Seminarium: Legal status of teachers

In this presentation, Prof. Dr. Evelien Timbermont will briefly examine how legal regulations shape the conditions under which public and private school teachers are employed, and how this influences efforts to solve current challenges in the education sector. She will begin with an overview of the Belgian education system and explain how the Flemish Community regulates education, focusing on how this framework defines the rights and employment conditions of teachers.

While the core rules governing employment—such as recruitment procedures, wages, and working conditions—are largely the same in both public and private schools, she will highlight a crucial difference in the legal classification of employment. Public school teachers are considered ‘civil servants’ and benefit from strong legal protections, including job security and the possibility of reinstatement after unfair dismissal. In contrast, private school teachers are classified as 'employees' and are subject to more flexible employment conditions, especially regarding termination, with severance pay serving as the primary remedy in cases of unfair dismissal. The presentation will thus explore how these differing legal statuses impact teacher recruitment, retention, and broader efforts to respond to the teacher shortage in Flanders.

Evelien Timbermont holds a PhD in Law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel with a focus on the legal status of teachers in the Flemish Community. She teaches several courses at VUB, mainly in the field of labour law. Her research interests are closely aligned with her teaching, including atypical employment, fundamental rights and equal treatment.