Rights of the applicant

The Flemish Minister of Employment and Tourism,

Having regard to the Decree of 13 April 1999 concerning private employment mediation in the Flemish Region, in particular Article 13, paragraph 2;

Having regard to the Decision of the Flemish Government of 8 June 2000 implementing the Decree of 13 April 1999 regarding private employment mediation in the Flemish Region;

Having regard to the Decision of the Flemish Government of 13 July 1999 determining the powers of the members of the Flemish Government, as amended;

Having regard to the advice of the Advisory Committee on Private Employment Mediation in the Flemish Region, given on 13 September 2000;

Having regard to the laws on the Council of State, coordinated on 12 January 1973, in particular Article 3, § 1, as amended by the laws of 4 July 1989 and 4 August 1996;

Having regard to the urgent necessity;

Whereas private employment agencies must be notified without delay of the time limit within which they must exercise the recognition and of the texts setting out the rights of the employee and the contracting employer, given that the agencies are required in accordance with the said decree to submit or post this text in full, and given that the said decree entered into force on 1 September 2000,

Decision:

Art. 1. The text referred to in Article 13, paragraph 2, of the Decree of 13 April 1999 concerning private employment mediation in the Flemish Region, annexed to this Ministerial Decree, is hereby adopted.

Art. 2. The private employment agency is required to make effective use of the accreditation within a period of nine months. This period commences on the day the decision to grant accreditation is notified to the agency.

Art. 3. This Decree enters into force on 1 September 2000.

Brussels, 29 September 2000

The Flemish Minister of Employment and Tourism,

Renaat Landuyt

Annex to the Ministerial Decree implementing Articles 7, §5 and 13, paragraph 2 of the Decree of 13 April 1999 regarding private employment mediation in the Flemish Region

RIGHTS-HANDED TEXT

1. Under no circumstances may the agency request or receive any compensation from the employee.

2. The agency shall treat all parties involved in an objective, respectful, and non-discriminatory manner and may not draft or publish personnel advertisements that could give rise to discrimination.

3. The agency must respect the privacy of employees and request and use data pertaining to their personal sphere only with consent and in the interest of the employee in the context of their professional placement, and in compliance with the regulations concerning the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data. (a)

4. The agency shall grant the client and the employees access to the data stored about them and shall, at their request, provide them with a copy of their file after termination of the assignment. (b)

5. The agency may only request and use information regarding the commissioning employer and the employees within the framework of the mediation activities.

6. The agency must provide the commissioning employer and the employees with accurate, timely, and complete information regarding the mediation activities and the nature of the employment.

7. Personality assessments and psychological tests may only be conducted by or under the responsibility of a psychologist.

8. The agency may not carry out mediation activities for vacancies for which there is no real job offer.

9. The agency may not carry out activities that lead to employment contrary to public order or that the agency can clearly establish constitutes a violation of social or tax legislation.

10. The agency may not engage in mediation activities insofar as these relate to a strike, lockout, or suspension of an employment contract due to bad weather or a lack of work for economic reasons. (c)

11. The agency may mediate employees of foreign nationality insofar as the regulations concerning the employment of foreign workers are complied with.

12. The agency may not take the place of the client employer in the hiring or dismissal decision or the negotiations regarding it.

13. The office may under no circumstances be established in a drinking establishment or in an annex to such an establishment. If the office is established in a commercial building, it must be accessible via a separate entrance without the intervention of the merchant or his appointed representative.

14. The recognition of an agency may be withdrawn, following advice from the advisory committee, if it stipulates as a condition that the persons being mediated will allow the agency to act in every new mediation (prohibition of exclusivity clauses).

15. Mediation agencies for performing artists and paid athletes may only receive fees, commissions, contributions, admission or registration fees, hereinafter referred to as “commission”, within the limits set out below. The commission is established in an agreement between the agency and the client. It amounts to either a percentage of the employee’s total gross income or a fixed lump sum. The employee receives a copy of this agreement. With regard to the mediation of performing artists, the commission amounts to a maximum of 25 % of the remuneration to be received by the performing artist for his performance. With regard to the mediation of paid athletes, the commission amounts to a maximum of 7 % of the projected total gross annual income of the paid athlete.

16. Each agency must be recognized in advance. The agency that carries out temporary employment activities, outplacement activities, employment mediation for paid sports professionals, or employment mediation for performing artists must hold a separate recognition for this.

17. The agency must mention the accreditation number in advertisements and in its correspondence.

18. The agency is obliged to hand over this text to the candidates or to post it in its entirety in the agency's premises accessible to the public at the place where it can best be read.

19. Agencies whose activities involve advertising job offers via written, auditory, or visual media (TV, newspapers, internet, radio, etc.) must make this text known in its entirety via the medium concerned or explicitly state the location (e.g., internet address) where the aforementioned text is made available. This text must be made available free of charge by the agency upon simple request.

20. The agency shall endorse and comply with the code of conduct. The code of conduct forms an integral part of this text containing the rights.

21. Complaints may be submitted to the complaints body of the respective professional federation or the joint consultative body of the sector concerned, if the latter has a complaints procedure that has been declared equivalent by the Minister.

In the absence of an equivalent complaints procedure, complaints may be submitted in writing (Markiesstraat 1, 1000 Brussels), by telephone (02/553.31.11) or by electronic mail ([email protected]) are submitted to the Migration and Labour Market Policy Department of the administration. To be admissible, complaints must be substantiated, clearly describe the alleged infringement, and the complainant must explicitly state their identity details. The anonymity of the complainant is guaranteed.

(a) cf. the Law of 8 December 1992 on the protection of privacy in relation to the processing of personal data and the Law of 11 December 1998 transposing Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

(b) With regard to temporary employment activities, this provision applies only to the selection file, but not to the personnel file.

(c) cf. Articles 50 and 51 of the Law of 3 July 1978 on employment contracts