Nancy Luyten

Practice Areas

Employment Domestic/Day to Day Advice

Employee Compensation & Benefits

Employment Litigation

International Executive Mobility

Employment Aspects of Transactions

Career

Nancy Luyten is one of the founding partners of ELL, and has over 30 years of expertise in the full range of individual and collective labour and employment law matters in a leading international business law firm. She has been ranked since 13 years as a 'Leading Employment Practitioner' in Chambers Europe and as a 'Leading Individual' by Legal 500. Nancy has also been ranked many years in Best Lawyers ®.com (best lawyers in Belgium for Labour and Employment) and selected as one of the world's leading practitioners in who's who legal (WWL Labour, Employment & Benefits).

Before joining ELL. as a founding partner, Nancy has been the Head of the Employment & Incentive Practice Group of Baker McKenzie in Belgium for many years.

Previously, Nancy has also been an (international) partner and principal with Baker Mc Kenzie for more than 20 years.

Her practice focuses on complex individual and collective labour and employment law matters, including employment policies, executive contracts, grievance and disciplinary action, termination, executive transfers, non-compete and restrictive covenants, employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, collective - lay off, closing of enterprise, employee relations, social disputes and industrial actions, union matters, executive compensation, (harmonization of) employment terms and conditions, corporate governance and employment litigations.

Next to her law practice, Nancy Luyten has an academic appointment as Practitioner Assistant at the Institute of Labour Law (KU Leuven) since 1994, where she teaches practical sessions and litigation skills in employment disputes to Master law students.

Her experience includes appointments as a mediator in Social Affairs.

Nancy Luyten is a member of the Brussels bar since 1992.

Other Professional affiliations included the HR Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) and the Federal Mediation Commission (since 2017).

Professional Memberships

Brussels Bar (Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten) (1992)

Federal Commission of Mediators (FBC)

Practitioner Assistant at the Institute for Labour Law – KU Leuven (since 1994)

HR Committee, American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium (AMCHAM)

Association of Belgian Labour Law Practitioners (VPJSR)

Industry Sector Expertise

REDUCTION IN FORCE & REDUNDANCIES

• Advice to leading global companies in electronic consumer goods sector with the employment aspects of various (restructuring) projects, outsourcing, integration of business activities, relocation of activities abroad implying collective - lay offs including dismissals of key protected employees of the works council, employment aspects of the re-integration and transfer of employees, negotiation and drafting of complex new social plan collective bargaining agreements with the trade unions, planning of all legal aspects of business transfers and restructuring implementation including advice on replacement of works council members and structure, assistance with cost calculation of technical financial budgets for social plan termination costs as well as the termination of international employee assignment contract structures

• Advice to multiple Fortune 500 clients on restructurings, collective - lay offs and closures as part of global restructuring programs including advice and planning of all employment law aspects on compliance with the collective - lay off and closure rules, cost budgeting, communications, assistance with in local information and consultation process, social plan terms, overall planning of all legal and practical aspects in respect of the process and implementation of restructurings.

• Advice to major passenger airline carriers in relation to the drafting of mandate contracts covering high level executives of management teams, including the termination of C-level leadership and negotiation of non-compete undertakings restrictive covenants

• Advice to leading pharmaceutical groups on departure arrangements of their top management in the context of technical international group structures, dissolutions of management contracts, ending of international director mandates and offices at group level, technical salary split and management service structures, including international compensatory components with technical bonus exit rights, cross-border aspects, international mobility and transition issues as well as specific post termination Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete restrictive covenants

BUSINESS CHANGE

• Advice to multiple Fortune 500 clients with all complex employment law aspects of corporate transactions including planning of all legal aspects, advice on information and consultation requirements, assistance with formalizing the change of employer for employment related benefits, harmonization of terms of employment and immigration related requirements, impact on technical business units and the related split of the employee consultation bodies

• Advice to large manufacturers with the employment law aspects linked to their acquisitions covering all HR aspects and advice on local employment issues in connection with the acquisition and employee transfers, change of the business sector committees, shift and night work, employee benefits structures, benefit policies, harmonization aspects and other employment impact following the acquisition

• Advice on the employment aspects of corporate intra-group restructuring projects involving multiple legal entities across the globe with focus on providing the HR/Legal team with legal tools to implement the HR aspects of cross border mergers, and employee transfers including complex cross border structures, works council impact, information and consultation processes with employee representative bodies and employees, TUPE transfer steps, impact of employee benefits and pension related issues, offering new benefit schemes, providing new harmonised employment contracts, benefit policies, payroll and other employment impact

GLOBAL MOBILITY

• Advice to multiple leading companies with the implementation of global mobility programs, international personnel transfers and related international employment aspects as well as legal compliance by multinational employers of executive staff agreements and policies

• Advice to clients on implications of ending transfer assignments, repatriation and relocation aspects including severance consequences and changes to/termination of international employment documents

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• Advice to employers in various sectors with regard to the preparation and implementation of the termination of employees in legal disputes before the labour courts benefiting from the dismissal protection as employee representative, including coverage of social relations aspects (communication to and discussions with trade union and employee consultative bodies)

• Guidance of employers through all aspects of the litigation procedures in the context of social elections. Assistance of international fast-food chains with the legal procedure initiated by trade unions in the context of the social elections involving franchisee companies with successful dispute outcome

• Advice to global company in the telecom sector with the disputed exit arrangement of management members with legal claims based on alleged failure in the context of employer's legal obligations on well-being, harassment and health and safety in the workplace including aspects of criminal liabilities and the judicial dissolution of the employment relationship

• Assistance of global organizational consulting firm with the disputed termination of a member of their Executive Committee for gross misconduct with legal proceedings against group companies before the labour courts and the commercial courts including re-characterization of the self-employed status into an employee status, judicial dissolution of the re-qualified employment relationship, departure indemnity and damages claims, rectification of employee salary elements, premiums and employee benefits, corrections on social security contributions, as well as sales agency claims for termination indemnities, clientele indemnity, unpaid invoices, expenses, damages, additional indemnification for incentives under US Retention Plans involving cross border international legal principles as well as technical conflict of US laws rules and extra-territorial jurisdiction issues

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION & MEDIATION

• Advice to companies as social mediator with alternative disputes resolution methods (mediation)

GENERAL DRAFTING AND ADVISORY WORK

• Day-to-day HR-support to international teams of employment, legal counsels on a broad range of Belgian employee matters and employee benefit topics, including review of complex cross border innovative global HR policies, as well as assistance with complex compensation schemes, employee benefit policies, compliance audits, global equity plan rights and discrimination issues.

Languages Spoken

Dutch, English, French

Personal

“Nancy provides very strong support and understanding of our business, clear communication, great availability and a pragmatic approach. She is a real expert and invests in long-term cooperation and shows strong engagement and commitment. Her work is always of great quality. Nancy is not afraid to look down the road, see problems around the bend and provide solutions. She is dynamic and will look at a problem holistically, giving you answers that let you run your business without coming back to her again and again." (Chambers Europe, 2024)

• “Stellar” Practice Head Nancy Luyten (legal 500, 2023). Nancy Luyten understands the context in which clients operate and is able to fit her input in their way of working. Het advice is always very clear and explained, and she is quickly reachable. (Chambers Europe, 2023)

• Nancy Luyten is a first-rate counsel. She is responsive, strategic, insightful, personable and collegial. It is always a pleasure to work with her because she treats clients as partners in the problem-solving process. She is a trusted advisor, with stellar judgment and expertise in both substantive and procedural areas of law. These qualities make her highly skilled at handling sensitive personnel matters and matters that are complex in nature. I highly recommend her as an advocate and as adviser. (Legal 500, 2022)

• Nancy Luyten is a “very technical lawyer” who is “very nice to work with”. (Chambers Europe, 2022)

• Nancy Luyten has “very strong analytical skills, great client relationship skills”. (Chambers Europe 2021)

Education

Awards