Art. 236. - (1) A collective labour contract shall be the agreement concluded in a written form between the employer or the employers' organisation, on the one hand, and the employees, represented by their trade unions or in any other manner stipulated by the law, on the other hand, in which clauses are set up concerning work conditions, wages, as well as other rights and obligations deriving from labour relationships.
(2) Collective negotiation shall be mandatory, except when the employer has less than 21 employees.
(3) When negotiating the clauses and concluding the collective labour contracts, the parties shall be equal and free.
(4) The collective labour contracts, concluded in compliance with the provisions of the law, shall constitute the law of the parties.
Art. 237. - The parties, their representation, and the procedure for negotiating and concluding the collective labour contracts, shall be established under the law.
Art. 238. - (1) The collective labour contracts shall not contain clauses which set up rights at a lower level than the one set up in the collective labour contracts concluded at a higher level.
(2) The individual labour contracts shall not contain clauses setting up rights at a lower level than the one set up in the collective labour contracts.
(3) When concluding a collective labour contract, the provisions of the law concerning the employees' rights shall constitute a minimum standard.
Art. 239. - The provisions of the collective labour contract shall cause effects for all employees, irrespective of their date of employment or affiliation to a trade union.
Art. 240. - (1) The collective labour contracts may be concluded at the level of employers, branches of activity, or at national level.
(2) The collective labour contracts may also be concluded at the level of groups of employers, hereafter called groups of employers.
Art. 241. - (1) The clauses of the collective labour contracts shall cause effects as follows:
a) for all the employees of an employer, in the case of collective labour contracts concluded at such level;
b) for all employees hired by employers that belong to the group of employers for which the collective labour contract has been concluded at such level;
c) for all employees hired by all the employers in the branch of activity for which the collective labour contract has been concluded at such level;
d) for all employees hired by all the employers in the country, in the case of a collective labour contract at national level.
(2) At each of the levels stipulated under article 240, a single collective labour contract shall be concluded.
Art. 242. - The collective labour contract shall be concluded for a determined period, which may not be less than 12 months, or for the duration of a certain work.
Art. 243. - (1) The execution of the collective labour contract shall be mandatory for the parties.
(2) Failure to meet the obligations taken on in the collective labour contract shall entail the liability of the parties responsible for the failure.
Art. 244. - The clauses of the collective labour contract may be amended throughout its execution, under the law, whenever the parties agree to do this.
Art. 245. - The collective labour contract shall be terminated:
a) upon meeting the deadline or at the end of the job for which it has been concluded, unless the parties agree to extend its implementation;
b) on the date of the employer's dissolution or legal liquidation;
c) based on the parties' consent.
Art. 246. - The implementation of the collective labour contract may be suspended based on the parties' wilful agreement or in the event of a force majeure.
Art. 247. - If, at the level of an employer, group of employers, or at branch level, there is no collective labour contract, the collective labour contract concluded at a higher level shall apply.
