Guide Draft in Preparation of the Visit

Euroempleo project

Belgian Part

Guide draft in preparation of the visit

Benjamin Huybrechts Caroline Philippe

30 September 2011

1 Table of contents

List of figures...... 2 List of abbreviations...... 4 Introduction...... 5 Chapter One: Institutional structure of Belgium...... 6 Chapter Two: Belgian Labour Legislation...... 8 1. Type of employment contracts...... 8 a. According to the nature of employment...... 8 b. According to the duration of the contract...... 9 c. Working time...... 10 2. Salary...... 10 3. Social security...... 11 4. Collective conventions of labour for the agriculture...... 12 a. Type of employment contracts...... 12 - Nature of the contract...... 12 - Duration...... 13 - Working time...... 14 b. Salary...... 14 c. Social security...... 15 Chapter Three: The cooperatives in Belgium...... 16 1. Legal framework...... 16 2. Companies respecting the cooperative ideas of the international alliance...... 17 a. The National Council of Cooperation (CNC) Label...... 17 b. Social purpose company (Société à Finalité Sociale)...... 18 3. Overview of the agricultural cooperatives in Belgium...... 19 a. Agricultural cooperatives and employment...... 19 b. The federations for cooperatives...... 20 c. The Flandria Label...... 21 4. Overview of the agricultural Social Purpose Companies in Belgium...... 21 Chapter Four: Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs)...... 22 1. Work integration enterprises (Entreprises d’insertion, EI)...... 22 2. Social workshops (Entreprise de travail adapté, ETA)...... 23 3. On-the-job training entreprises (Entreprise/Atelier de formation par le travail, EFT/AFT)...... 24 5. The WISEs in the Belgian agricultural sector...... 25 Chapter Five: Results of a study in Belgian agricultural cooperatives and WISEs...... 26 1. Methodology...... 26 2. CNC agricultural and employer cooperatives and HRM...... 26 3. The WISE and HRM in the agricultural sector...... 28 a. Generalities on HRM in WISEs...... 28 b. HRM of WISE in the agricultural sector- results...... 29 Appendix...... 31 Appendix 1: Full-time and part-time contrats in the agricultural sector...... 31 Appendix 2: Compétences en matières agricoles en Belgique...... 31 Bibliography...... 33

2 List of figures

Figure 1: Geographic view of the institutional structure of Belgium Figure 2: Differences between an employee’s and a worker’s contracts Figure 3: Full time and part time employment in Belgium (in 2010, in thousands of people) Figure 4: Average monthly gross income (in 2008, in Euro) Figure 5: Expenditures for social security services (in 2009, in Euro and %) Figure 6: Number of persons declared to the National Office of Social Security (in 2008) Figure 7: Number of days worked as a seasonal activity in the agricultural sector Figure 8: Number of annual work unit of seasonal activitiy in the agricultural sector Figure 9: Type of employment contracts according to the working hours Figure 10: Minimum salary per type of worker’s contract Figure 11: Details of the social security paid by the employees and by the employers Figure 12: Legal types of companies in Belgium Figure 13: Number of cooperatives per region and per category in 2008 Figure 14: List of the 20th most important CNC agricultural cooperatives in terms of FTE Figure 15: Workers’ characteristics of the interviewed cooperatives Figure 16: List of the agricultural SFS in the Region of Wallonia and Brussels Figure 17: Number of supervisory workers in function of the numbers of workers in integration Figure 18: Statistics of WISEs in Wallonia, in 2007 Figure 20: Number of EFT/AFT at the end of 2009 Figure 21: Lists of the work integration social enterprises active in the agricultural sector in the Region of Wallonia and Brussels Figure 22: Workers and their characteristics in two WISEs

3 List of abbreviations

WISE: Work Integration Social Enterprise HRM : Human resource management ONSS: Office National de la Sécurité Sociale = National Office of Social Security SME: Small and Medium Enterprises FOREM, Actiris, VDAB, Arbeitsamt: Regional employment institutions CNC: Conseil National de la Coopération = National Council of Cooperation SFS: Société à Finalité Sociale = Social Purpose Company CUMA: Coopérative d’Utilisation de Materiel Agricole = Cooperatives that share agricultural equipment EI: Entreprise d’insertion = work integration enterprise ETA: Entreprise de travail adapté = social workshop EFT/AFT: Entreprise/Atelier de formation par le travail = On-the-job training entreprises

4 Introduction

The present report was developed to complete the Euroempleo research, coordinated by COEXPHAL and financed by the Government of Andalusia in Spain. Its aim is to analyse and determine good employment practices in the agricultural cooperatives in different European regions. The report examines employment figures and practices in agricultural cooperatives and WISEs in Belgium. Indeed, because the objective of the Euroempleo project was to find new “ways to turn temporary, precarious work into stable and meaningful employment” 1, we decided to present other types of companies that are also active in the agricultural sector- i.e., some of the Belgian Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs).

The structure of the report is as follows: - in the first chapter, we present the general institutional context of Belgium, - then, chapter two describes the Belgian employment legislation, - chapter three presents the different types of cooperatives active in the agricultural sector, - chapter four focuses on Belgian WISEs active in the agricultural sector, - the last chapter reports the results of a study about employment and human resource management in agricultural cooperatives and WISEs in Belgium.

1 http://www.emes.net/index.php?id=532

5 Chapter One: Institutional structure of Belgium

This chapter describes the institutional structure of Belgium in order to understand the context in which enterprises have to operate.

Belgium is a representative democracy and a federal state. The process that led to this federal structure started in 1970 and was complete in 1993. Today, not only the federal government and the federal parliament but also the Regions and the Communities have a decision-making power. These two entities are autonomous and have their own specific competences.

Figure 1: Geographic view of the institutional structure of Belgium

Source: http://www.cfwb.be/index.php?id=portail_geographie&L=1

The Communities are in charge of most of the fields that are related to language and culture such as education, assistance and care of persons, etc. Belgium is composed of a Flemish Community, French Community, and German-speaking Community. The Regions are in charge of most of the fields related to the territory such as the economy, transport, energy, employment, etc. The three Regions of Belgium are the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region, and the Brussels-Capital Region. The federal State keeps several competences such as foreign affairs, national defence, justice, finances, social security, and an important part of competences related to public health and home affairs2. The agriculture is a competence of the Regions. There is a Walloon Ministry of Agriculture and a Flemish Ministry of Agriculture. There ares no Ministry of Agriculture for the Brussels- Capital Region because it covers the urban area of Brussels which leaves nearly no place for 2 http://www.belgium.be/fr/la_belgique/pouvoirs_publics/la_belgique_federale/

6 agriculture. On the federal level, the minister of SME’s, self-employed, agriculture and scientific policy, Sabine Laruelle, is in charge of coordinating the Common Agricultural Policy as developed by the European Commission3.

The same structure exists for the employment institutions in Belgium. The competences related to the employment are shared between the Federal State, the Regions and the Communities. The National Employment Office (Office national de l’emploi, ONEM) is in charge of evaluating whether a person meets the conditions to receive unemployment benefits while the Auxiliary Fund for Payment of Unemployment Benefits (Caisse auxiliaire de paiement des allocations de chômage, CAPAC ) is in charge of allocating those benefits. On the regional level, the FOREM –Walloon Region, Actiris – Brussels-Capital Region, VDAB – Flemish Region, and Arbeitsamt – German-speaking Community are the institutions in charge of providing training and/or a job to the unemployed. They also help enterprises to find the appropriate workers and employers.4

3 http://www.belgium.be/fr/la_belgique/pouvoirs_publics/autorites_federales/gouvernement_federal/composition _gouvernement/index_sabine_laruelle.jsp 4 http://www.emploi.belgique.be/detailA_Z.aspx?id=802

7 Chapter Two: Belgian Labour Legislation

This chapter reviews the different types of employment contracts that can be found in Belgium (according to the nature of employment, to the duration of the contract, and to working hours). We also describe the minimum and average salary in Belgium and the functioning of the social security. Finally, we detail these subjects for the specific field of agriculture.

1. Type of employment contracts a. According to the nature of employment There are, in Belgium, two types of employment contracts depending on the nature of work. The worker’s contract is established for people carrying out a manual work while the employee’s contract is established for people carrying out an intellectual work. The other differences between these two contracts concern: - The probationary period: shorter for workers - The notice periods: longer for employees - The wages conditions in case of sickness or accident: longer for employees - Technical and economic unemployment: concern only workers - Rules concerning annual vacation: for workers, it is paid by the National Office of Annual Vacation (Office National des Vacances Annuelles, ONVA) while for employees, it is paid directly by the employer. More specifically, as of February 2011, the differences between an employee’s and a worker’s contracts were the following:

Figure 2: Differences between an employee’s and a worker’s contracts Worker Employee Probationary period 7-14 days 1-12 months Notice period - Law of 1978: - 3 months by 5 years of seniority <20year = 28 days - To negotiate if above 30,535€/ year - To decide when hired if above >20year = 56 days 61,071€/year - CCT 75: <5year = 35days 5-10years = 42 days 10-15 years = 56 days 15-20 years = 84 days >20years = 112 days Economic unemployment ONEM benefits for crises Anti-crisis measures - 70% (for cohabiting people) - Same as workers - 75% of maximum 2200€ - Under conditions of economic criteria (for isolated or heads of household) - Complementary compensation of 5€/day - Crédit-temps de crise

8 Annual vacation - Simple and double holiday - Simple holiday allowance = 100% of the allowances salary 15,38% of salary calculated on 108% of the salary - Double holiday allowance = 92% - Bonuses included - Bonuses not included Guaranteed salary - 7 days at 100% by the employer 1 month at 100% by the employer - The next 7 days at 85,88% - Then: mutual insurance company at 60% + complement from the employer Source: FGTB, 2011.

There are also specific contracts for: - students, - professional athletes, - home-workers, - domestic work, and - sales representatives. These specific contracts are nevertheless part of one of the two categories of contracts described above: worker’s or employee’s contract.5

b. According to the duration of the contract There are five different types of employment contracts according to their duration and their content. - The open-ended contract: this contract is not limited in time. It is considered the general type of contract. When no specific duration is defined by the employer and the employee, the employment contract is considered as open-ended. - The fixed-term contract: this contract must be written and signed before the beginning of the contract and must specify its end either by a date or by an event (of which the end date is known). - The temporary contract: this contract must be written. It can be concluded in the case of the replacement of a permanent worker/employee, an exceptional excess of workload, an exceptional work, and certain occasional artistic performances. - The specific assignment contract: this contract concerns a specific work and not the duration of work. The worker/employee must know precisely the details of the task to accomplish. The contract must be written and ends when the task is completed. - The replacement contract: this contract must be written and concerns the temporary replacement of a worker/employee whose contract is temporarily suspended. The reason of the replacement and the identity of the replaced worker/employee must be described in the contract.6

5 DG relations individuelles de travail, 2011. 6 DG relations individuelles de travail, 2011.

9 c. Working time On a legal ground, a person can work a maximum of 8 hours per day or 38 hours per week and a minimum of 3 hours per day in Belgium. Working hours can differ from the legal framework if it is in agreement with a legal exemption and sometimes with certain complementary procedures. Concerning the duration of the contract, a full-time contract corresponds to the maximum duration of work for a week: 38 hours on average. A part-time contract corresponds to a regular and voluntary shorter duration of work per week. Normally, it cannot cover a period of work smaller than the third of a full-time contract. 7

Figure 3: Full time and part time employment in Belgium (in 2010, in thousands of people) Women (15-64 y) Men (15-64 y) Total (15-64 y) Full time employment 1 172,9 2 236,4 3 409,3 Part time employment 858,1 221,4 1 079,4 Part time employment in percentage of total employment 42,10% 8,40% 23,70% Source: Eurostat, lfsa_epgan2.

2. Salary For the private sector, the minimum salary level is defined by Collective Conventions of Labour decided by companies, by joint committees, or by the National Council of Employment (Conseil national du Travail, CNC).

Collective conventionsConventions ofof labourLabour The Collectivecollective conventionsConventions of of labour Labour (Convention (Convention Collective Collective de de Travail, Travail, CCT) CCT) are negotiated byby tradetrade unions unions and and employers by employers associations associations to establish to establish the rights the rightsand the and duties the ofduties employers of employers and employees and employees regarding their regarding individual their and individual collective and work collective relations. work The conventionsrelations. The are conventions classified inare three classified categories: in three the categories: cross-sectoral the cross-sectoral ones, which ones,are decided which byare thedecided National by the Council National of EmploymentCouncil of Employment and are numbered; and are numbered;the sectoral the ones, sectoral which ones, are decidedwhich are by decided the corresponding by the corresponding sectoral sectoral Joint Committee Joint Committee (=Commission (Commission Paritaire Paritaire); the); conventionsthe conventions decided decided by tradeby trade unions unions and andorganisations organisations and andnot notby Jointby Joint Committees. Committees. These conventions must nevertheless be in accordance with Belgian and European laws, with international treaties, etc. (Source: http://www.emploi.belgique.be/defaultTab.aspx?id=513)

The 43rd Collective Convention of Labour actualised by following collective conventions of labour established the average minimum monthly salary, in 2008, at 1387,49€ for

7 DG relations individuelles de travail, 2011.

10 workers/employees of at least 21 year old.8 The average monthly gross income is stated in the figure 4 below according to the three Regions. Figure 4: Average monthly gross income (in 2008, in Euro) Wallonia Flanders Brussels Average monthly gross income 2 738€ 2 879€ 3 381€ Source: SPF Economie, 2010. 3. Social security The social security system in Belgium is developed under three different regimes: one for the salaried employees, one for the self-employed, and one for civil servants. The social security contains 7 branches: retirement and survivor’s pensions, unemployment, insurance against accidents at work, insurance against occupational diseases, family benefit, sickness and invalidity insurance, and annual vacation. When a person does not enter the conditions of the seven categories, they can receive social benefits through the social integration allowance, income security for seniors, guaranteed family benefits, and benefits for handicapped people.9 In Belgium, the expenditures for social security accounted to 28,3% of GDP in 2008 (EU average: 26,4% of GDP in 2008). In 2008, 94,1% of these expenditures were used to pay social benefits, 3,4% were management costs, and 2,5% concerns other expenditures.10

Figure 5: Expenditures for social security services (in 2009, in Euro and %) In Euro In percentage Health care 22 428 014 000 27,80% Work accidents or handicaps 6 537 025 769 8,10% Job loss or impossibilities to find a job 7 843 883 473 9,72% Politics for the job market and for employment 3 934 761 721 4,88% Old age 24 635 164 576 30,54% Survival 6 361 178 548 7,89% Family 5 391 981 189 6,68% Others 3 537 874 317 4,39% TOTAL 80 669 883 593 100,00% Source: SPF sécurité sociale – DG Politique sociale (2009)

For most of the employees/workers, the social security contributions are paid according to the gross salary. Usually, in the private sector, the employer has to pay 32% of the gross salary for the contributions while 13,07% are paid by the employee/worker. In addition of these

8 http://www.emploi.belgique.be/defaultTab.aspx?id=23946 9 http://www.securitesociale.fgov.be/fr/over-de-fod/sociale-zekerheid-kort/sociale-zekerheid-kort.htm 10 SPF sécurité sociale – DG Politique sociale, 2009.

11 usual contributions, there are special contributions such as the CO2 contributions for the user of a company car. The level of social security contributions is lower in the public sector.11

4. Collective conventions of labour for the agriculture This section will review the three points just described -the type of employment contracts, the salary level, and social security- for the Belgian agricultural sector.

a. Type of employment contracts - Nature of the contract In the agricultural sector, worker’s contracts are used in majority but employee’s contracts are also used. In 2008, a total of 9 922 workers and 1 557 employees were declared to the National Office of Social Security (Office National de la Sécurité Sociale, ONSS) in the agricultural sector. Among these workers and employees, 4 457 of them were women and 7 132 men.12 These figures do not represent the total of employed people in the agricultural sector since seasonal and occasional workers do not always have to be declared to the National Office of Social Security (see 4.c).

Figure 6: Number of persons declared to the National Office of Social Security (in 2008) Workers Employees Men Women Total Agricultural sector (nb. of persons) 9 922 1 557 7 132 4 347 11 479 Total of all the sectors (nb. of persons) 1 356 674 1 823 906 1 994 329 1 780 925 3 775 254 Agricultural sector compared to the total (in %) 0,73% 0,09% 0,36% 0,24% 0,30% Source: ONSS, 2008

In addition, there are four categories of workers according to the collective convention of labour of November 13th, 2009: - Overqualified workers: they correspond to a qualified worker who is also “in charge of taking management decisions related to the whole company and who are responsible of the execution (of specific tasks)”. - Qualified workers: “the workers able to execute independently and completely all the agricultural activities that are assigned to him and that relates to all the activities of the company or a division of the company, able to use, to adjust and to maintain all the machines and tool needed to execute those activities.”

11 ONSS, 2011. 12 ONSS, 2008.

12 - Specialised workers: “workers with an experience of at least three years in the activity or in the company and who can accomplish at least half of the task of a qualified worker”13. - Unqualified: all the other permanent workers.14

- Duration The number of people who works seasonally in the agricultural sector is not established by the national office of statistics but they evaluate the number of days worked as a seasonal activity - see figure 7 below. Figure 7: Number of days worked as a seasonal activity in the agricultural sector Flemish Walloon Brussels- Variables: 2009 Belgium Region Region Capital Region Non-familial workforce occupied irregularly (number of work days) 811.484 752.366 59.048 70 Seasonal or occasional worker 713.305 676.831 36.422 52 Men 450.979 423.686 27.242 51 Women 262.326 253.145 9.180 1 Workers for agricultural contractors 98.179 75.535 22.626 18 Men 94.329 71.894 22.417 18 Women 3.850 3.641 209 0 Source: DGSIE (INS), 2010. They also establish the number of seasonal or occasional workforce by annual work unit – see figure 8 below. Figure 8: Number of annual work unit of seasonal activitiy in the agricultural sector Flemish Walloon Brussels-Capital Variables: 2009 Belgium Region Region Region Total workforce in annual work unit* 63.036 44.590 18.403 43 Familial workforce 48.390 32.496 15.879 15 Non-familial workforce occupied regularly 11.041 8.751 2.262 28 Non-familial workforce occupied irregularly 3.605 3.343 262 0 Seasonal or occasional workforce 3.170 3.008 162 0 Men 2.004 1.883 121 0 Women 1.166 1.125 41 0 Workers for agricultural contractors 435 335 100 0 Men 418 318 99 0 Women 17 16 1 0 *The annual work unit (AWU) is the unit of measurement of the quantity of human work supplied on each farm. This unit is equivalent to the work of one person, full time, for one year. (INSEE) Source: DGSIE (INS), 2010.

- Working time

13 Authors’ translation, Commission paritaire de l’agriculture, 2010a 14 Commission paritaire de l’agriculture, 2010a.

13 The collective convention of labour for the agricultural sector of July 27, 2001, defines the working hours for a week. On average on the whole year, a total of 38 hours of work must be done per week. If a person works 40/ 39/ 38 hours per week, he is entitled to 12/ 6/ 0 unpaid days in compensation.15 In the Belgian agricultural sector, more than half of the agricultural workers (53,1%) work full-time. This is also the case in Flanders (51,5%) and in Wallonia (56,9%) – See figure 9 and appendix 1 for more details. The category of part-time employment corresponds to half- time and less than half-time contracts.16

Figure 9: Type of employment contracts according to the working hours

Source: DG opérationelle de l’Agriculture, des ressources naturelles et de l’Environnement, 2010.

b. Salary In the agricultural sector, the minimum salary per hour is established according to the worker’s category and based on a week of 38 hours of work (see figure 10).

Figure 10: Minimum salary per type of worker’s contract Unqualified Specialised Qualified Overqualified to be discussed but a 8,38 € 8,84 € 9,25 € minimum of 9,25€ Source: Commission paritaire de l’agriculture, 2010a.

In addition to the minimum salary, workers receive also a seniority supplement of 0,5% per 5 years spent in a company (1% for 10 year, 1,5% for 15 years, 2% for 20 years).17

A specific Collective Convention of Labour (n°102936/C0/144) defines the remuneration due to occasional and seasonal workers. Their minimum salary per hour is 7,88€.18

15 Commission paritaire de l’agriculture, 2001. 16 DGSIE (INS), 2010. 17 Commission paritaire de l’agriculture, 2010a. 18 Commission paritaire de l’agriculture, 2010b.

14 The salaries are adjusted every 1st of January according to the consumer price index.

c. Social security Workers in the agricultural sector do not have to be declared by its employer to the National Office of Social Security (ONSS) “if the services did not last more than 25 days per year, if the worker did not work during the same year in the agricultural sector, if the services were done during the legally defined periods”19. For the workers who have to be declared to the National Office of Social Security, their employer and them have to pay different social contributions in percentage of the quarterly gross salary of the worker (see figure 11). Figure 11: Details of the social security paid by the employees and by the employers Category Worker/employee Employer Pensions 7,50% 8,86% Health care- illness insurance 3,55% 3,80% Compensations - illness insurance 1,15% 2,35% Family allowances - 7% Unemployment 0,87% 1,46% 6% or 10,27% if the employees receive their annual vacation allowance from the Annual vacation - National Office of Annual Vacation Professional diseases - 1% Work accidents - 0,30% 5,67% + 0,0567x (cotisations patronales Salary moderation - applicables) Paid vacation (special contribution) - 0,05%

Child care (special contribution) - 0,05% Asbestos fund (special contribution) - 0,01% Work accidents (special contribution) - 0,02% Special contribution for the agricultural sector: fonds de sécurité d'existence - 10,45% Fonds sectoriel de pension cotisation complète - 1,09% Source: Sécurité sociale, 2011. For occasional and seasonal work in the agriculture, the National Office of Social Security contributions are evaluated “not on the gross paid salary, but on a fixed amount per worked day”20.

19 Author’s translation, ONSS, 2011 b. 20 Author’s translation, ONSS, 2011 a (More info: https://www.socialsecurity.be/instructions/fr/instructions/ table_of_content/dmfa/2011-02/content/socialsecuritycontributions/calculationbase/occasionals_ agriculture_horticulture.html )

15 Chapter Three: The cooperatives in Belgium

In this chapter, we present the legal framework for Belgian cooperatives. Then, we define the two legal types of companies (CNC and SFS labels) that are in line with the cooperative ideas of the International Cooperative Alliance. Finally, we describe these two legal types and their development in the agricultural sector. 1. Legal framework In Belgium, it is the Law of 1873 that defines a cooperative. The specificities about this type of company is “the variability of the staff and of the capital, and the non-transferability of the shares to a third party”21. Since then, several reforms have been taken to avoid that companies use the cooperative status to escape the stringency of other company’s statuses. The 1873 definition of the cooperative was indeed quite large regarding the organisation, the functioning and the liabilities. It did not really correspond to the cooperative values supported by Rochdale and Raiffeisen, and summarised in the seven cooperative principles listed by the International Cooperative Alliance22. Several laws were then taken in order to represent really the cooperative idea. A law of 1955 established a list of criteria that enables companies to be recognized by the National Council of Cooperation (Conseil National de la Coopération, CNC) - see 2.a. below. Another reform was adopted in July 20, 1991, and established two types of cooperatives: the “cooperative company with joint and unlimited liability” and the “cooperative company with limited liability”. On April 13, 1995, a law defined a new company status: the social purpose company (Société à Finalité Sociale, SFS) - see 2.b. below. In Belgium, there are thus two company statuses that represent really the cooperative idea: the National Council of Cooperation label and the Social Purpose Company.23 Figure 12: Legal types of companies in Belgium

Source: personal work & http://www.belgium.be/fr/economie/entreprise/creation/types_de_societe/

21 Author’s translation, Adam, 2011 a. 22 Gijselinckx & Van Opstal, 2008. 23 Adam, 2011 a.

16 2. Companies respecting the cooperative ideas of the international alliance a. The National Council of Cooperation (CNC) Label The law of July 20, 1955, created the National Council of Cooperation that is part of the Federal Public Service of the economy (Service Public Fédéral de l’économie). Its objectives are threefold: first, “he aims to promote cooperative companies”; second, “he ensures the respect of cooperative principles”; third, “he represents the Belgian cooperative sector abroad”24. Then, the federal governmental decree (Arreté Royal) of January 8, 1962, established a list of principles that must be stated in the status of the cooperative in order to be recognised by and be part of the National Council of Cooperation25. These principles are: “voluntary joining, equality or limitation of the right to vote in general assemblies, designation of the administrators and auditors by the general assembly of members, a moderate interest rate limited to social shares, and a discount for the associates”.26 In Belgium, cooperatives are mostly developed in the pharmaceutical, financial and

27 agricultural sectors. In August 2008, in Belgium, there were 472 cooperatives with the National Council of Cooperation label among a total of nearly 40.000 cooperative companies28.

The National Council of Cooperation labeled cooperatives are categorized in four sections: - The consumption cooperative: “a cooperative constituted by consumers with a view to selling consumption objects that it either buys or makes herself or by collaborating with other cooperatives”. - The agricultural cooperative: “a cooperative whose majority of cooperators are farmers or horticulturists, and whose principal goal is to satisfy one or several economic interests in relation with agriculture, horticulture or breeding”. - The production and distribution cooperative: “a production cooperative carries out by itself or by the intervention of a third party, for itself or for others, production activities, transformation of products, and the sale of those products. A distribution cooperative supplies totally or partly, to its associates, the products intended to their clients, the equipment or in the pursuit of their profession”.

24 Author’s translation, Gijselinckx & Van Opstal, p.54, 2008. 25 Gijselinckx & Van Opstal, 2008. 26 Author’s translation, Adams, 2011a. 27 Mertens, Bosmans, Van de Maele, 2006. 28 Gijselinckx & Van Opstal, 2008.

17 - Service cooperative: “a cooperative whose principal objective is to provide services, in the economical sense, to their associates and third party”29. Figure 13: Number of cooperatives per Region and per category in 2008

Walloon Flanders Brussels-Capital (in 2008) Region Region Region Total Consumption cooperatives 4 35 5 44 Agricultural cooperatives 253 32 2 287 Production and distribution cooperatives 9 13 1 23 Service cooperatives 39 49 30 118 Total 305 129 38 472 Source: Dujardin & Mertens, 2008.

The agricultural cooperatives are the most numerous compare to the other categories, mostly in the Walloon Region. This is in part explained by the many cooperatives whose object is to share agricultural equipment (Coopérative d’Utilisation de Materiel Agricole, CUMA).30 Indeed, at the end of 2007, out of 261 cooperatives of the agricultural category, 195 (74,71%) were CUMA.

b. Social purpose company (Société à Finalité Sociale) The ‘social purpose company’ is an additional label to a company status which gives a “moral personality to companies that combine a social objective and the pursuit of commercial or industrial activities as their principal activities”31. To receive this label a company must correspond to several criteria: “absence of patrimony and limited profits, definition of the social objective, allocation of profits, limitation of the right to vote in the general assembly, limitation of the dividends, annual report, workers’ participation, conditions for becoming and losing the status of associate, appropriation of the liquidation’s surplus”32. Usually, the cooperatives are the companies’ types that correspond the most to those criteria. In practice, this label did not get a lot of success because it does not provide important advantages for companies.33

29 Author’s translation, SPF Economie, PME, classes moyennes et énergie, 1962. 30 Dujardin & Mertens, 2008. 31 Author’s translation, Navez, 2011. 32 SAW, 2011. 33 Navez, 2011.

18 3. Overview of the agricultural cooperatives in Belgium In this section, we give first an overview of the importance of the employment in agricultural cooperatives, then we present the different Belgian federations that defend cooperatives, finally we describe the Flandria label.

a. Agricultural cooperatives and employment In figure 14, we listed the 20th most important CNC agricultural and employer cooperatives. The list shows that most of the agricultural cooperatives employ less than 50 persons in full- time equivalent (FTE) and only 7 agricultural cooperatives employ more than 50 persons in FTE. In addition, out of the 472 agricultural cooperatives, only 32 of them are employer.

Figure 14: List of the 20 th most important CNC agricultural cooperatives in terms of FTE

Name of the organisation FTE Full-time Part-time nb. of persons Region Principal activity contracts contracts employed auction for fruit, vegetables, Vennootschap Mechelse Veilingen - agriculture & horticulture VMV cv 211,3 194,6 23 217,6 Flanders products MILCOBEL 202,9 183,5 29,1 212,6 Flanders dairy products Coöperatieve Veiling Roeselare - REO purchase, sale, stocking of cv 131,2 117,7 23,7 141,4 Flanders agri & horticulture products auction for agriculture & Belgische Fruitveiling - BFV cv 123,8 118,9 6,8 125,7 Flanders horticulture products purchase, sale, stocking of Veiling Borgloon - VB cv 94,6 93,8 1 94,8 Flanders agri & horticulture products auction for agriculture & Brava cv 62,2 56,2 9 65,2 Flanders horticulture products purchase, sale, stocking of Veiling der Kempen te hoogstraten cv 59,2 55,8 5 60,8 Flanders agri & horticulture products Sociétés coopératives agricoles réunies production and distribution of des Régions herbagères-SCAR cattle feed 49,4 47,1 4,6 51,7 Wallonia Société de Collecte des Producteurs des Purchase, transformation, and Coopératives de Herve, Malmedy- sale of dairy products Vielsalm et SUDLAC SC - Lac+ 23,8 22,8 1,2 24 Wallonia Coöperatieve Afzet van Vee en Varkens - sale, transformation of big COVAVEE cv 23,5 21,8 2,4 24,2 Flanders and small cattle production and transformation Stoommelkerij Ste-Marie cv 21,7 19 5,7 24,7 Flanders of dairy products Laiterie coopérative eupenoise - LCE sc Milk collection, purchase, Eupener Genossenschaftsmolkerei - resale of cattle EGM sc 20,5 20 1 21 Wallonia purchase, sale, production,... of cereals and of all the CENTRAGRO foodstuf intended for 19,2 18,3 1,4 19,7 Wallonia agriculture COFERME sc -Compagnie fermière de purchase, sale of milk, collect l'Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse - 18,1 16,9 2,5 19,4 Wallonia purchase & sale of L'Alliance Blé sc 16,8 15,7 1,7 17,4 Wallonia agricultural equipments purchase, sale, stocking of Limburgse Tuinbouwveiling - LTV cv 11,9 11,9 0 11,9 Flanders agri & horticulture products trade & industry in dairy Zuivelfabriek Sint-Jozef cv 10 10 0 10 Flanders products production of fruit juices, Jufrais sc 4,6 2,8 3,2 6 Wallonia vegetables Chassart Potatoes 2,2 2,2 0 2,2 Wallonia purchase, sale, stocking,

19 potatoes Limburgse Kaascentrale Bocholt - LIKA trade of food, collection of cv 2,2 0 4 4 Flanders dairy products Institut Wallon de Gestion et d'Economie advices, management of rurale - IWGER sc 2,1 1 1,7 2,7 Wallonia agricultural farm

b. The federations for cooperatives The existence of several federations for the cooperatives is explained by the fact that they were developed around the “classical pillars of the Belgian society”: the socialist cooperatives are represented by FEBECOOP, while ARCO is linked to the Christian labour movement and Cera and Boerenbond were created around the Flemish agricultural sector34.

- FEBECOOP: Fédération Belge de l’Economie sociale et coopérative (http://www.febecoop.be) It was created in 1970 to represent the interests of the cooperatives and of the enterprises in the social economy in Belgium. It also provides advice, training, and communication services to its members or other enterprises from the cooperative and social economy. 35 - ARCO (http://www.groupearco.be) It is a cooperative holding which defends the financial and economic interests of its members, keeping in mind social, environmental and ethical issues. - Cera (http://www.cera.be) It was also part of a fusion with the Kredietbank and ABB insurances in 1998 that lead to the KBC Group. Cera a branch of this group which defends cooperatives values in the financial sector. - Boerenbond (http://www.boerenbond.be/) It is an organisation that represents farmers in Flanders. It presents a democratic structure in which all the farmers members can have a say about the organisation and its orientation. - FWA : Federation Wallonne de l’Agriculture (http://www.fwa.be/) It was created in 2001 by grouping two old agricultural federations: UPA (Fédération Nationale des Unions Professionnelles Agricoles) and AAB (Alliance Agricole Belge). This fusion enabled to strengthen the representation of the agricultural sector in Wallonia.

- VBT: Verbond van Belgische Tuinbouwcooperaties (http://www.vbt.eu/)

34 Mertens et al, 2006. 35 http://www.caips.be/febecoop

20 It originates from the fusion in 1991 between the VCTV and the FCTV that both defended the horticultural auctions. Today, the VBT represents the marketing cooperatives for fruits and vegetables. - SAWB: Solidarité des Alternatives Wallonnes et Bruxelloises (http://www.saw-b.be) It was created in 1981 to defend the economic alternatives in Brussels and Wallonia.

c. The Flandria Label Flandria is a quality label that was created in 1995 for vegetables and fruits grown in Belgium. It covers more than 50 types of vegetables and fruits and rewards the respect of the environment, the quality and the freshness of the products. The conditions that must be fulfilled to receive the label are checked at three levels. First, the producers must use production techniques that are environmentally friendly such as the use of natural predators instead of pesticides. Products’ information such as the origin, the day of harvesting, etc. must be printed on the package to ensure the traceability of each product. Second, the auctions and growers’ associations verify the quality and grading of the products. Third, Certagro is an independent examination bureau that “checks the auctions in terms of their inspections and the products coming in (…) and the farms of a number of growers.” (Lava, 2011).

4. Overview of the agricultural Social Purpose Companies in Belgium In the agricultural sector, not many companies are labelled ‘Social Purpose’. Out of 266 Social Purpose Companies in the Region of Wallonia and Brussels, only four are active in the agricultural sector (see figure 16). The reason is that the SFS label is quite new compared to the CNC label. It was developed in 1995 while the CNC label was created in 1955.

Figure 16: List of the agricultural Social Purpose Companies in the Region of Wallonia and Brussels

Name of the Nacebel FTE (4th organisation Region Legal status 2008 Activities Dimension sem. 2007) FROMAGERIE DU production of milk less than 5 GROS CHENE Wallonia SCRL FS 10510 and cheese workers 1,89 industrial LA PASTORALE production of bread less than 5 SCRL FS Wallonia SCRL FS 10711 and pastries workers 2,98 Culture of fruits from 5 to 9 AGRISERT Wallonia (EI) SCRL FS 1240 with seeds and pits workers 4,79 ASSOCIATION supporting activities WALLONNE DE for animal from 50 to 99 L'ELEVAGE (A.W.E) Wallonia SCRL FS 1620 production workers 48,68 Source: Marée, 2009

21 Chapter Four: Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) In this chapter, we describe the three different types of Work Integration Social Enterprises, namely the work integration enterprise, the social workshop, and the on-the-job training enterprise. 1. W ork integration enterprises ( Entreprises d’insertion, EI ) “The work integration enterprise is a moral person constituted under the form of a commercial company with a social goal of socio-professional integration for difficult to integrate unemployed people through the use of productive activities of goods or services”36. In Wallonia, a company can be labelled as work integration enterprise only if it presents the legal Social Purpose Company status.37 A company can be approved as a work integration enterprise if it respects a certain percentage of workers that are “difficult to integrate unemployed people”, more precisely a person registered as unemployed and who does not have a secondary school diploma (Diplôme d’Enseignement Secondaire Supérieur, DESS). In the Walloon Region, the company must during the first year present a workforce of at least 20% of those people. The second year, on an annual average, the company’s workforce must be composed of 30% of those people, 40% the third year, and 50% the fourth year. In the Brussels Region, the percentage of difficult to integrate unemployed people must be of 30%. In addition to the workers in integration, there are two other types of employees: the supervisory staff and the founders/managers. The supervisory staff supports the workers in integration who often have personal and professional difficulties. 38 The presence of the supervisory staff is subsidised by the Walloon Region according to a certain framework (see figure 17).

Figure 17: Number of supervisory workers in function of the numbers of workers in integration Difficult to integrate unemployed people supervisory workers 3 to 5 in FTE 1 part time 6 to 10 in FTE 1 full time 11 to 15 in FTE 1 part time and 1 full time more than 16 in FTE 2 full time Source: http://www.economiesociale.be/Publications/document%20WISE.pdf

36 Author’s personal translation, Adam, 2011 b. 37 http://www.economiesociale.be/Publications/document%20WISE.pdf 38 Kostina, 2003.

22 Concerning the salary, work integration enterprises in both the Walloon and Brussels Region must limit the highest salary in the company to four times the lowest salary (Adam, 2011 b). The employment contract made with the target population of the work integration enterprise is often an open-ended contract.39

Figure 18: Statistics of work integration enterprises in Wallonia, in 2007

Type of WIE Nb. of enterprises Full-time equivalent Recycling and sorting 14 232,7 Service vouchers 41 341,2 Mix of service vouchers and other 14 1459,5 Other than service vouchers 36 440,7 Total 105 2478,1 Source: Atout EI, 2008.

2. Social workshops ( Entreprise de travail adapté, ETA ) ‘ Social workshops’, called enterprises de travail adapté in Belgium, are companies that appeared after the World War II in order to integrate disabled people into the employment market. The law of April 28, 1958, established for the first time in Belgium a legal framework for the disabled people and their professional reinsertion. Then the law of April 16, 1963, established a “national fund for social rehabilitation of disabled” whose goal is to provide chirurgical or medical treatment to disabled in order for them to recover certain competences to work. This law also establishes the possibility for disabled to work in private companies, in public administration, in craft industry or in self-employed profession. These ETA companies provide to disabled an employment contract (80% of the contracts are open-ended contracts in Wallonia), a minimum level of salary (8,4287€/h in May 2008), and adapted work conditions40. The disabled person can work in a ‘social workshop’ if he presents a mental handicap of more than 20% or a physical handicap of more than 30%41. In addition, in Wallonia, a company can receive the social workshop label only if it employs at the maximum 30% of able-bodied persons.42 In 2007, there were 60 social workshops in the Walloon Region among which 3 are in the German-speaking community and 57 are in French-speaking community; and 13 social workshops in the Brussels Capital Region43. In 2009, there were 67 social workshops in the

39 Grégoire, 2003. 40 Rijpens, 2011 a. 41 http://www.eweta.be/index2.htm 42 http://www.economiesociale.be/Publications/document%20WISE.pdf 43 http://www.economiesociale.be/Publications/document%20WISE.pdf

23 Flemish Region44. Figure 19 shows how employment is distributed in social workshops among disabled and non-disabled and among production and supervision tasks.

Figure 19: Employment in social workshops in Wallonia, in 2006: 7.975 workers 6.887 workers in production 1.074 workers in supervision 14 workers in welcoming 6.598 disabled 289 non-disabled 196 disabled 878 non-disabled and training

in Flanders, in 2009: 19.309 workers 16.578 workers in production 2.731 workers in supervision 15.439 disabled + 556 risk 583 non-disabled 333 disabled + 14 risk group 2.384 non-disabled group

in Brussels, in 2005: 1795 workers 1.417 disabled workers 264 workers in supervision 114 others Source: Wallonia- retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.eweta.be/index2.htm Flanders- retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.vlab.be/downloads/2011%2005%20VLAB_jaarverslag_2010.pdf Brussels- retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.apefasbl.org/actions-et-projets-specifiques-de-l- apef/etudes/ETAbruxelles

3. On-the-job training entreprises ( Entreprise/Atelier de formation par le travail, EFT/AFT ) The development of on-the-job training enterprises started in the 1970s along with the rise of unemployment and social exclusion. The objective was to enable people who had difficulties with the normal educational system to acquire work competences. The Walloon Region recognized companies with such an objective in 1978 for the first time. They were called enterprise d’apprentissage professionnel. Then, in 1995, this status was modified to be less restrictive concerning the conditions of access and called enterprise de formation par le travail. In Brussels, they are called atelier de formation par le travail. Concretely, the EFT/AFT gives an opportunity to socio-professionally excluded people to receive a vocational training and to apply it in a real life situation. More precisely, in Wallonia, the trainee can be an unemployed without secondary diploma, unemployed for less than 24 months whatever the diploma, the persons that correspond to the article 60 from the Public Social Action Centre (Centre Public d’Action Sociale, CPAS) law, certain prisoners, and foreigners that legally live in Belgium. In Brussels, the trainee must correspond to the following criteria: unemployed for at least 12 months and without secondary diploma, unemployed since at least 60 months whatever the diploma, and people that benefit from social benefits45. This training includes a psychological and social counselling and is limited 44 www.vlab.be 45 Centre d’Economie Sociale, 2010.

24 in time. The objective of the EFT/AFT is thus to provide those people with certain competences such that they can find a job in the mainstream employment market46. In June 2008, there were 70 EFT in Wallonia and 9 AFT in Brussels.47 Figure 20 shows the number of full-time equivalent in 2009 in on-the-job training enterprises. Figure 20: Number of EFT/AFT in 2009 Walloon Flemish Brussels-Capital Region Region Region Total nb. of enterprises 58 - 10 68 FTE 669,19 - 205,42 874,61 Source: Marée, 2009

5. The WISEs in the Belgian agricultural sector The WISEs in the Belgian agricultural sector are not numerous. Out of 284 WISE in the Region of Brussels and Wallonia, 6 of them were active in the agricultural sector (see figure 21). Indeed, it appears that most of the WISEs are usually active in the domestic sector- ironing, cleaning, gardening, etc.

Figure 21: Lists of the work integration social enterprises active in the agricultural sector in the Region of Wallonia and Brussels Name of the organisation FTE Region Principal activity W ork integration enterprises AGRISERT 3,89 Wallonia- EI Culture of fruits with seeds and pits On-the-job training enterprises AU TRAVERT 6,69 Wallonia- EFT Logging; growing of vegetables and melons, roots and tubers; farming of other live animals CYNORHODON 5,65 Wallonia- EFT Landscaping services, services linked to cultivation LA BOURRACHE 3,92 Wallonia- EFT Retail of fruits and vegetables in specialised stores Social workshops LA FERME NOS PILIFS 123,23 Brussels- ETA Retail of flowers, plants, seeds and fertiliser in specialised stores (farm, grocer's) LE MOULIN DE LA 60,97 Wallonia- ETA Growing of vegetables and melons, roots and tubers HUNELLE Source: Marée, 2009

46 Rijpens, 2011 b. 47 http://www.economiesociale.be/Publications/document%20WISE.pdf

25 Chapter Five: Results of a study in Belgian agricultural cooperatives and WISEs

1. Methodology The methodology followed to analyse the employment and HRM practices in the agricultural cooperatives consisted of a survey. We contacted all the cooperatives and WISE that employ people and that are active in the agricultural sector. More specifically, we contacted 16 of the 20th most important CNC agricultural and employer cooperatives (see figure 14) because they employ more than 5 FTE. Concerning the WISEs, we contacted the six identified WISE for the Region of Brussels and Wallonia. We submitted to those 22 companies a questionnaire relating to the management of human resources. Two WISEs out of six and seven cooperatives out of sixteen answered the questionnaire in writing. The use of a questionnaire was necessary to establish this report as the literature on the subject is quasi inexistent. Indeed, most of the literature on employment and human resources in cooperatives or WISEs does not focus on the agricultural sector.

2. CNC agricultural and employer cooperatives and HRM Concerning the employment in CNC agricultural cooperatives, in 2008, only 24% of these cooperatives were employers in Wallonia against 56% in Flanders. The Walloon agricultural cooperatives also present a lower average of employees (32) compared to the Flemish agricultural cooperatives (54 employees on average per cooperative)48. In addition, employer agricultural cooperatives are similar to the rest of the enterprises in the agricultural sector: the majority of their employees are men. The seven agricultural CNC cooperatives also present a majority of employees aged between 36 and 55 years (64,33%). The rest of the employees are between 18-35 years old (28,44%) or are more than 55 years old (7,22%).

Figure 15: Workers’ characteristics of the interviewed cooperatives (in nb. of persons, FTE, and %)

Limburgse Average Name of the Laiterie Tuinbouw Mechelse Hoogstraten Belgische per organisation Centragro Coprosain Eupenoise SCAR veiling Veiling Veiling Fruitveiling Total cooperative Coop. Coop. Legal status CNC CNC Coop. CNC Coop. CNC Coop. CNC Coop. CNC Coop. CNC Coop. CNC nb. of 11 22 7 27 87 31 58 248 employees (FTE:11) (FTE:19) (FTE:7) (FTE:25,9) 5 (FTE:83,05) (FTE:28,98) (FTE : 57,54) (43,13%) 31 nb. of 10 23 14 37 126 39 74 327 workers (FTE:9) (FTE:22) (FTE:13,45) (FTE:37) 4 (FTE:120,69) (FTE:38,79) (FTE : 72,88) (56,86%) 40,88 159 19,88 18-35 years 48% 33% 14% 23% 56% 25% 36% 25% (28%) (28%)

48 Dujardin & Mertens, 2008.

26 372 46,50 36-55 years 43% 60% 76% 66% 44% 68% 60% 65,91% (65%) (65%) more than 55 44 years 10% 7% 10% 11% 0% 7% 4% 9,09% (8%) 5,50 (8%) 461 57,63 Men 81% 44% 95% 91% 89% 83% 76% 81,82% (80%) (80%) 114 14,25 Women 19% 56% 5% 9% 11% 17% 24% 18,18% (20%) (20%) 21 45 21 64 213 70 132 Total (FTE:20) (FTE:41) (FTE:20,45) (FTE:62,9) 9 (FTE:203,74) (FTE: 67,7) (FTE: 130,42) 575 71,88

- Recruitment policy Most of the interviewed cooperatives (6 out of 8) use interim agencies to recruit their staff while 4 out of 8 enterprises recruit through word of mouth or direct application and only some of them (2 out of 8) refer to the regional employment agencies such as the FOREM. Concerning the qualification of their employees, all the cooperatives look for people who present skills that correspond to the different tasks necessary for the cooperative. Just a few of them (2 out of 8) also look for people that share values of team spirit and cooperative spirit.

- Remuneration policy Three of the cooperatives follow the ‘commission paritaire’ for the remuneration of their staff while five of them offer a salary higher than the legal minimum salary. In addition, half of the interviewed cooperatives do not reward their employees. When it happens, the reward is often a general reward for the whole team: by renewing some equipment to improve the work conditions of workers or by offering a health insurance to the team. One of the cooperative tries to limit the reward to their employees to avoid competition or profit spirit. Finally, most of the cooperatives (6 out of 8) do not use motivation policy.

- Staff involvement in decision-making processes Two out of the eight interviewed cooperatives integrate their employees in the general assembly. Four cooperatives also offer to their employees to take part in the councils in which the management of the enterprise is discussed.

- Management of work & Absenteeism All the cooperatives have a precise organisation chart that defines the tasks for each department and for the staff. None of the cooperatives faces important absenteeism problems. Only one of them noticed an increase in the number of days of absence. The reasons for these absences are diseases or small injuries that are covered by a medical certificate. The

27 cooperative did not see how they could solve this issue but they also did not try since the absenteeism remained reasonable level. A promotion policy or career management is often not present in the interviewed agricultural cooperatives (6 out of 8). For the small cooperatives, it is explained by the fact that they work on a case by case basis. The two cooperatives that enable a career development inside their company are large cooperatives in term of employment.

- Productivity measurement Four out of the eight cooperatives do not measure productivity. For the cooperatives that do it, they use Key Performance Indicators, or other indicators that are relevant of their work (nb. of tons of a product produced per day or delivered for example). Most of the cooperatives also offer training to their employees to improve their productivity. Those trainings can be internal to the company, but they can also be external trainings offered by the federations or socio-professional organisms. Concerning the investment in equipment and machines in the different cooperatives, it did not reduce the number of employees. Instead, their work was facilitated, their tasked were eased and their performance increased. One of the cooperatives pointed to the fact that investing in new equipment implied to hire more qualified workers. Some cooperatives also integrate the opinions of their workers in the decisions related to new equipments in order to keep the staff motivated.

- Seasonal work Five out of the eight interviewed cooperatives hire seasonal workers but the number of people hired and the period during which they are hired varies a lot. It goes from 300 persons hired between March and October to 4 persons hired during July and August. The similarity between the cooperatives that hire seasonal workers is that they offer the same working conditions than for usual workers.

3. The WISE and HRM in the agricultural sector a. Generalities on HRM in WISEs The human resources management in the social enterprises is “often intuitive, informal and not very structured”49. This is explained by the fact that social enterprises do not define specific budget for HRM and because social entrepreneurs often do not present HRM skills or motivation towards implementing such management.

49 Author’s translation, Davister, 2010.

28 The more important specificity of social enterprises is the diversity of workers. They can be volunteers, people in integration, co-operators, employed and self-employed. This implies that social enterprises need to be able to manage a certain variety in employment contracts and the subsidies that sometimes are attached to it (for people in integration mostly). Another characteristic of social enterprises is the presence of two objectives: an economical but also a social objective. These two objectives are also part of the human resources management but can sometimes be in contradiction with each other leading to difficulties in HRM. 50

b. HRM of WISE in the agricultural sector- results Two WISE that are active in the agricultural sector were interviewed. Figure 22 shows the statistics concerning their workers.

Figure 22: Workers and their characteristics in two WISE

Name of the organisation Agrisert La Bourrache Legal status EI EFT nb. of employees 1 5 (FTE: 3,9) nb. of workers 4 0 Volunteers - 0 Supervisory staff - 5 (FTE: 3,9) People in training/ integration/ 15 in training handicapped people - (FTE: 12) 18-35 years 3 - 36-55 years 2 - more than 55 years 0 - Men 4 4 Women 1 1 Total 5 5 (FTE: 3,9)

- Recruitment policy The recruitment policy of the two interviewed WISE is managed either by the director with the help of an employee or by the board of directors. One of the WISE uses the regional employment office (FOREM) as a way to post their job offers while the other uses the alterjob website and their own connections to find workers. Concerning the competences they are looking for, one of the WISE wants to hire courageous and voluntary people while the other searches for competences related to the tasks that need to be done. The work integration enterprise supports a specific constraint, namely that it has to hire ‘difficult to integrate unemployed people’. They are trained by the director until they reach a certain level of autonomy.

50 Davister, 2010.

29 - Remuneration policy Concerning the remuneration policy, both enterprises follow the ‘commission paritaire’ and thus offer the minimum salary for their workers. They do not reward their workers’ performances nor did they develop a motivation policy.

- Staff involvement in decision-making processes The staff of both enterprises is involved in the decision-making process either by having shares in the enterprise or by participating in the general assembly. Workers give also their opinion informally about certain issues. It then comes at the management level thanks to a bottom-up communication.

- Management of work & Absenteeism The organisation of the enterprises is well established even though the structure is small: only 5 employees/workers in each enterprise. In one of the WISEs, each worker is responsible of a specific sector while the director manages overall the tasks that need to be done. In the other WISE, there is a coordination level and then the workers level. Yet, in both of them, there is no career management. Workers receive sometimes the opportunity to follow a training or to pass their truck licence. Concerning absenteeism, none of the two WISEs is facing this problem currently.

- Productivity measurement Both WISEs measure it. One of them counts the number of boxes that are harvested on a day and then compares it with the quantity done at the same time the previous year. This measure is also used as an objective for the workers. The other WISE looks more at qualitative indicators such as the well-being of workers and the satisfaction of the clients. Finally, the investment in equipment did not have a negative impact on the one of the WISE. Instead, new machines help increased the quality and the output of production. The other WISE did not make new investment.

30 Appendix

Appendix 1: Full-time and part-time contrats in the agricultural sector

Flemish Belgium Region Walloon Region Full-time contracts 44527 30168 14321 Among whom: a. Farmers 27562 17898 9655 -Men 24420 16057 8354 -Women 3142 1841 1301 b. Farmers's spouses 5175 3684 1488 c. Other family members 3148 1737 1410 d. Non-family workers 8642 6849 1768

Part-time contracts 39338 28467 10855 Among whom: a. Farmers 12757 8669 4086 -Men 10010 6852 3156 -Women 2747 1817 930 b. Farmers's spouses 12613 9345 3265 c. Other family members 8460 6266 2192 d. Non-family workers 5508 4187 1312

TOTAL 83865 58635 25176 Full-time/ Total 53,10% 51,50% 56,90% Part-time/Total 46,91% 48,55% 43,12% Source: DG opérationelle de l’Agriculture, des ressources naturelles et de l’Environnement, 2010.

Appendix 2: Compétences en matières agricoles en Belgique

Bonjour,

En réponse à votre mail du 26/08 dernier, voici les réponses aux questions posées :

1. Administration en charge des compétences agricoles à Bruxelles :

Ministère de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale Administration de l'économie et de l'emploi Direction conception et coordination Cellule agriculture 3ème étage, bur.110 Avenue du jardin botanique, 20 1035 Bruxelles

Les administrations agricoles des 2 autres régions apportent une assistance administrative à la RBC pour la gestion de certaines mesures (aides PAC notamment)

2. Compétences de l'Etat fédéral en matière d'agriculture

Depuis la dernière réforme de l'Etat, l’Etat fédéral n’exerce donc plus aucune compétence dans les matières agricoles à l’exception des domaines suivants :

31 la sécurité de la chaîne alimentaire : détermination et contrôles des normes relatives à la qualité sanitaire des matières premières et des produits d’origine végétale et animale, contrôle des produits d’origine animale. la détermination et le contrôle des normes relatives à la santé et au bien-être des animaux les mesures de remplacement de revenus en cas de cessation anticipée de l’activité d’agriculteurs âgés (régime en voie d'extinction) le Bureau d’intervention et de restitution belge qui s’occupe de la répartition des aides européennes au secteur (gestion administrative des mesures de marché prévues dans le cadre de l'organisation commune des marchés : stockage public/privé de certains produits agricoles, restitutions aux exportations, programme d'aide aux plus démunis)

Au niveau international, la Ministre fédérale de l'Agriculture exprime la position belge lors des conseils des Ministres de l'Agriculture de l'UE ou à l'occasion d'autres réunions internationales des Ministres de l'Agriculture (OCDE,...).

Pour le futur, les discussions politiques actuellement en cours évoquent un possible transfert de nouvelles matières aux régions. Outre le BIRB, 2 compétences résiduelles sont également visées : la loi sur le bail à ferme (régime particulier dans le domaine des baux et loyers actuellement de compétence du Ministre de la Justice, avec les éléments techniques déjà gérés au niveau des régions) et les calamités agricoles (régime particulier des calamités publiques)

En espérant avoir répondu à votre demande,

Sincères salutations

Luc HENNUY Cellule Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire et Agriculture - Cel Voedselveiligheid en Landbouw Kabinet van Minister Sabine LARUELLE - Minister van KMO's, Zelfstandigen, Landbouw en Wetenschapsbeleid Cabinet de la Ministre Sabine LARUELLE - Ministre des PME, des Indépendants, de l'Agriculture et de la Politique scientifique Avenue de la Toison d'Or, 87 - Gulden Vlieslaan, 87 1060 Bruxelles - 1060 Brussel Tél : 02/541.63.22 - Fax : 02/219.09.14 [email protected] www.sabinelaruelle.be

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