The 2024 Summer Olympic Games began Friday, July 26. To celebrate this international event, Littler offices around the globe will share key changes in labor and employment laws that have transpired since the last time their countries hosted the Olympic games.1
Due to the First World War, the 1916 Olympic Games were cancelled. When the question arose as to which country should host the 1920 edition, it was decided, as a tribute to the suffering and bravery of the Belgians during the war, that this privilege should go to Belgium.
Belgium thus hosted the Summer Olympics for the first (and last) time in 1920. It was at these Games that two major symbols made their appearance: the Olympic flag designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin and the Olympic oath taken for the first time by Belgian athlete Victor Boin.
In 1920, a total of 2,626 athletes took part in the Games, of whom only 65 were women...
At this time, the circumstances surrounding women in sports and women in the workplace were obviously very different, at least for those women who were given the opportunity not to stay at home. Also, people used to work on average 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Over a hundred years later, things have drastically changed.
The proportion of women in the professional sphere has multiplied, and European as well as Belgian regulations have worked in parallel to ensure that women and men are treated equally in the workplace.
This equality is not always a reality, however, particularly when it comes to pay. It was against this backdrop that the Belgian Act of April 22, 2012 came into being to combat the wage gap between men and women. There is still a way to go.
Since 1920, social consultation has also led to changes in Belgian working time.
While in 1921, Belgians saw the introduction of an 8-hour working day and Sunday rest (i.e., 48 hours a week) as a positive development, today the majority of Belgian workers see their working week limited to 38 hours and even less in many sectors.
Not only do employees work less today, they also work under more flexible schemes. These changes in the organization of the working hours are often in response to requests from Belgian employers. By way of example, the Feasible and Manageable Work Act of March 5, 2017 saw the light of day with a view, in particular, to increasing not only the flexibility of working hours but also of certain terms and conditions linked to employment. The purpose is to enable companies to cope with the changing economy and remain competitive in a constantly evolving context.
Just as in the world of sports, the world of work is constantly changing to aim for top performance from and for the people.
Footnotes
1. Littler's International Guide discusses more than 90 workplace law topics in over 45 countries/territories, including jurisdictions in every region of the world. For more information on the International Guide, please contact your Littler attorney or KM – Managing Editor/Publications Kristen Countryman. In addition, Littler's Global Guide Quarterly (GGQ) provides high‐level notice of recent global labor and employment law developments in key countries in the American, EMEA, and APAC regions. Click here to subscribe to the GGQ.
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