Climbing the chain: the Belgian system of joint liability for the payment of wages

Due to the increased use of subcontracting and of posted workers in the Belgian labour market, problems regarding correct remuneration of these employees have come under scrutiny. The Belgian authorities are often confronted with situations where these workers do not receive the correct wages by their employer, often a (sub)contractor working for a Belgian company. A joint liability scheme was therefore introduced in 2012 where a client or contractor can be held liable for the correct payment of the wages to the employees of the (sub)contractor when the latter has seriously failed to fulfil their obligation to pay their employees the wages to which they are entitled. This article discusses the liability scheme in theory and in practice, by reviewing its application in the case of a Polish posting undertaking.

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