Labour Decoration
Labour Decoration | |
---|---|
Labour Decorations 1st class (obverse) | |
Type | Long service award |
Awarded for | Long service in the private sector or as contractual employees of the public sector |
Presented by | Kingdom of Belgium |
Eligibility | Workers having a relationship with Belgium |
Status | Active |
Established | 7 November 1847 |
The Labour Decoration (French: Décoration du Travail, Dutch: Ereteken van de Arbeid) is a Belgian labour long service medal originally established on 7 November 1847 under the name "Industrial and Agricultural Decoration". Its statute and design were reformed in 1958, since when it has retained its present name and design. The Labour Decoration is awarded to those who use their knowledge, talent and dedication in the pursuit of their work for a specified time. It is awarded by the Belgian Ministry of Employment and Labour.
Award statute
Classes
The Labour Decoration is awarded in two classes:
- The first class is awarded to those who can demonstrate thirty years of professional activity. Craftsmen who are not employees may be awarded the first class award if they can demonstrate twenty years of independent work in Belgium after their twenty-first birthday.
- The second class is awarded to those who can demonstrate twenty-five years of professional activity.
The decoration first class may also be awarded posthumously to workers who have been the victims of a fatal accident in the workplace, without consideration of age or citizenship.
Administrative procedures
The request for award of the decoration to a specific worker is usually submitted to the Ministry by the worker's employer or professional union. However, when this is not possible (such as when the worker is an independent craftsman without a professional union), the worker may file the request themselves. The worker must be a resident of Belgium, although they may have worked in a foreign country for a Belgian company or worked in Belgium while residing in a different country. The Decoration may be awarded to workers in the private sector and to contractual employees of the public sector.
After having been verified by the local authorities, applications are scrutinised by the Ministry of Employment and Labour, where the decision to award the Decoration or not will be taken. Award ceremonies are usually held on 8 April, 21 July and 15 November of each year.
Award of national orders
After the Labour Decoration, workers may later also be awarded the gold medal and the golden palms of the Order of the Crown respectively after thirty-five and forty-five years of professional activity, or in the latter case, forty years at the time of retirement. The Knight's Cross of the Order of Leopold II may be awarded to workers after fifty-five years of professional activity.
Award description
The insignia of the Labour Decoration is oval and made of silver, surrounded by a blue enamelled laurel wreath, with in its center a black enamelled oval medallion surrounded by a red enamelled border and in the center an emblem made of a beehive, a hammer and a compass and topped by the coat of arms of Belgium. The insignia is suspended by a ring through a lateral suspension loop through the orb of a pivot mounted royal crown. The reverse of the insignia is plain. The emblem and the royal crown are silver for the second class decoration and gold for the first class.
The ribbon of the Labour Decoration has three longitudinal stripes of equal width in the national colours of Belgium, black, yellow and red. The ribbon of the decoration first class is adorned with a rosette in the same colours. The ribbon of the Labour Decoration awarded posthumously is adorned with a black enameled clasp with silver text in Flemish and French stating deceased at work.
See also
References
- Royal Decree of 7 November 1847 creating a distinction rewarding workers and craftsmen
- Royal Decree of 26 February 1957 regulating the posthumous award of a decoration to the victims of deadly labour accidents
- Royal Decree of 29 April 1958 on the name of the Labour Decoration
- Belgian Ministry of Employment and Labour, Clés pour les Décorations du Travail, Brussels, 2004
- André Borné, Honneur au travail: Distinctions honorifiques pour les travailleurs 1830-1980, Brussels, 1982
- Quinot H., 1950, Recueil illustré des décorations belges et congolaises, 4e Edition. (Hasselt)
- Cornet R., 1982, Recueil des dispositions légales et réglementaires régissant les ordres nationaux belges. 2e Ed. N.pl., (Brussels)
- Borné A.C., 1985, Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830-1985 (Brussels)
External links
- Belgian Ministry of Employment and Labour (in French)
- v
- t
- e
- Order of Leopold
- Order of the African Star
- Royal Order of the Lion
- Order of the Crown
- Order of Leopold II
- Civic Guard Merit Medal
- 1830 Star of Honour
- Iron Cross
- 1830 Volunteers' Commemorative Cross
- 1870–71 Commemorative Medal
- Service Star
- War Cross 1914–18
- Fire Cross 1914–1918
- Yser Cross and Medal
- Volunteer Combatant's Medal 1914–1918
- Commemorative Medal of the 1914–1918 War
- Commemorative Medal of the 1914–1917 African Campaigns
- Liège Medal
- Maritime Decoration 1914–1918
- Political Prisoner's Medal 1914–1918
- Deportees' Cross 1914–1918
- 1914–1918 Medal for National Restoration
- King Albert Medal
- Queen Elisabeth Medal
- Inter-Allied Victory Medal 1914–1918
- Civic Decoration 1914–1918
- Commemorative Medal of the National Committee for Aid and Food
& Korean War
- War Cross 1940–45
- Maritime Medal 1940–1945
- 1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal
- Volunteer's Medal 1940–1945
- 1940–1945 African War Medal
- 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal
- Abyssinian Campaigns Commemorative Medal
- Resistance Medal 1940–1945
- Civilian Resistance Medal
- Civilian Disobedience Medal
- Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945
- Prisoner of War Medal 1940–1945
- Escapees' Cross 1940–1945
- Medal for Resistance against Nazism in the Annexed Territories
- Medal of the Recruiting Centers 1940
- Medal of Belgian Gratitude 1940–1945
- Commemorative Medal of the 1940–1945 War
- Foreign Operational Theatres Commemorative Medal
military awards
- Military Decoration for exceptional service, bravery or exceptional devotion
- Military Cross
- Military Decoration for faithful service
- Cross of Honour for Military Service Abroad
- Commemorative Medal for Armed Humanitarian Operations
- Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions
- Commemorative medal for missions or operations regarding the operational defense of the territory
- Meritorious Service Medal
civilian awards
medals
- Commemorative Decoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Creation of the Railroads
- Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Leopold II
- Commemorative Medal for the 75th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service
- Centenary of National Independence Commemorative Medal
- Commemorative Medal for the Centenary of the Telegraphic Service
- Commemorative Medal for the 100th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service
- Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Albert I
- Commemorative Medal for the "European March of Memory and Friendship"
- "Four Days of the Yser" Commemorative Medal
- Order of the Belgian Red Cross
- Blood Donour's Medal
- 1940–1945 Cross of Honour of the Belgian Red Cross
- 1940–1945 Belgian Red Cross Decoration