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In October 2002, the Ministry of Employment and Labour and the Construction Confederation employers' organisation signed a partnership agreement aimed at combating illegal working in the Belgian construction sector. The agreement provides for increased monitoring , an awareness-raising campaign, and the establishment of a working group to look into the matter. Trade unions, while in favour of combating illegal working, regretted that they had been excluded from the initiative, because the matters under consideration affect all workers in construction.
On 28 October 2001, Laurette Onkelinx, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Employment, and André Dherte and Robert de Mûelenaere, respectively president and managing director of the Construction Confederation (Confédération Construction/Confederatie Bouw) employers' organisation signed a partnership agreement aimed at combating illegal working in the construction sector. For both parties, the initiative reflects the fact that illegal and clandestine working (including undeclared work) is a reality in Belgium, with negative consequences for the market and enterprises, for the labour market and employment, for workers and for the construction sector.
The submerged economy is by nature difficult to assess, and is hard to quantify. However, Belgium appears to have a substantial amount of undeclared work in comparison with other European countries. According to a 1998 report from the European Commission (EU9804197F), the undeclared economy accounted for 7%-16% of the EU’s GDP, while the figure for Belgium was estimated at 15%-20% of GDP - see the table below.
Volume of undeclared work in Europe as % of GDP
| Country | Estimate |
| Scandinavian countries | c. 5% |
| Ireland | c. 5% |
| Austria | c. 5% |
| Netherlands | c. 5% |
| UK | 10%-15% |
| Germany | 10%-15% |
| France | 10%-15% |
| Belgium | 15%-20% |
| Spain | 15%-20% |
| Italy | 20% |
| Greece | 20% |
| Total EU | 7%-16% |
Source: European Commission Communication on undeclared work, COM (1998) 219.
The sectors most affected by the clandestine economy include the construction sector, hotels/restaurants/catering, domestic service and agriculture/horticulture. There are several reasons for undeclared work, the main one being the opportunity to avoid paying tax and social security contributions. Such charges payable on wages in Belgium are very high compared with other European countries, and undeclared work is also increasingly common among people without identity papers and unemployed people. According to the Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV), the sector where most foreign workers are employed in an unauthorised way is construction, followed at some distance by hotels/restaurants/catering and agriculture/horticulture.
The partnership agreement signed in October by the Ministry of Employment and Labour (Ministère de l’Emploi et du Travail/Federaal Ministerie van Tewerkstelling en Arbeid, META) and the Construction Confederation lays more emphasis on a preventive approach to the issue than on repression, although both aspects may be seen as complementary. The three main features of the agreement are as follows:
- the Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Concertation (Service Public Fédéral Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale/Federale Overheidsdienst Werkgelegenheid, Arbeid en Sociaal Overleg) undertakes to develop monitoring actions on illegal work in construction, some of which will take place outside normal working hours, and on Saturdays in particular. There will be as many as 500 days of monitoring during the coming 12 months;
- the Construction Confederation undertakes to mount a campaign aimed at giving members information and raising their awareness, with a view to promoting transparency and publicity about what happens on building sites. In this context, employers will be asked to put their signatures to a 'charter of commitment'; and
- a working group will be set up, made up of representatives of the Federal Public Service for Employment and of the Construction Confederation. Its main tasks will be to encourage the prevention of unauthorised work and improve standards of detection.
The Building and Industry Section (Bâtiment et Industrie/Bouw en Industrie, CSC B&I/ACV B&I) of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) and the General Workers Section (Centrale Générale/Algemene Centrale) of FGTB/ABVV reacted to the signing of the agreement. Although both trade unions agree on the declared objective, they have the following criticisms:
- both organisations regret that the debate on unauthorised work had been carried out unilaterally, with no prior consultation within the construction sector joint committee (Commission paritaire de la Construction/Paritair Comite voor het Bouwbedrijf, CP 124), and have expressed a wish to attend meetings of the working group that has been set up;
- according to the unions, the absence of workers’ representatives in the talks allowed the employers, on the pretence of combating undeclared work, to slip through a range of employers’ demands, including increased flexibility, an easing of overtime arrangements, and a reduction in social charges. These demands were contained in a 'global action plan against undeclared work in construction' that the Construction Confederation proposed in September 2002;
- the unions argue that the agreement contradicts the employers’ attitude in practice, as it is often they who organise the undeclared work (eg overtime paid 'under the counter' and weekend working); and
- for both unions, the way to combat undeclared work is to increase the number of checks by the Labour Inspectorate.