Is the right to disconnect mandatory for every employer?

No. The obligation applies to private-sector employers with 20 or more employees. Below that, the law imposes nothing on you, unless the agreement of your joint committee also covers smaller companies.

Must the right to disconnect be in the work rules?

Only if there is no company-level collective agreement on it. The law prefers a company agreement. Without one, you include the rules in the work rules, following the normal procedure to amend them.

Does JC 200 have an agreement on the right to disconnect?

In the collective agreements database of the FPS Employment, we found no disconnection agreement of the auxiliary joint committee for white-collar workers on 20 October 2026. An employer in JC 200 with 20 or more employees therefore arranges it himself, through a company agreement or in the work rules.

May an employee refuse to answer an e-mail outside his hours?

The law has you set out how the employee exercises his right not to be reachable outside his working hours. What exactly applies is therefore in your own rules or the agreement of your sector, with the exceptions listed there, such as on-call duty or force majeure.

Right to disconnect in Belgium: what employers must set up

The right to disconnect in Belgium requires an employer with 20 or more employees to set out how his staff can be unreachable outside their working hours and how the company regulates the use of digital tools. That is done in a company-level collective agreement or, without one, in the work rules. The rule is in the law of 26 March 2018 and got its current form from the law of 3 October 2022, the labour deal. In practice, the rules had to be in place by 1 April 2023.

Right to disconnect in Belgium: the rules: employees: mandatory from here 20, mandatory elements 3, deadline in practice 1 April 2023

Right to disconnect in Belgium: what does the law say?

The obligation applies to employers and employees covered by the law on collective agreements and joint committees, so the private sector, from 20 employees. It has applied since 20 November 2022. The law itself set the formalities for 1 January 2023. Because the rule only entered into force late, the FPS Employment, in consultation with the minister, applied a delay in practice: the agreement had to be filed or the copy of the work rules sent by 1 April 2023. Employers who had done nothing by then are late today.

What must the right to disconnect rules contain?

The law lists 3 elements that the rules must at least contain:

Practical arrangements through which the employee uses his right not to be reachable outside his working hours.
Guidelines for digital tools, so that rest periods, leave, private life and family life stay protected.
Training and awareness actions for employees and managers on sensible use of digital tools and the risks of being connected too much.

If your staff work from home, these rules sit next to your telework policy and the home working allowance. Checking employees' mailboxes is governed by other rules: see may an employer check e-mails.

Right to disconnect in a collective agreement or the work rules

A company-level collective agreement is what the law prefers. You conclude it with the unions and file it with the registry of the Directorate-General for Collective Labour Relations of the FPS Employment.

Without an agreement, you include the rules in the work rules, using the procedure of articles 11 and 12 of the law on work rules. If you have a works council, you discuss the draft there. Without a works council, you post the draft and employees can note comments in a register for 15 days. If there is no agreement, the inspector attempts conciliation; if that succeeds, the change takes effect 8 days later. Within 8 days of entry into force, you send a copy to the Labour Inspectorate, also online via arbeidsreglement.belgie.be. Every step is in our guide to drawing up work rules. Whether you must already have them is answered in are work rules mandatory.

Right to disconnect by sector: which agreements exist?

If your joint committee concludes a generally binding agreement covering all 3 points, your own obligation lapses. According to the FPS Employment, 43 joint committees and subcommittees had filed such an agreement for 2023 and 2024. They covered 754,410 employees, about one in four.

On 20 October 2026 we searched the collective agreements database of the FPS Employment:

Hotel and catering (JC 302): an agreement of 21 April 2023, open-ended, for companies with on average 20 or more employees that have no disconnection agreement of their own.
Road transport and logistics for third parties (JC 140.03), for blue-collar workers, and white-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics (JC 226) also have a disconnection agreement.
White-collar workers (JC 200) and construction (JC 124): no disconnection agreement found. An employer with 20 or more employees arranges it himself there.

Always read the agreement of your committee: some apply to all employers in the sector, others only from 20 employees or to part of the staff.

What about the committee for prevention and protection at work?

The original law of 26 March 2018 did not ask for rules but for consultation: within the committee for prevention and protection at work, the employer held consultation on disconnection and the use of digital communication tools, at regular intervals and whenever the employee representatives asked for it. Agreements arising from it could go into the work rules or a collective agreement. Since 20 November 2022, that text has been replaced by the obligation above, and that consultation in the committee is no longer in this law.

Fewer than 20 employees

With fewer than 20 employees, the law does not require rules from you. Do check your sector, though: the FPS Employment points out that some sector agreements apply to all employers, including small ones. The auxiliary joint committee for the non-profit sector (JC 337) even concluded a separate agreement for companies with fewer than 20 employees.

Sample text for the work rules

This is an example to start from. It follows the three points of the law, but you adapt it to your company and your sector agreement.

Example. Article X. Right to disconnect.

Outside his working hours, during his leave and during a suspension of his contract, the employee does not have to answer work e-mails, messages or calls. Exceptions: [on-call duty, force majeure or an urgent safety matter, as described here].

Outside working hours, managers do not send messages that require an answer; they schedule them for the next working day. During leave, the employee sets an out-of-office reply with the name of a colleague.

Employees and managers receive [frequency] an awareness session on sensible use of e-mail, chat and phone and on the risks of being connected too much.

Steps for the employer

Count your employees. At 20 or more, the rule applies to you.
Check the collective agreements database to see whether your joint committee has a generally binding agreement that covers every point.
No sector agreement? Choose a company agreement or a clause in the work rules.
Write out the 3 elements: practical arrangements, guidelines for digital tools, training.
Follow the procedure and send the copy within 8 days, or file the agreement.
Put it into practice: plan the awareness session and brief your managers.

What Business Centrum does for you

We check for your joint committee whether a sector agreement on disconnection exists, prepare the text for your work rules and follow the procedure until the copy is with the inspectorate. In personnel administration we keep your work rules up to date, together with Acerta, with one fixed contact person. Ask for a call back if you want to check whether your rules are in order.