Services

We assist our clients in all kinds of international mobility situations: posting, transfer, expatriation, the special tax regime for foreign executives, salary splits, etc.  We assist them in complying with tax and social security obligations, as well as with a review of existing situations. We provide solutions aimed at limiting the costs associated with international mobility.

We are part of ELLINT, an international network of law firms specialised in social law. This allows us to propose an internationally coordinated approach.

Besides basic salary, most companies offer their staff non-statutory benefits and variable pay. It is however important to comply with the tax and social security regulations, when making use of alternative compensation solutions.

We can carry out a full audit of the current situation. We immediately identify the practices that need reviewing and identify opportunities that you may have overlooked thus far.

Furthermore, we assist you with the implemention of all the suggested changes.

Most large companies have an HR or legal department to handle employment law matters, comprised of one or more specialists in social law.

We work hand in hand with your HR and legal people when you face complex or fundamental issues that need outside support.

In these kinds of situations, our employment law expertise and access to an extensive repository of documentation mean your internal specialists can focus on their jobs.

Some departures from the company merit special attention and treatment due to the strategic or financial issues at stake.

We support you in every stage of these sensitive cases: preparation and calculations, presentation of the various scenarios, proposition of the out-of-service package, and confidential negotiations.

Where possible, we pursue a win-win solution for both parties.

We advise our clients with questions regarding their works council, health and safety at work committee and trade union delegation.

We also offer assistance in workforce negotiations, industrial disputes (strikes, lock-outs) or dismissal procedures involving protected employees.

Furthermore, we help you with the organization of your social elections (including appeal procedures).

When a dispute arises, we encourage our clients to negotiate a settlement. However, in some cases, litigation just cannot be avoided.

Sotra's lawyers regularly plead before the labour courts in proceedings conducted in French and Dutch. Our experience covers both individual and collective disputes, classically involving the dismissal of employee representatives, strikes or reorganisations.

If both sides agree to mediation, we also guide our clients through that process.

In case of an audit (e.g. social security, labour inspectorate, health and safety at work inspectorate), we help you to prepare the visit and the hearings of the inspection service. We analyse the situation and identify the potential issues to be discussed.

We accompany you during any interrogation and advise you on strategic decisions. We negotiate with the authorities and represent you before the labour inspectorate and in the civil or criminal proceedings instituted as a result of these inspections, if necessary.

Employers in the public sector can also be required to adjust their organization and ways of working. This can entail the restructuring, termination or transfer of certain parts of their business.                         

Our lawyers assist employers in the public sector in developing specific solutions to make these operations possible, considering the specificities of the public sector’s regulatory framework.

We put our experience at service during the negotiations with the social partners and during the practical implementation of the reorganization.

We advise public employers in their dealings with social security institutions (NSSO, ...) and during audits of inspection services.

We assist them in the follow-up of cases involving work accidents or occupational diseases.

We also represent them before the competent Tribunals and Courts in these matters

We accompany employers in the public sector from the early stages of the disciplinary process, by offering them a fast and personalized advice as well as assistance in drafting the various procedural acts (motivation, respect of formalities and deadlines, ...). We can also assist during the worker's hearing.

Our experience covers the disciplinary regime applicable to statutory civil servants, but also the implementation and monitoring of disciplinary procedures concerning contractual agents.

Sotra's lawyers have gained extensive experience in the dismissal of contractual civil servants in the public sector, including dismissal for serious cause.

They ensure that the proposed dismissal meets the legal requirements imposed by the labor law (calculation of notice, outplacement, ...) but also new constraints that now apply specifically to public employers including motivation and prior hearing of the worker.

They accompany public employers in the implementation of the specific statutory procedures or procedures proper to the organisation.

When a dispute arises over the implementation of legal, statutory or contractual provisions, we try to find a negotiated solution with the employee in order to avoid as far as possible a court procedure. 

We assist public employers in the formalization of the decisions they take in this context. 

Where appropriate, we discuss with the public employer how to adjust the administrative status to prevent further litigation in the future. 

Where proceedings are nonetheless unavoidable, we will defend the interests of the employer before the Tribunals and Courts and the Council of state.

The administrative and financial “staff regulation” constitutes the central instrument for regulating the working relationship between the public authority and its statutory civil servants. It is also often used as a reference, more or less explicit, for contractual civil servants.

Since the act of 18 December 2002, public employers are also obliged to have work rules whose provisions apply to both their contractual and statutory civil servants.

We update and harmonize these legal instruments and propose changes that, given the specific legal framework in which your organization evolves, are likely to meet the HR challenges you face.

We also provide you with models of employment contracts (white-collar and blue-collar workers, students, etc.).

We assist HR departments to answer daily questions that may arise from the application of the social law and/or the administrative status of their organization in terms of recruitment, promotion, working time, sick leave, remuneration, mobility, ...

Our in-depth knowledge of social legislation applicable to the public sector, as well as practices in use at other employers in the public sector, allows us to offer practical, tailor-made and innovative solutions.

We realise how important it is for clients that we are immediately available to assist with day-to-day HR questions. In most cases, we will give you an answer on the spot, and confirm it in an email.

For more complex questions, we provide you with advice within your agreed deadline and in a form that suits you best: simple written advice or a more detailed memorandum.

When a dispute arises, we encourage our clients to negotiate a settlement. However, in some cases, litigation just cannot be avoided.

Sotra's lawyers regularly plead before the labour courts in proceedings conducted in French and Dutch. Our experience covers both individual and collective disputes, classically involving the dismissal of employee representatives, strikes or reorganisations.

If both sides agree to mediation, we also guide our clients through that process.

Besides basic salary, most companies offer their staff non-statutory benefits and variable pay. It is however important to comply with the tax and social security regulations, when making use of alternative compensation solutions.

We can carry out a full audit of the current situation. We immediately identify the practices that need reviewing and identify opportunities that you may have overlooked thus far.

Furthermore, we assist you with the implemention of all the suggested changes.

In this highly regulated area, we help you to introduce the working methods that best meet your operational needs: flexible working hours, floating hours, small and large flexibility, night work, etc.

We also assist you in the implementation of remote working.

Work rules are an essential document in any company. Apart from their compulsory parts, we will recommend optional provisions designed to protect your company’s interests in an efficient manner.

Our offer includes an audit of your current work rules and internal procedures (internet, car policy, etc.), followed by a review of the relevant documentation for an agreed, fixed fee.

We assist you with all your questions relating to the works council, the healt and safety committee at work and the trade union delegation: setting up in-house staff elections, by-laws, powers and remits, relations with staff representatives, etc.

Our offer also includes support during social conciliations, collective conflicts (strikes, lock-outs), as well as the representation of your company during dismissal procedures of protected workers.

Finally, before the installation of these bodies, we offer you a tailor-made training on their tasks and functioning.

In case of an audit (e.g. social security, labour inspectorate, health and safety at work inspectorate), we help you to prepare the visit and the hearings of the inspection service. We analyse the situation and identify the potential issues to be discussed.

We accompany you during any interrogation and advise you on strategic decisions. We negotiate with the authorities and represent you before the labour inspectorate and in the civil or criminal proceedings instituted as a result of these inspections, if necessary.

All start-ups have to deal with a whole range of paperwork, from employment contracts through work rules, IT policy, car policy, etc. We provide a complete set of useful templates, which we review together with you and customise to your needs.

We also provide check-lists enabling you to ensure full compliance with current social legislation.

In addition to fixed salary, you could offer your employees, managers and supervisors a whole range of benefits which are beneficial for both parties from a tax and social security perspective.

We will present to you all the existing possibilities and help you to implement them in a sure and advantageous way.

When you’re faced with questions in the area of employment law, you can always reach us over the phone. In most cases, we will give you the answer you are looking for right a way, followed by a confirmation email.

With this service, you know immediately what procedure to follow, and avoid the pitfalls, at a reasonable cost.

We have developed a whole range of training courses covering a range of specialist topics including recruitment, salary packages, employment rights or severance rules. These courses are practice-oriented and profusely illustrated with examples and case studies. Your HR managers and line management alike will easily get to grips with the concepts they need to understand in their day-to-day jobs, even if they aren’t social law experts.