Belgium's largest trade union federation has called on the Federal Government to increase the national minimum number of vacation days from 20 to 25 per year.
Speaking to l'Echo, Marie-Hélène Ska, the Secretary General of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC), claimed that the extra days would help alleviate growing worker fatigue and make clearer the work-life boundary that modern technology has blurred.
Ska pointed out that Belgium's minimum number of leave days has not been increased since 1974, despite labour productivity more than doubling over this period.
"This [proposal] aims to strengthen the quality of time spent outside of work, which is as important as the quality of time spent at work," she said. "Since the oil shock in the 70s, people have been pressed a lot, the dominant discourse has been that we must increase productivity."
Ska explained that there is a "deep aspiration for quality, arranged time off" that is prevented by excessive work demands.
A modest proposal?
The union representative stressed that the proposal is hardly radical and pointed to numerous other industrialised countries – including Denmark, France, and Austria – where employees all currently enjoy at least 25 days of annual leave.
Even with the five extra vacation days, the total number of days off in Belgium would still be one fewer than in France, which has 11 annual public holidays compared to Belgium's 10.
Although many companies do offer 25 days annual vacation, Ska said that most Belgian companies have simply refused to voluntarily offer workers extra vacation days, hence the need for this to be enshrined in law.
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Moreover, she said that employees are often told by employers to take their leave days at specific times in the year, limiting their ability to coordinate holidays with friends and family.
"Taking days off is a freedom that many people don't have. We are on the eve of the holidays and whoever is going to have three weeks of mandatory vacation now will only have five days to take over the rest of the year. That's not much. And if the spouse has other leave constraints, it is almost impossible to take family leave."
