To amend the work rules without a works council, you post the draft and open a register. Employees have 15 days to make comments. Without comments, the amendment takes effect on the 15th day after posting. Every employee then receives a copy, and within 8 days you file a copy with the inspectorate. A list of items can change without that procedure.
The rules sit in the Act of 8 April 1965 establishing work rules, mainly in Articles 11 to 15. This guide follows those articles step by step, as they stand on 1 November 2026: who drafts the amendment, which deadlines run, what happens if employees object, which changes you can make yourself and how you announce and file the amendment. For your first set of rules, see drawing up work rules.
When is amending the work rules necessary?
The work rules have to match what happens on the shop floor. When practice changes, the rules change with it. These are the amendments we see most often:
- New schedules. A schedule that is not in the rules and does not fall within the framework of normal working time can only be used after an amendment. More in changing a work schedule as an employer.
- A framework of normal working time. Since 1 June 2026, you can include a framework in the rules within which new schedules are allowed without a further amendment. Introducing the framework itself is an amendment.
- Disconnection. Employers with 20 or more employees and no company-level collective agreement put the arrangements for the right to disconnect in the rules, through the ordinary procedure. See right to disconnect.
- Alcohol and drug testing. The policy statement can change without a procedure, but if you introduce testing, you set 6 elements in the rules, such as the type of tests and the consequences of a positive result. Read alcohol and drug policy.
- Disciplinary sanctions. A new sanction or a different fine is only allowed if it is in the rules. A fine stays limited to 20% of the daily wage per day. More in disciplinary sanctions for employees.
- Telework and flexitime. A framework for telework or a flexitime system often goes into the rules. What belongs in the rules and what in an individual agreement is set out in structural telework.
The work rules amendment procedure without a works council
Most SMEs have no works council. The amendment then follows Article 12 of the Act.
- You draft the amendment. Write out the new text and state which provisions it replaces.
- You post the draft in a place all employees can see, and you set up a register.
- Employees have 15 days to write comments in the register. They may also report them directly to the inspector of the Social Legislation Inspectorate.
- You send the draft and the register to the inspector as soon as the period has ended.
- Without comments, the amendment takes effect on the 15th day after posting.
- With comments, the inspector tries to reconcile the positions within 30 days. If that works, the amendment takes effect 8 days after the conciliation.
- If conciliation fails, the inspector sends the official report to the joint committee. See "Objections" below.
- You date and sign the amended text, give every employee a copy and file a copy within 8 days after entry into force.
Worked example
A bakery with nine employees wants to introduce an early schedule from January that is not in the rules. It posts the draft on Monday 7 December 2026.
- Register open up to and including 22 December 2026, the 15th day after posting.
- No comments: the amendment takes effect on 22 December 2026.
- Copy to the inspectorate by 30 December 2026 at the latest, within 8 days.
- The new schedule can apply from 22 December 2026, provided every employee has received their copy.
If an employee does write a comment, conciliation can take up to 30 days. The schedule then only starts at some point in January or February.
The procedure with a works council
If your company has a works council, that council draws up the rules and every amendment (Article 11). An employer cannot decide alone.
| Step | Without a works council (Art. 12) | With a works council (Art. 11) |
|---|---|---|
| Who drafts the amendment | the employer | the works council |
| Informing staff | posting of the draft | the draft goes to staff at the same time as to the council members |
| Objection | comments in the register or to the inspector, 15 days | no agreement in the council |
| Entry into force without discussion | the 15th day after posting | 15 days after agreement in the council |
| Conciliation | by the inspector, within 30 days | by the inspector, within 30 days |
| After successful conciliation | in force 8 days later | in force 8 days later |
| No conciliation | the joint committee decides | the joint committee decides |
| Signature | the employer | the employer and at least two members representing the employees |
A union delegation without a works council does not draw up the rules. You then follow Article 12. How your sector is organised is explained in finding your joint committee.
Objections to amending the work rules: what then?
Comments from employees block the amendment temporarily. The old rules keep applying as long as the new text is not in force.
The inspector first tries to reconcile the positions. If that fails, the dispute goes to the joint committee for your sector. In principle, its decision is only valid with 75% of the votes of each side. Since 1 June 2026, a lighter majority applies to an amendment that extends an existing framework of normal working time or introduces a new schedule: the votes of all present representatives of at least one employers' organisation and one employees' organisation are then enough.
You receive the decision within 8 days. The new provisions take effect 15 days after the decision, unless the committee sets another date.
Night work has its own route. If the amendment only concerns work outside the period between midnight and 5 am, a simpler procedure applies since 1 June 2026. If the inspector finds that the rules have been complied with, the amendment takes effect on the eighth day after their notification. More in night work in 2026.
What can you change without the procedure?
Article 14 of the Act lists when the procedure of Articles 11 to 13 does not apply. There are three cases.
1. A temporary departure from the schedule. When working time may legally be exceeded, for example during an exceptional peak in work, you may temporarily adjust the start, the end and the rest periods. You announce this at least 24 hours in advance with a posted, dated and signed notice.
2. A list of 22 items. You update these details yourself:
| Group | Examples from Article 14, 2° |
|---|---|
| Funds and insurers | the family allowance fund, the holiday fund, the occupational accident insurer |
| Supervision and consultation | the address of the inspection services, the names of the members of the works council, the committee and the union delegation |
| First aid and medical care | the location of the first aid kit, where the first aid person can be reached, the doctors, pharmacists and hospital after an occupational accident, the medical services and vaccinations |
| Holidays and public holidays | the replacement days for public holidays, the length of the annual holiday and the dates of the collective holiday |
| End of the contract | the procedure and the notice periods |
| Collective agreements and policy | the list of collective agreements in the company, the elements of the procedure for psychosocial risks, the alcohol and drug policy statement |
| Other | exit checks against theft and the security company, the electronic archiving service |
3. Illness during the holiday. The formalities an employee follows when falling ill during the annual holiday can be added or changed without the procedure. See sick during the holiday.
Article 14bis also sets its own route for certain flexible schedules.
Amending an annex to the work rules
Many sets of rules work with annexes: the schedules, the list of public holidays, the names of the confidential counsellor and the prevention adviser. An annex is part of the rules. For the procedure, what counts is not where the text sits, but what it governs.
| What changes in the annex | Which route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A new full-time or fixed part-time schedule outside the framework | ordinary procedure | working time does not fall under Article 14, 2° |
| A new schedule within the framework of normal working time | no amendment, but the schedule is announced | the framework is already in the rules |
| A variable part-time schedule within the existing framework | prior notice, no amendment | see part-time schedule |
| A new replacement day for a public holiday | without the procedure | Article 14, 2°, o) |
| A different external service or holiday fund | without the procedure | Article 14, 2° |
| New sanctions or fines | ordinary procedure | discipline does not fall under Article 14 |
How to set the replacement days for 2027 is explained in replacement public holiday and in public holidays 2027. For part-time schedules there is a separate template at part-time schedule.
Announcing, handing out copies and filing
An amendment is only finished once it is known and filed.
- Signature. The employer dates and signs the amended text (Article 13).
- Access. A copy of the rules is available at every place where employees work. A notice at the registered office says where they can consult it.
- Copy to every employee. Every employee receives a copy of each amendment. Without a copy, you cannot enforce the provision against them. Have them sign for receipt or keep proof of the electronic delivery.
- Filing. Within 8 days after entry into force, you send a copy to the regional office of the Social Legislation Inspectorate. Since 15 May 2019, this can be done online through arbeidsreglement.belgie.be.
An example of a complete set of rules is in our work rules template. Whether you already need one is covered in are work rules mandatory.
What do you risk if the procedure was not followed?
A provision that was not introduced according to the Act does not apply to the employees. A disciplinary sanction based on an invalid rule does not stand, and a schedule that is not in the rules counts as work outside working time.
The Social Criminal Code punishes an amendment without the correct procedure with a level 2 sanction. For offences from 1 February 2026, the administrative fine ranges from € 250 to € 2,500. Work outside the schedules in the rules comes on top of that, and that fine is multiplied by the number of employees involved. What the inspectorate does during an inspection is described in social legislation inspections in Ghent and in the Social Criminal Code in 2026.
Common mistakes when changing the work rules
- Applying a new schedule before the amendment is in force. The day of posting is not the day of entry into force.
- Forgetting the register. A posted draft without a register gives employees no chance to comment, and then the procedure has not been followed.
- Reading an exception too broadly. A different holiday fund needs no procedure, a new sanction does.
- No copy for new employees. Anyone who starts after the amendment receives the complete, updated rules.
- Skipping the filing for small changes. A change of address or name also belongs in the filed rules.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum is a social bureau in Ghent, founded in 2013, and a recognised partner of Acerta. Your fixed contact person checks with you which procedure an amendment requires, prepares the text, the posting and the register, keeps track of the deadlines and files the rules. Your payroll runs through Acerta, the recognised secretariat with number 250, so the schedules in the rules and in payroll processing are the same. More about contracts and rules is on employment contracts. How the work is divided between Business Centrum and Acerta is set out in Business Centrum and Acerta.
Want to introduce a new schedule, a working time framework or new disciplinary rules and not sure which procedure applies? Request a call back and Business Centrum goes through the amendment with you. For a dispute before the joint committee or a legal conflict, we refer you to a lawyer or your sector federation.