Upcoming changes to the Social Criminal Code – strengthening the fight against social fraud
03 Apr 2024
On 26 March 2024, a draft act supplementing and modifying the Social Criminal Code and several provisions of social criminal law was submitted to the Chamber of Representatives. This major reform is the culmination of the evaluation of over a decade of practical Social Criminal Code application. The draft act contains a set of new measures that are aimed at strengthening the fight against social fraud. As such, it includes more stringent penalties for grave infractions, while reducing penalties for certain common administrative ones, aims to clarify fraud definitions and seeks to ensure consistent penalties across social and general criminal laws. In this newsletter, we’ll give a high-level overview of some of the draft act’s most notable provisions with respect to the punishment of infractions. The draft act also modifies, among others, several of the Social Criminal Code’s provisions on the definition and competences of social inspectors. These changes fall outside the scope of this newsletter.
Increase in fines for the most serious offences
The increase in fines for the most serious offences is one of the most prominent modifications that the updated text will bring to the Social Criminal Code.
In fact, while it aims to double fines for level 3 offences, for level 4 offences—the highest on the scale, for which the offender can be liable to imprisonment (i.e. child labour, committing an act of violence or harassment without ceasing despite an order to stop, employment of labour force in irregular stay, ...) — the maximum fines will even be increased by EUR 8,000 (*) and EUR 4,000 (*) for criminal and administrative fines, respectively.
The below table illustrates the sanction levels and corresponding penalties both before and after the reform.
| Sanction level | Imprisonment | Criminal fines (*) | Administrative fines (*) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | After | Before | After | Before | After | |
| Level 1 | / | / | / | / | EUR 80 - 800 | EUR 80 - 800 |
| Level 2 | / | / | EUR 400 - 4,000 | EUR 400 - 4,000 | EUR 200 - 2,000 | EUR 200 - 2,000 |
| Level 3 | / | / | EUR 800 - 8,000 | EUR 1,600- 16,000 | EUR 400 - 4,000 | EUR 800 - 8,000 |
| Level 4 | 6 months to 3 years | 6 months to 3 years | EUR 4,800 - 48,000 | EUR 4,800 - 56,000 | EUR 2,400 - 24,000 | EUR 2,400- 28,000 |
(*) The amounts mentioned have already been increased with the current surcharge units (‘opdeciemen’/’opdecimes’).
Other significant updates
More stringent enforcement
This draft act is notable for formally defining social dumping, which will enable more targeted prosecution and sanctions against exploitative practices and worker abuse. Furthermore, stringent penalties will be imposed for non-payment or late payment of the minimum wage, ensuring fair compensation for workers.
Moreover, violations of notification and information rules in collective dismissals will face heightened scrutiny, with harsher penalties being applied as a deterrent. Threats and violence directed at social inspectors will also be met with more severe sanctions, safeguarding the integrity of enforcement efforts.
Additionally, the draft act introduces a new penalty, namely the exclusion from the right of participating in public procurement and obtaining concessions. It also draws from the criminal code to incorporate the concept of aggravating factors such as intentional fraud into the social criminal code, potentially influencing the severity of sanctions for identified offences.
Reduced penalties
Conversely, the sanction level will be reduced for certain common administrative infractions, often stemming from good-faith errors, such as those related to part-time contracts or personnel record-keeping. In addition, through this reform, an investigation will now have to be conducted to determine an employer's proven fault in a workplace accident.
Conclusion
This legislative initiative arguably concerns the largest reform of the Social Criminal Code since its inception, however, it still has to be voted into law by the Chamber of Representatives before being able to enter into force. We’ll closely follow up the draft act legislative trajectory through the Chamber’s Commissions and Plenary and will keep you posted on further developments.
If, in the meantime, you have any question regarding this upcoming reform or employment law enforcement in general, don’t hesitate to reach out: we’d love to hear from you.
