Under Belgium’s Private Investigations Act (the “PIA”), an employer may only investigate its employees if the detailed rules governing such investigations are laid down expressly and transparently in a set of internal regulations. Employers were given a transitional period of two years from the PIA’s entry into force to put these regulations in place. That period ends on 16 December 2026.
In the first two blogs in this series, we set out the scope of the PIA and how an investigation under the PIA must be conducted. In this third and final blog, we look at which employers must adopt regulations, the form these may take, what they should cover and the consequences of non-compliance. We also address the recently started political talks on possible amendments to the PIA, which, for now, do not affect the deadline.
Which employers need regulations?
Regulations are required as soon as private investigation activities are carried out on behalf of an employer in respect of its employees. The size of the business, the number of employees and the frequency of investigations are irrelevant.
It also makes no difference whether the investigation is conducted by the employer’s own internal investigation service or is outsourced. An employer that instructs an external investigation firm still needs compliant regulations, and the firm must decline the assignment if there are none.
Why regulations are required
The purpose of this requirement is transparency: employees must know in advance...
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