‘Unsolvable’ backlogs at the Brussels Labor Court
The Brussels Labor Court, which settles disputes between employees and employers in an appeal procedure, is at an impasse due to a backlog of more than ten years and the consequences of the corona crisis.
‘The problem of the backlog is completely insoluble’, has been solved first chairman Marc Dallemagne.
At the end of August, the Brussels court had 2,271 files, representing one percent of the total number of files to be assessed in the five labor courts (Brussels, Liège, Mons, Ghent and Antwerp). The labor courts deal with appeals that have first been assessed by a court.
temporary intervals it at the labor court 39 months to bring a dispute between an employee and his employer. For a dispute about an accident at work of an employee, an accident at work of 22 months must be taken into account.
The problems at the Brussels Labor Court are far from new. The court even stopped its activities in 2018 due to personnel problems. The federal government had taken Prime Minister Charles Michel (MR) to take a case to court for up to a year. That doesn’t seem to work.
Three extra superstructure
The federal government has made funds available to recruit an additional magistrate, an additional clerk and an additional assistant at the Brussels Labor Court, but according to Dallemagne that will not be enough to clear the backlog.