Recruitment is free. The employer's freedom of recruitment stems from the freedom of enterprise which is legitimised by the private ownership of the means of production. However, the freedom of recruitment is not absolute. It is subject to general rules of law and to specific regulations.

SECTION 1. OBLIGATION TO RECRUIT CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF WORKERS

As a result of their weak(er) position in the labour market it is hard for certain workers to enter employment on their own. This is mainly the case for people with a physical or economic handicap. In order to prevent these categories of workers from being excluded the legislator has issued a number of measures to promote or to impose recruitment of these persons.

For instance, private sector employers employing over 50 employees must recruit workers pro rata of 3% of their personnel. Moreover, all employers in the private sector together and, this irrespective of their number of employees, must recruit new employees pro rata of 1% of the total personnel. The type of persons eligible for these extra jobs may vary. At present they are jobseekers under the age of 26. In the past persons from other age categories also qualified. Apart from this, labour law contains a few other situations in which employers are obliged to recruit.

SECTION 2. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION

THIRTY YEARS OF DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATION

The first prohibition of discrimination in the national legislation referred to discrimination on the basis of sex.

Equal treatment of men and women is a fundamental right which had already been formulated in Article 119 EC Treaty (now 157) in the form of the obligation to remunerate men and women equally for equal work. The ban on sex discrimination was further elaborated in various Directives. The principles in question were transposed into Belgian law in the Law of 4 August 1978, which was amended by the Law of 7 May 1999 (the Equal Treatment Men and Women Act).