One take
No noise.

Employment contracts, management agreements, HR policies, bespoke clauses, variable pay and executive compensation, cooperation agreements with self-employed contractors…: I go beyond tweaking a few lines in a template and deliver a solution tailored to your company.

An ex-employee summons you to court. Or you see the case coming from miles off. I defend your interests before the Belgian labour tribunals and labour courts of appeal. Risk management and procedural economics are my guiding principles: I lead you to the most cost-efficient resolution of your dispute.

There's no acute problem in your company, but you have the feeling your HR practice can — and should — be tighter. Legislative reforms with an impact on your workforce follow at breakneck speed — you no longer know whether all the risks are covered and whether the essentials in your HR function are really in order. I run an audit of your company on a number of key elements of employment law. Together we separate the real 'red flags' where improvement will deliver the biggest return for your business, from bureaucratic HR busywork that isn't a priority.

You're facing a tough negotiation with the social partners: a new CBA, new working conditions, an individual file that's sensitive… I have extensive experience with the social partners and can support you from A to Z toward a solution that holds.

You have to push through a reorganisation or steer the company through a major change with an impact on your workforce. I guide you through the entire process, from the first strategic discussions to the after-care of execution. Together we find answers to every one of your questions: — Is it possible to avoid a collective dismissal? — What's the 'menu' of options we can choose from in a social plan? — How do we manage the population of older employees whose notice period (just) won't carry them to retirement…

In an M&A transaction, the employment-law side is often a meaningful part of the deal. I support you through the full trajectory and give you answers to the typical questions that come up around personnel. What do we need to be extra careful about on the due diligence side? What is the impact of the deal structuring on the workforce, and the other way around? What happens to the supplementary pensions? Can we let people go before or after the transaction, or are we obliged to take everyone on? What do we do if people have to relocate as a result of the deal? After closing, I also support you on the harmonisation of employment conditions and the integration of the new workforce.

You've been dismissed and you wonder whether everything was handled correctly. In a great many cases it wasn't. Belgian employment law is a tangle of rules that often favour the employee — but that even HR professionals don't always master. The result: incorrect severance calculations, missed entitlements and in many cases thousands of euros left on the table. Together we examine your file from several angles and look at where the biggest return on investment can be found.

You're stuck in a difficult work situation. A new toxic manager, a role change you never signed up for, a change to your pay or fringe benefits, a sense of harassment or discrimination… You wonder: "is any of this actually allowed in Belgium?" Together we look at how to safeguard your rights and how to push back firmly with your employer — without blowing up the relationship unnecessarily.

You have a fine career behind you and you sense it's time to start scaling back. You follow the news on the many reforms but no longer see the wood for the trees. Together we find an answer to the following questions: — What are the options to work less in a tax- and socially-efficient way? — What's the impact on your statutory and supplementary pension? — How do you open that conversation with your employer, how do you 'negotiate' with the HR department toward the outcome you want?

For founders, managers and teams without an HR or employment-law background. What are the key reflexes you need to work with personnel in Belgium efficiently and with limited risk? We work through concrete cases from your own practice or specific themes such as performance issues, sickness absence, conflict management, dismissal files,… No academic lectures — the legal foundation you need at the moment that counts.

For HR managers and executives who have to navigate the Belgian reality in an international context. We focus on the rules where Belgium genuinely differs from other legal systems and zoom in on the pitfalls that most often surprise people working across borders.

What are the fundamentals of the Belgian statutory and supplementary pension systems? Where do the opportunities and the hidden catches lie for long careers within a company? How can you, as an individual or company director, optimise your own pension build-up?