Sunday work henceforth allowed in the centre of Antwerp
Employment Law
26 March 2014
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In Belgium, it is in principle prohibited to make employees work on Sundays. Sunday work is only allowed if a specific statutory derogation is provided for this. Such a derogation exists for “small retail businesses and hairdressing salons/barbershops, established in seaside resorts, air cure stations and tourist centres”. Tourist centres must be recognised for this purpose by the Minister of Employment.
A Ministerial Decree of 3 March 2014 has now officially recognised large parts of the city of Antwerp as constituting such a “tourist centre”. More specifically, this covers the parts of the city that are located within the perimeter marked out by:
- to the south : the intersection of Amerikalei with the Bolivarplaats, the Bolivarplaats through to the intersection with Jan van Gentstraat, the Jan van Gentstraat through to the intersection with Namenstraat, the Namenstraat through to the intersection with De Gerlachekaai;
- to the west : the De Gerlachekaai, the Cockerillkaai, the Saint-Michielskaai, the Plantinkaai, the Ernest van Dijckkaai, the Jordaenskaai, the Orteliuskaai, the Van Meterenkaai, the Tavernierkaai, the Rijnkaai, the Sloepenstraat through to the intersection with Limastraat;
- to the north : the Limastraat, the Madrasstraat through to the intersection with the Binnenvaartstraat; - to the east : the Binnenvaartstraat to the intersection with Italiëlei, the Frankrijklei, the Britselei, the Amerikalei; - in addition to the east : the intersection of Frankrijklei with the De Keyserlei, the De Keyserlei through to the intersection with Pelikaanstraat, the Pelikaanstraat through to the intersection with Vestingstraat, the Vestingstraat through to the intersection with Appelmansstraat, the Appelmansstraat (complete), the Quellinstraat (complete) and the Central Station site. As a result of this recognition as a tourist centre, small businesses and hairdressing salons/barbershops that are located within this perimeter can henceforth can also have their employees work on Sundays during certain periods. Sunday work is allowed for these stores from May 1st to September 30th and during the Christmas and Easter holidays. Moreover, outside of these periods one can still work during a maximum of 13 Sundays when the work is done in places where there is an influx of tourists during the weekends or during certain events such as fairs, exhibitions, markets, festivals, parades and sporting events.