Working in Belgium: answers to your practical questions

Eco vouchers are an extra-legal benefit worth up to €250 per year for a full-time employee, valid for 24 months and usable only for eco-friendly products and services. The federal government plans to phase them out, but as of October 2026 no law has been passed: eco vouchers still exist, and those already granted remain valid.

Since 1 January 2026, a Belgian meal voucher can be worth up to €10 per day worked: up to €8.91 paid by the employer and at least €1.09 paid by the employee. The €10 is a ceiling, not an automatic amount: your employer has to grant it through a collective or individual agreement. Vouchers are electronic, one per day actually worked, and valid for 12 months.

A cafeteria plan lets you exchange part of your gross pay, such as a bonus or the end-of-year premium, for benefits like a laptop, a bike, extra holidays or pension contributions. It can raise the net value you receive. The trade-off is that a lower gross salary also lowers what is calculated on it, including your statutory pension, holiday pay and some social benefits.

In Belgium, an employee who has or is entitled to a company car can exchange it for a mobility budget, if the employer offers one. The budget equals the annual cost of the car and can be spent in three pillars: a zero-emission car, sustainable mobility and housing costs tax-free, and the remainder in cash with a 38.07% contribution. Which is better depends on how much you actually need a car.

In Joint Committee 200, which covers most white-collar employees, salaries are indexed once a year on 1 January, based on the change in the smoothed health index. The increase was 2.21% on 1 January 2026. Since 1 June 2026, a temporary cap called the cents index limits the first 2% of indexation to €80 for salaries above €4,000 gross a month, and it applies in CP 200 for the first time in January 2027.

Since July 2026, the national minimum wage in Belgium is €2,233.61 gross per month for a full-time worker aged 18 or over. It is set by the National Labour Council’s collective agreement n° 43 and indexed when the pivot index is crossed. Most sectors, including Joint Committee 200 for white-collar employees, have their own minimum scales, which can be higher.

When a white-collar employee leaves a job in Belgium, the employer pays exit holiday pay: 15.34% of the gross pay earned in the current year, split equally between simple and double holiday pay. You also receive a holiday certificate. Because that money is an advance on next year’s holiday pay, your new employer will pay you less holiday pay the following year.

White-collar employees in Belgium receive two kinds of holiday pay: simple holiday pay, which is their normal salary paid during leave, and double holiday pay, equal to 92% of one gross monthly salary for a full year worked the previous year. Blue-collar workers receive 15.38% of their gross annual pay raised to 108%, paid by the national holiday office or a holiday fund.

To go from gross to net in Belgium, you first deduct 13.07% personal social security contributions, then the withholding tax calculated with the SPF Finance formula, and a monthly special social security contribution. Low salaries get a work bonus that reduces the 13.07%. The net also depends on your household situation, which is why two people with the same gross can take home different amounts.

In Joint Committee 200, which covers most white-collar employees, the end-of-year bonus equals one gross monthly salary, paid by December at the latest. You need six months of seniority, and a partial year gives a pro rata per full calendar month worked. The net is lower than a normal month, because it is taxed at a separate rate for exceptional payments.