Need To Review The Employment Contract Templates

The Law of 24 July 2024 aimed at transposing the EU Directive No 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions came into force on 4 August 2024 and introduced additional obligations on employers to provide employees with more complete and transparent information on the essential aspects of their employment.

In particular, employment contracts (whether open-ended or with a fixed term, for full or part-time employment) as well as posting agreements or apprenticeship agreements shall specify certain additional working conditions, for instance relating to remuneration packages, daily or weekly working hours including overtime entitlements, the social security authority collecting social contributions with the applicable coverage as well as the applicable pension scheme, exclusivity commitments, termination rules and procedures, etc.

For contracts already executed on 4 August 2024, there is no legal requirement to be further amended or reviewed unless requested by the employees.  

The Law also regulates the transmission of employment contracts by electronic means if the employee has access to it and if it can be recorded and printed. The employer must keep proof of the transmission or receipt.

Special procedures are also foreseen by the Law for the transition to more secure and predictable forms of employment, by converting fixed term employment contracts into open-ended employment contracts or part-time employment into full-time employment subject to certain conditions. The Law also covers professional training, which under certain circumstances may be provided free of charge to the employee during working time.

Failure to observe certain provisions of the Law may be sanctioned by a fine of up to EUR 5,000 per concerned employee and doubled in case of repeat offence.  

It may therefore be time to review internal templates and processes in order to comply with the new legal provisions.