All organisations with at least 50 workers need to appoint a person of trust

24 November 2023 3 min read

By Laurent De Surgeloose and Frederic Brasseur

At a glance

On 26 October 2023, the Belgian Parliament approved an act making it mandatory for organisations with at least 50 workers to appoint a person of trust.
An employer can also appoint a person of trust as well as the prevention advisor.
The role of the person of trust is quite limited and purely informal.
An employer failing to appoint a person of trust can face a level two sanction, which is either a criminal fine of maximum EUR 4,000 or an administrative fine of maximum EUR 2,000 if the public prosecutor decides not to start a procedure before the criminal court.

Every employer needs to have a prevention advisor responsible for the psycho-social aspects of work. This can either be a member of the internal service for prevention and protection at work, or it can be an employee from an external service for prevention and protection at work. An employer can also appoint a person of trust as well as the prevention advisor; previously this was optional.

On 26 October 2023, the Belgian Parliament approved an act making it mandatory for organisations with at least 50 workers to appoint a person of trust. Organisations with less than 50 workers are not obliged to appoint a person of trust, unless all members of the trade union delegation ask for one to be appointed. Organisations with at least 20 workers who use an external service for the role of prevention advisor specialised in the psychosocial aspects of work should also appoint a person of trust.

The role of a person of trust

The role of the person of trust is quite limited and purely informal. A worker thinking about filing a formal complaint alleging harassment at work can contact the person of trust for advice on the complaint procedure or for an informal conciliation attempt. But the person of trust can’t take over the formal complaint procedure. Only the prevention advisor responsible for the psychosocial aspects of wellbeing at work can take note of a complaint. The prevention advisor also examines the complaint and drafts the report on the complaint. The person of trust can, at most, help the prevention advisor, which can be especially useful if the prevention advisor is part of the external service for prevention and protection at work. The person of trust can then clarify the points that are specific for the organisation (e.g. the normal working method).

Appointing a person of trust

Despite the informal nature of the role, a formal procedure has to be followed to appoint someone as the person of trust. The committee for prevention and protection at work should unanimously approve the appointment of a person of trust. If no agreement can be reached, and the employer insists on appointing the person involved, the social inspection will attempt to conciliate the dispute. If no conciliation can be reached, the social inspector will advise on the appointment of the person involved, although the employer is not obliged to follow this advice. If an employer does not follow the advice, the employer should provide the committee with the reasons for doing so.

If there’s no committee for prevention and protection at work, but there is a trade union delegation, the trade union delegation takes over this role. If there’s also no trade union delegation, the workers themselves should be consulted on the appointment of a person of trust.

The person of trust cannot be the occupational health doctor, a trade union delegate, a staff representative in the works council or the committee for prevention and protection at work, or a member of the management staff who can represent the employer in those bodies.

Similarly, the unanimous approval of the committee is required to revoke the capacity of person of trust.

Legal implications of dismissal and sanctions for a persons of trust

There is no specific protection against dismissal for a person of trust. An employer can unilaterally end the tenure as person of trust by terminating the employment contract of the person involved.

There are no changes to the duties of a person of trust.

An employer failing to appoint a person of trust can face a level two sanction, which is either a criminal fine of maximum EUR 4,000 or an administrative fine of maximum EUR 2,000 if the public prosecutor decides not to start a procedure before the criminal court.

The new legislation will enter into force on the first day of the month following the month in which the new legislation is published in the Official Journal (which, at the time of this being published, has not yet happened).