Work regulations: filing online does not replace the procedure
In a restaurant, schedules change quickly: a new team arrives, lunchtime service is added or working arrangements change. Work regulations reflect this organisation, but amending them involves more than editing a file and sending it off. The Fédération HoReCa Wallonie highlighted the subject again in September: electronic filing makes the final stage easier without removing the procedure that comes before it.
Before filing, the procedure must be followed
The principle is broad: employers covered by the law on work regulations must draw them up, regardless of how many people they employ. This document sets out aspects of work organisation and contains mandatory information on schedules, pay, holidays, certain internal procedures and the applicable collective arrangements.
In a business without a works council, as is common in small hospitality establishments, the proposed regulations or amendment must be displayed for fifteen days. During that time, workers can make comments. If none are received, the regulations take effect on the fifteenth day following the day they were displayed. If comments are made, a conciliation procedure begins with the Social Legislation Inspectorate.
After the regulations take effect, a copy must be filed with the relevant regional office of the Labour Inspectorate – Social Legislation Inspectorate within eight days. This filing can now be carried out online. In other words, the digital tool simplifies submission; it does not shorten the steps that make an amendment valid.
Online filing is convenient, but it does not check your organisation
The federal service allows work regulations or amendments to be submitted electronically. The Fédération HoReCa Wallonie also stresses the value of dating and signing the document before submission and retaining the acknowledgement of receipt. The practice is now widespread: according to the FPS Employment, 78% of work regulations or amendments received in 2024 were filed online.
That receipt proves the copy has been submitted, but it does not turn unsuitable regulations into correct ones. For a hospitality establishment, the sensitive issue is often consistency between the document and reality: usual schedules, variable part-time arrangements, closing days, work organisation or changes in working arrangements. When organisation changes on a lasting basis, the regulations deserve to be checked before the new practice becomes established.
A useful habit for restaurateurs
A significant change in schedules or organisation should not be treated as paperwork to put right afterwards. The proper order is simpler: check what needs adapting, follow the required consultation, allow the time limits to run, date the final version, then file it and keep proof. It is less eye-catching than a new menu, but much more reassuring when staffing arrangements have to be explained or inspected.
