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Belgium – New government to allow agency work in the public sector for the first time

31 October 2014

Following five months without an official government, four Belgian political parties reached an agreement to form a coalition government earlier this month. One of their first acts is a proposal that would allow the public sector to use agency workers for the first time, according to Eurociett, the European Confederation of Private Employment Agencies.

John Nurthen, Executive Director, Global Research for Staffing Industry Analysts commented: “With over 30% of the Belgian workforce working in the public sector, if the coalition government manages to follow through on this proposal, this could be a very positive development for the European staffing industry.”

Eurociett has joined the Belgian Federation of Staffing Agencies and Eurociett member, Federgon, in congratulating the new government on this move. 

For many years Federgon has argued that agency work can, and should, play an important role in the Belgian public sector. Together with Greece, Belgium was the last country in Europe where sectoral bans are in place, contrary to the European Agency Work Directive.

In practice, many government organisations already made use of agency work, for both short-term and long-term assignments, and across a broad range of jobs; including engineers, accountants, administrative assistants, and blue-collar workers.

The federal government, led by Charles Michel, has now pledged to end this double standard and make it fully legal to hire agency workers in the public sector. 

Herwig Muyldermans, Managing Director of Federgon and board member of Eurociett, commented: “Opening up the public sector for agency work is a great opportunity for a further professionalisation of their HR policy”.

Annemarie Muntz, President of Eurociett, added: “This is yet another step to a modern European labour market that allows the employment and recruitment industry to offer a way to work to millions of people each year, contributing to more efficient labour markets. The European Agency Work Directive calls for the removal of unjustified restrictions on agency work, and we are very happy to see such a blatant example removed.”