social security - FOD Sociale Zekerheid

C. Exclusions and sanctionsSome unemployed persons may be excluded from receiving benefits or get sanctions. These arethe major reasons to get excluded from the unemployment scheme or to be sanctioned:a) Voluntary unemploymentUnemployment is voluntary in case of:- abandonment of an appropriate employment without a legitimate reason;- dismissal as a consequence of a wrong attitude on behalf of the employee;- no-show without a valid justification for a job interview with an employer after a requestof the employment services or refusal of an appropriate job offer;- refusal or failure of an integration route;- for dismissed workers who are at least 45 years old and who have at least one year ofseniority in the company: the refusal of taking part in an outplacement programmewhich they asked for or which the employer was compelled to offer them; the factof not having formally reminded the employer in due time of his obligation to offeran outplacement programme; the fact of not having been registered in due time withthe compulsory employment cell within the framework of the active management ofrestructuring operations.b) Unavailability for the labour market- as a consequence of a regulation or a factual situation, such as prenatal or postnatalleave;- when an unemployed person sets conditions for resumption of work that are not validaccording to the appropriate job criteria;- the negative assessment of the unemployed person’s efforts to search a new job.c) The omission of an obligatory declaration, a late declaration, an incorrect or incompletedeclaration or the use of wrong documents can lead to the recovery of unduly received benefitsand to an exclusion from the entitlement to benefits for a certain period.When fraudulent intentions are established, legal proceedings may be undertaken.Before any decision imposing a sanction or exclusion is taken, the unemployed person is called inby the unemployment bureau in order to explain his defence. During this hearing, the unemployedperson is informed of the facts he is blamed for and can refute them, give arguments and addnew pieces to the file. On this occasion, he may be represented or assisted by a trade uniondelegate or a lawyer.When the director decides to impose a sanction or exclusion, this decision is notified to theperson concerned. This decision has to be motivated de facto and de jure and has to mentionthe procedure that has to be followed to lodge an appeal if the unemployed person contests thedecision. As from the notification of the decision, the unemployed person has three months tolodge his appeal.32