VOW's senior associate Gautier Busschaert has published a new article on working time registration in the legal journal 'Orientations'.
By its judgment of 22 May 2020 (RG n° 2018/AB/424), the Labour court of appeal of Brussels considered that, in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of 14 May 2019 (CCOO), the employer is obliged to set up a system for recording the daily working hours of each employee that is objective, reliable and accessible, and that the consequence of not having such a system in place is that it is up to the employer to demonstrate which hours were worked, or at least that such hours were not worked. In the absence of either of these elements, the Court ordered the employer to pay the overtime claimed, but not proven by the employee.
The judgment of 22 May 2020 is the first major case in which a Belgian court refers to the CCOO ruling. In his article, Gautier Busschaert places the judgment in its European context and provides a critical analysis on the reversal of the burden of proof operated by the Labour court of Appeal. This is a remarkable aspect, as it is normally the claimant (employee) who needs to prove his or her claim for overtime pay.
Read our summary of the CCOO judgement here.
“Cet arrêt a en tout cas mis en évidence la nécessité d’une intervention législative à bref délai, afin d’assurer la sécurité juridique. Dans l’attente, les employeurs sont invités à encadrer strictement les heures supplémentaires.” - Gautier Busschaert
You can find Gautier's article « L’arrêt du 22 mai 2020 de la Cour du travail de Bruxelles : renversement de la charge de la preuve en matière d’heures supplémentaires Une fausse bonne idée? » in Orientations 2021, n° 3, 25-29.