Person of trust becomes mandatory

The legislation on health and safety has known the concept of the person of trust for some time. This is a member of staff or a person external to the company who acts as an easily accessible point of contact for employees struggling with psychosocial risks at work.

The appointment of a person of trust is not mandatory, unless if all employee representatives of the Health and Safety Committee (HSC) would request it.

The latter will now change: the legislator has prepared a draft law providing for the mandatory appointment of a person of trust in companies with 50 employees or more. In companies with fewer employees, the obligation will also apply if all members of the trade union delegation or, in their absence, all employees request it.

The procedure for appointing the person of trust does not change. The employer must seek the HSC’s consent. Failing this, the inspectorate monitoring health and safety at work will intervene and try to reconcile the parties. If no reconciliation can be reached, the inspectorate will issue an advice and the employer will take a decision - if he decides not to follow the inspectorate’s advice, he must justify to the HSC why.

For companies with 50 employees or more, at least 1 person of trust must be a member of personnel. Once appointed, the person of trust has two years to complete the necessary training. Also, be sure not to forget to include the name of the person of trust in your work regulations.

The planned legislative change is yet to be approved by parliament. The draft text provides that the obligation would enter into force the first day of the month following its publication in the Belgian Official Gazette. We will monitor this for you and keep you informed.

In case of questions, the Reliance Littler team is at your service.