The ‘Renault Act’ ten years on: company restructurings and social plans, what are the trends in Belgium?

The law firm Claeys & Engels has just published a study concerning company restructurings and social plans. The study is based on 216 collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), concluded as a result of the hundred most recent restructurings (2006-2008).

Claeys & Engels demonstrates that the consultation procedures only take longer and that the social plans have only become more expensive. Resettlement of dismissed workers gains indeed in significance, but is certainly not the most important thing. The impact of the Generation Pact remains limited because the social partners introduce, even more than in the past, early retirement as from the age of 50.