A comparison of standard employment conditions
BELGIUM
THE NETHERLANDS
Types of Employment Agreements
General: Employment conditions in Belgium always depend on the joint committee regime of the company.
..Indefinitely
The general rule is if nothing else has been specifically agreed about the duration or if the timeframe is not precisely described, the agreement is deemed to be for an indefinite period.
..Certain duration
Ends on a specific day, time period or specific event specified in the contract. The contract must clearly state when the employee will (at the latest) start employment and when the contract will end.
A maximum of 4 consecutive contracts may be concluded. Each contract must then have a minimum period of 3 months and the total contact time of the successive contracts may not exceed 2 years.
..for clearly defined work
The exact duration of the work is not stated here, but the exact work to be performed is stated. For example, seasonal work such as harvesting strawberries.
General: Minimum employment conditions by law. Positive deviation from the law by company or collective labor agreement.
..Indefinitely
The general rule is if nothing else has been specifically agreed about the duration or if the timeframe is not precisely described, the agreement is deemed to be for an indefinite period.
..Certain duration
A maximum of 3 temporary consecutive contracts may be concluded. In total, these temporary contracts may not be longer than 3 years. If there is an interruption of a maximum of 6 months, this interruption time simply counts in the calculation of the total time.
If the term of 3 years is exceeded, the temporary employment contract automatically becomes a contract for an indefinite period, under the same conditions.
Zero hours contract
Met een nulurencontract werkt de werknemer alleen de uren waarvoor de werkgever de werknemer oproept. Dit kan een tijdelijk of vast contract zijn, maar in het nulurencontract staat niets over het aantal uur dat men werkt.
Working hours
Full-time
If no other agreements are made, the employment contract is concluded full-time. The maximum (weekly) working hours depend on the standard in the company or sector. Usually full-time is 38 hours per week.
Part-time
Part-time work is work that is performed voluntarily and regularly for a shorter period than the normal working hours in the company. This agreement must be available before the start of work and must clearly indicate the working hours (hours), the working periods per day (hour schedule including breaks)
Full-time
If no other agreements are made, the employment contract is concluded full-time. The full-time working week depends on the employer and is generally 36, 38 or 40 hours.
Part-time
Part-time work is work that is less than the normal working hours in the company. Normally the weekly work schedule is included in the agreement, but this is not an obligation. In the absence of a collective arrangement, the work schedule must in principle be known 28 days in advance. If this is impossible due to the nature of the work, as is often the case with a zero-hours contract, a minimum of 4 days' notice applies.
Trail period
Since January 2014, Belgium no longer has a probationary period, except for students and temporary workers. However, there is a shorter notice period for blue-collar and white-collar workers during the first 6 months. Fixed-term employment contracts can also be terminated during the first half of the term (maximum 6 months)
A trial period can be agreed upon and within that period both the employer and the employee can immediately terminate the agreement without notice and without permission. The probationary period must be agreed in writing. If the employment contract has been concluded for less than 2 years, the probationary period is a maximum of one month. If the employment contract has been concluded for 6 months or less, a trial period is not possible. For an employment contract of 2 years or longer, a maximum trial period of 2 months may be agreed.
Salary
In principle 12 monthly salaries, holiday pay and end-of-year bonus. End-of-year bonus (13th month) is fairly standard, but only an obligation if it is included in a collective labor agreement or in the company's employment regulations.
Holiday pay::
In Belgium, employees are entitled to single or double holiday pay. Single holiday pay is wages that are paid during the holidays. Double holiday pay is an extra allowance to cover the costs of a holiday and is normally paid out in May or June.
Holiday pay for workers is paid by the National Office for Annual Holidays and is 15.38% of the wages earned over the past year.
Holiday pay for white-collar workers is paid by the employer. This holiday pay consists of the normal salary for the holiday days and an extra calculated for the month in which the holiday pay is paid. This is equal to 1/12 of 92% of the gross salary of the month in which the holiday starts.
In principle 12 monthly salaries and holiday pay. In the Netherlands there is a statutory minimum wage and the amount of this statutory minimum wage depends on age.
Holiday pay:
Once a year (in the month of May) the employee is entitled to the statutory minimum holiday allowance. This is 8% of the annual income. The holiday pay is paid by the employer. Other agreements may be made in the collective labor agreement or employment contract, provided they are more favorable to the employee.
Dismissal
In Belgium, permission is not required to fire someone. However, the employee can ask for reasons and if there is a case of "manifestly unreasonable dismissal" compensation is due.
The notice period for blue-collar and white-collar workers has been the same (since January 1, 2014) and is based on the number of years of service. For employees who were employed before January 1, 2014, the notice period is calculated on the basis of 2 parts. The calculation of the notice period for the part that the employees were already employed before December 31, 2013 (part 1) depends on the status of the employee (blue-collar or employee), the calculation of the notice period for the employment after December 31, 2013 is based on seniority. (click here for the seniority calculation)
In the event of dismissal for business reasons and dismissal due to long-term disability, permission must be requested from the UWV (RVA in Belgium). Dismissal for another reason goes through the subdistrict court (Justice of the Peace in Belgium). It is also possible to terminate the agreement by mutual consent.
The notice periods are regulated by law, deviation from these periods is only possible by collective labor agreement.
Click here for the Dutch notice periods
Transition compensation
If the employer terminates the agreement, the employee is entitled to a transition payment. The amount of this compensation depends on the duration of the employment relationship. The main rule is 1/3 monthly salary per year of service and ½ monthly salary for each year after 10 years of service. There is a maximum gross compensation for 2023, which is €89,000 or 1 year's salary if that is more than €89,000
Holidays
The number of vacation days to which an employee is entitled is determined on the basis of the number of days actually worked in the year preceding the year in which the vacation days are given.
The number of statutory vacation days for a full-time contract is 20 days per calendar year. The employee may not (yet) be entitled to the full 4 weeks of leave at the start due to lack of performance in the past year. For this group there is the possibility to take a so-called European Holiday. The single holiday pay is regarded as an advance on the later double holiday pay.
Public holidays:
België kent 10 feestdagen. Feestdagen die vallen op een niet-werkdag worden vervangen c.q. gecompenseerd op een gewone werkdag
Every employee in the Netherlands is entitled to paid holidays. The right to vacation is built up over the course of the year and, unlike in Belgium, starts from the first day the employee is employed.
Per year, the employee is legally entitled to 4x the number of working hours agreed in the agreement per week.
In addition to the statutory holiday hours, one may also be entitled to extra statutory days if this has been agreed in a collective labor agreement, company regulations or employment contract.
Public holidays:
The number of public holidays in the Netherlands is variable and in principle there is no legal right to a day off on a specific public holiday. This right can be laid down within a collective labor agreement or company regulations. In general, officially recognized holidays are usually a day off
Use this link for an overview of the officially recognized public holidays in the Netherlands
Sick leave
The first 30 sick days are paid by the employer.
For white-collar workers, wages are guaranteed during the first 30 days of incapacity for work.
For workers, wages are guaranteed for the first 7 days. After 7 days to 15 days, workers receive 85.88% of their normal wages. From the 15th to the 30th day, workers are entitled to 25.88% of the wage. This percentage is paid by the employer and can be supplemented by the mutual insurance company (Netherlands Health Insurance Fund) with a benefit of 60%.e tot de 30e dag hebben arbeiders recht op 25.88% van het loon. Deze percentage worden door de werkgever betaald en kan worden aangevuld door de mutualiteit (Nederland Ziekenfonds) met een uitkering van 60%.
If the employee is incapacitated for work for more than 30 days, the employee will receive a replacement income that is reimbursed by the compulsory health insurance.
In the event of incapacity for work due to illness, the Dutch employer is legally obliged to continue paying 70% of the gross salary for 2 years. In the first year this may not be lower than the statutory minimum wage.
In many collective labor agreements and company regulations, other agreements that are more favorable to the employee have been made. Often 100% in the 1st year and 80% in the 2nd year. You also often see agreements that the first 2 sick days are at the expense of the employee.e jaar 100% en het 2e jaar 80%. Ook zie je vaak afspraken dat de eerste 2 ziektedagen voor rekening van de werknemer zijn.