If no adjustment is made in this regard, the employer will have to comply not only with the European regulation on the RGPD, but also with the Belgian collective agreements on privacy in the working relationship. As a general rule, it is the responsibility of the purchaser and the ceding company to negotiate pension agreements related to the business, unless they are the result of a collective agreement. The purchaser is also not required to pay the workers` pension rights for periods of service made prior to the transfer, although the purchaser is (generally) required to pay a certain amount of compensation. However, free movement rights are maintained in accordance with the ceding company`s employment contract. Collective agreements are covered by section 20 of the CBA Act of 1968. The Act specifies that in the event of a business transfer, the purchaser must “respect the CBAs to which the former employer was bound until these ABBs cease to have effect.” It also depends on the level at which the KBA (department, sector, etc.) is presented. All workers (all persons bound by an employment/apprenticeship agreement, as well as persons who perform work benefits and are under the control of the transferor without an employment contract) are protected by the transfer, including the self-employed, who are essentially salaried workers. In addition, the Belgian courts apply the “suspicious delay” rule under which workers dismissed before or after, but in the immediate vicinity, may, if necessary, claim the transfer against the purchaser or the transferor. Employees who are made redundant as a result of a transfer and who can prove that the transfer is based on their dismissal are also protected.
Sources: 8 December 1992 Law on the Protection of Workers` Privacy at the Time of Processing Personal Data; Collective Agreement No. 68 of June 16, 1998 on the protection of workers` privacy with respect to camera surveillance in the workplace; Collective Agreement No. 81 of April 26, 2002 on the protection of workers` privacy in the monitoring of electronic communications data online; Collective Agreement No. 89 of January 30, 2007 on theft prevention and workplace control when leaving the company. Under Belgian law, a transfer of the company applies to the transfer of an “economic entity that retains its identity after transmission” (a “common concern”). The law provides for the modification of employment contracts without modification if the economic unit continues to exist.