Why a collective agreement is mandatory for a company
Under Article 31 of the Collective Agreements Act, a collective agreement declared generally binding binds all employers and employees who fall under the joint body and the scope of that agreement. Article 51 ranks the generally binding agreements of the National Labour Council, the joint committee and the joint subcommittee directly below mandatory law. Your joint committee depends on your company's activity.
Exceptions
A sector agreement that has not been declared generally binding also binds all employers in the joint committee for individual pay and working conditions, 15 days after publication of the filing notice. You may depart from it with a written agreement with the employee; from a generally binding agreement you may not, unless the agreement itself allows it.
What is the risk?
A breach of a generally binding collective agreement that no other article penalises is a level 1 offence under Article 189 of the Social Criminal Code: an administrative fine of € 100 to € 1,000, per employee concerned.
What to do
Determine which joint committee your activity falls under and apply the agreements of that committee and of the National Labour Council to pay and working conditions.
Are you sure which joint committee you fall under?
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Sources
Every amount and deadline on this page was checked against these official sources, last consulted on .