. If no agreement can be reached, a reconciliation procedure involving the wellbeing at work inspectorate services will apply. Note that at least one of the designated persons of trust must be part of the company’s personnel. This ensures that employees always have access to a person with sufficient knowledge of the company's structure, operations and culture.
For companies with less than 50 employees, designating a person of trust remains recommended but optional, unless all members of the company’s trade union delegation or, in the absence of such a delegation, all employees request the appointment.
Training
A designated person of trust must receive proper training, at charge of the employer, but isn’t required to have completed the training at the time of their appointment. The training must, however, be completed within two years following the appointment.
Work regulations
One of the mandatory entries in a company’s work regulations are the coordinates of the designated person of trust. Therefore, companies that will soon appoint a person of trust due to the present legislative change will have to include this person’s coordinates in its work regulations. The company can do so, however, without having to follow the burdensome procedure for modifying work regulations.
Penalties for non compliance
Non compliance with the obligation to appoint a person of trust in line with the applicable regulations and procedures is punishable by:
a criminal fine ranging from EUR 400 to EUR 4,000; or
an administrative fine ranging from EUR 200 to EUR 2,000.
Entry into force
The obligation for companies employing 50 employees or more to appoint a person of trust will enter into force on the first day of the month following the month in which the above-mentioned (draft) act is published in the Belgian Official Gazette. As the draft act is currently being finalised in the Chamber of Representatives, this is expected to happen before the end of the year. Companies affected by this new obligation must therefore take action soon.
If you have any questions about the impact of these changes on your company and your overall well-being policy, don’t hesitate to reach out; we'd love to hear from you.
