Private Investigations in the Workplace: Is Your Policy Ready for 16 December 2026?

Why is a Policy Required?

The Belgian Act of 18 May 2024 regulating private investigation activities (Private Investigation Act or PIA) has been largely applicable since 16 December 2024. Article 65 introduces a specific requirement for investigations involving employees: a private investigator may only accept an assignment if both the authorization to conduct private investigations and the applicable rules governing workplace investigations are expressly and transparently set out in a policy or regulation.

This requirement applies regardless of whether the investigation is carried out by an external investigation provider or by an internal (HR) department.

To allow employers time to prepare, the legislator granted a two-year transition period from the Act’s entry into force. Consequently, the deadline for compliance is 16 December 2026.

It is important to note that this transition period applies only to the policy requirement. All other obligations under the PIA already apply and must be observed today. Although an extension of the deadline is currently being discussed, there is no certainty that it will materialize. Waiting for further legislative developments would therefore be a risky strategy.

Does This Also Apply to Occasional HR Investigations?

Not every HR interview or routine control measure qualifies as a private investigation.

The PIA applies where information about individuals or facts attributable to them is collected or processed with the specific purpose of safeguarding the interests of the employer in the context of an existing or potential dispute or conflict. Investigations conducted by an internal department that structurally performs investigative activities, for example regarding suspected theft or fraud by an employee, will generally fall within this scope.

The position is less clear when it comes to occasional incident investigations carried out by HR departments that do not qualify as an internal investigation service. While such departments are in any event exempt from the licensing and identification card requirements applicable to professional investigators, this exemption does not automatically extend to the other obligations imposed by the PIA.

Employers who may need to conduct or commission workplace investigations should therefore prepare the required policy well in advance. A serious incident is not the right moment to inform employees for the first time about the possibility of investigations. In practice, employers must be able to initiate an investigation immediately and discreetly when circumstances require.

What Should the Policy Include?

The legislation does not prescribe a detailed template. The key question is whether employees can reasonably understand in advance when an investigation may take place, who may conduct it, and which rules will apply.

A practical and legally robust policy should address at least the following topics:

• Purpose and triggering events: the circumstances that may justify an investigation and the legitimate interests the employer seeks to protect;
• Responsible parties: the internal departments, external service providers, or other persons who may carry out the investigation;
• Investigation methods and limitations: the techniques that may be used, such as interviews, review of company records, analysis of CCTV footage, or examination of digital data, together with the applicable safeguards and conditions;
• Safeguards and consequences: the measures ensuring confidentiality, proportionality, and the protection of individual rights, as well as the potential use of investigation findings.

Including these elements in a policy is not a blanket authorization for any investigative action. Separate legal requirements continue to apply to areas such as CCTV monitoring, electronic communications and employee surveillance. Likewise, a general notification or consent mechanism in a policy will not necessarily replace any specific legal basis, authorization, or consent required for particular investigative measures.

How Should the Policy Be Implemented?

The PIA does not mandate a specific format.

The policy may be incorporated into:

• a collective labor agreement;
• the employment regulations; or
• a stand-alone corporate policy.

In practice, a separate policy often provides greater flexibility, allowing employers to keep procedures efficiently up to date and to unilaterally establish your company policy.

However, the chosen format does not exempt employers from any consultation, information, or amendment procedures when other rules or terms of employment also change.

Employers should therefore:

• involve employee representative bodies where appropriate;
• align the policy with existing audit and whistleblowing procedures; and
• ensure that employees effectively receive the policy or can readily access and review it.

This final point is particularly important. An employer relying on the policy must be able to demonstrate that it was clearly communicated and accessible before the investigation commenced. Targeted communication measures and, where appropriate, acknowledgements of receipt can be valuable in that sense.

What if No Policy Is in Place?

A PIA-compliant workplace investigation policy is not merely a box-ticking exercise.

Once the transition period expires, employers who lack the required policy risk finding that evidence obtained through an investigation subject to the PIA cannot be relied upon, for example in the context of a dismissal dispute.

Indeed, where no compliant policy exists, both the investigation and the resulting report may be considered legally invalid.

For employers, the message is clear: establishing the rules before an incident occurs is the only prudent and legally secure approach.