Joint and several liability for wages now in the transport sector as well

Since the Programme Law of 29 March 2012, the Wage Protection Act contains a new chapter VI/1 on joint and several liability for the payment of wages.   However, this chapter only entered into effect on 1 September 2013. Since that date the system of joint and several liability for wage debts applies in a number of specific sectors, including surveillance, the construction sector, real estate-related works, agriculture, cleaning, horticulture and certain works in the food products industry and the trade in food products.   The transport sector has now been added to this list of sectors in which the joint and several liability can apply.   Concretely this means that transport firms that use a contractor or subcontractor may be held jointly and severally liable if their contractor or subcontractor fails to respect the Belgian rules on wages. The joint and several liability for wages does not apply automatically. A principal or (sub)contractor can only be held liable after he has been officially informed of this by the social inspectorate. For more details about the content and scope of this procedure, we refer to our earlier newsletter. In any event, prudence will be imperative when working together with a contractor or subcontractor(s) in the transport sector. Moreover, a well-drafted contract for services will be vitally important.