“We have not yet reached a formal agreement on electronic contracts for temporary employment,” says CSC following Monday’s presentation of a new system for electronic temporary contracts by Federgon, the federation of human resources providers. The Christian union insists negotiations for the project are on-going.
CSC finds two aspects are still unresolved. The first is cancellation of the “48-hour rule” which says a contract may be sent by a temping agency to the employee up to 48 hours after he or she takes a job. “This rule leads to abuse” such as “problems arising in case of workplace accidents or sick leave,” explains CSC. “These issues can be avoided if the contract is systematically signed before the mission begins.”
Federgon presented its new system for electronic contracts and signatures to Minister for the Digital Agenda Alexander De Croo on Monday morning. Herwig Muyldermans, Managing Director of Federgon, said that “the electronic system will make it easy to send the contract before the mission starts. The long-term aim is to get rid of the 48-hour rule in order to improve legal certainty.”
The second aspect under negotiation is whether the database of signed contracts can be accessed electronically by the social inspectorate without prior permission from the company; if not, this would represent a clear setback in worker protection. “Employment contracts for temporary workers and students must currently be available on site and can therefore be inspected by the relevant authorities,” according to CSC.
(Source: Belga)
