JOINT COMMITTEE
| BELGIUM |
| PARITAIR COMITÉ COMMISSION PARITAIRE JOINT COMMITTEE |
The first Joint Committees in Belgium date from immediately after the First World War. They were introduced as a pragmatic solution to industrial disputes on the initiative of the Minister for Labour, who used them as a forum for bringing the parties in dispute, i.e. employers' associations and trade unions, together round the table to examine particular problems and possibly resolve them. The first Committees were established, for example, to examine the question of shorter working hours. Over the years they became widespread, and since the 1968 Collective Agreements and Joint Committees Act they have had a uniform and well-defined set of regulations.
Today, Joint Committees are permanent bodies at sectoral or subsectoral level on which representative employers' associations and trade unions are represented; they are established by the Executive and in most cases are chaired by an official conciliator . They are established only for the private sector, with the exception of public credit institutions. If a Joint Committee so requests, a Joint Subcommittee is set up. Some Committees have several Subcommittees.
The personnel, industry or enterprises covered by each Joint Committee are defined by Royal Decree.
The tasks of a Joint Committee and Subcommittee are as follows:
1. overseeing the conclusion of collective agreements by the organizations represented;
2. preventing and settling disputes between employers and employees;
3. advising the government, the National Labour Council , the Central Economic Council and works councils on matters falling within their respective spheres of responsibility, either at their request or on its own initiative;
4. fulfilling any other function entrusted to it by or in execution of the law.
The conclusion of collective agreements is the most important of these tasks, the more so since collective agreements concluded within a Joint Committee can be decreed generally applicable.
The Committees also play an important role as conciliation bodies in settling collective disputes between employers and employees. To this end, a conciliation board can be set up within a Joint Committee.
The composition of a Joint Committee and Subcommittee is as follows: a chairperson and vice-chairperson; an equal number of representatives from employers' associations and trade unions respectively; two or more secretaries.
The chairperson and vice-chairperson are appointed by Royal Decree and carry out their duties under the supervisory authority of the Minister for Employment and Labour. They must be people who are experienced in labour matters but who have no connections with the interests with which the Joint Committee or Subcommittee is concerned. Also, being a holder of such office is incompatible with holding office as a member of one of the two Chambers of the legislature.
The members are appointed by Royal Decree. Their term of office is four years and is renewable. They remain in office until their successors are appointed. If a member ceases to hold office before the normal term of office has expired, they must be replaced within three months.
Lastly, the Minister appoints the secretaries. A special pool of secretaries is placed at the disposal of the Joint Committees.
Each Joint Committee and each Joint Subcommittee draws up its own internal rules of procedure. These are deposited with the Office of Collective Labour Relations within the Ministry of Employment and Labour. The Committee meets when convened by the chairperson or at the request of one of the organizations represented on it. The meetings are not open.
The quorum for meetings is at least half of the accredited or alternate members representing employers and half of those representing employees. Only the members are entitled to vote; the chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretaries have no voting rights. Decisions are taken by unanimous vote of those members present, unless there is a specific legal provision to the contrary. However, the conclusion of collective agreements requires the agreement of all the organizations represented on the Committee.
An important feature of a Joint Committee's conciliation function is the possibility of setting up a conciliation board within the Committee for the purpose of preventing or settling disputes between employers and employees. This board is composed of the chairperson, a secretary and members designated in equal numbers from among the Committee members representing the employers' associations and the unions respectively. The conciliation board likewise meets when convened by the chairperson or at the request of one of the organizations represented on the Committee. When cases of industrial conflict arise or are threatened, the dispute is referred to the board by the earliest petitioner. Unless there is a specific provision on the matter in the internal rules of procedure, the chairperson must convene the conciliation board within seven days of such a referral. The conciliation board reports to the Joint Committee at least once a year on its activities and the results it has achieved.
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.