Author: ibizz

As you are aware, the Belgian government has taken several measures to support the sectors severely affected by the corona crisis. It has been a year since we informed you about the government’s decision to introduce consumption vouchers. Employers could grant those consumption vouchers to their employees. These vouchers had to be used in sectors that were hit hard by the crisis.

The government has introduced a new support measure through the Royal Decree of July 21, 2021, namely the corona premium. In this newsletter, we explain the terms and conditions of this premium.

What is a corona premium ?

It does not concern a premium paid in cash. The corona premium takes the form of a consumption voucher.

Who will be able to grant the corona premium?

Only companies that have achieved good results during the crisis will be able to grant this premium to their employees. The notion of « companies that have achieved good results during the crisis » is not defined in the Royal Decree. Consequently, it will be up to the social partners to define this notion.

If the sector does not require the employer to grant the premium, it is up to the employer to decide whether he wants to grant the premium to his staff.

Additionally, sectors are currently negotiating about the wage norm for the years 2021-2022. It is therefore possible that some sectors decide that a different benefit should be granted because of the final sectoral wage agreements.

Therefore, as a precaution, we advise you to wait for the sectoral agreements first. We expect these agreements in the autumn.

How to grant the corona premium?

The granting of the corona premium must be included in a collective labour agreement at sector or company level or, for the companies without trade union delegation, in an individual agreement with the employees.

The corona premium in the form of a consumption voucher can be issued by one of the accredited providers that already issue other types of vouchers, such as meal vouchers (mandatory in the case of electronic vouchers).

Where can the premium be used?

It is intended for the corona premium to be used in more places than the consumption voucher that was introduced last year. Its use is therefore not limited to the hospitality sector, cultural sector, sport sector and small businesses. In fact, the corona premium can also be used in wellness centres, driving schools, swimming pools, fitness centres and so on.

A full list of participating traders is available for consultation with the accredited provider who issues the vouchers.

From when can the premium be granted and what is its amount?

The corona premium can be granted only once, from 1 August 2021 until 31 December 2021.

The total amount of the corona premium granted by the employer may not exceed 500 EUR per employee.

What is the social and fiscal treatment of the corona premium?

In order to increase the net benefit for the employee and to limit the wage cost for the employer at the same time, the premium is exempt from personal income tax and fully deductible for the employer.

However, the corona premium is subject to a special employer’s contribution of 16.5% (no employees’ contribution) for the purpose of contributing to the financing of social security. In order not to be subject to regular social security contributions, the corona premium must meet the following conditions:

• As mentioned above, the granting of the premium must be provided for in a CLA concluded at sectoral or company level or in an individual agreement if there is no trade union delegation;
• The CLA or individual agreement must mention the maximum nominal value of the voucher with a maximum amount of 10 EUR per voucher and with a maximum 500 EUR in total per employee;
• The voucher must be issued in the employee’s name. This condition is deemed to be fulfilled if the granting and the total amount of the vouchers is mentioned on the individual account;
• The paper voucher clearly states that it is valid until 31 December 2022. The paper consumption voucher indicates also the date on which it was issued. In addition, the paper consumption voucher states that it can only be used in certain places (see above);
• The vouchers cannot be exchanged in part or in full for cash.

When the corona premium is granted in the form of an electronic voucher, the following conditions must also be met in order to be exempt from social security contributions:

• The number of electronic vouchers and their gross amount must be mentioned on the payslip ;
• Before using the electronic vouchers, the employee can easily check the balance and the validity period of the consumption vouchers;
• The choice for electronic vouchers must be laid down in a CLA concluded at sectoral or company level or in an individual agreement if there is no trade union delegation;
• The electronic consumption vouchers can only be issued by an accredited provider.
• The use of electronic consumption vouchers shall not entail any cost for the employee except in the event of theft or loss under the conditions to be laid down by a CLA concluded at sector or company level, or in the working regulations when the choice for the electronic consumption vouchers is regulated by an individual written agreement. In any case, the cost of the replacement support in case of theft or loss may not exceed the nominal value of a meal voucher if both electronic meal vouchers and electronic consumption vouchers are granted in the company. However, if the company only grants consumption vouchers, the cost of the replacement support may not exceed 5 EUR.

If you wish to grant your employees a corona premium in the form of consumption vouchers, you must therefore ensure that all the conditions are met, so that the voucher can be granted free from social security contributions and taxes. As a precaution, we advise you to wait for the sectoral agreements before introducing the corona premium.

An employee who loses a loved one, needs time to mourn. The employee receives a number of days of “bereavement leave” for this purpose. How many days of bereavement leave the employee receives depends on the relationship the employee has with the deceased. This bereavement leave is a type of leave of absence and is paid by the employer.

Up until now, employees were entitled to 3 days of bereavement leave if they lost a child or partner. As there was a consensus that this period was too short, a new law was introduced extending this bereavement leave from 3 to 10 days. The law also introduces some other changes.

In this newsletter, we inform you of the most important changes. The new rules apply to bereavement leave for deaths as from 25 July 2021.

Extension of bereavement leave from 3 to 10 days – for whom?

In the event of the death of the spouse or cohabiting partner of the employee, of the child of the employee, of the child of the spouse or cohabiting partner of the employee, the employee will from now on be entitled to 10 days of bereavement leave instead of 3 days.

An important change is that this rule will also apply in the event of the death of an employee’s foster child in the framework of long-term foster care [1].

Of these 10 days, the employee can take:

• 3 days during the period starting on the day of the death and ending on the day of the funeral.
• 7 days of his/her choice within the year following the day of death.

Deviations from both periods in which these days must be taken, can be made at the request of the employee if the employer agrees.

Incapacity for work following new extended bereavement leave

The new law also stipulates what happens if a period of incapacity for work due to illness or an accident (other than an occupational disease, occupational accident or an accident on the way to or from work) immediately follows the bereavement leave due to the death of the employee’s spouse or cohabiting partner, of the employee’s child, of the child of the employee’s spouse or cohabiting partner.

In case of incapacity for work, the employer must in principle continue to pay the employee’s normal salary for a certain period of time. This is called the “guaranteed salary”. White-collar workers receive 30 days of guaranteed salary.

However, when the incapacity for work immediately follows the above-mentioned bereavement leave, the bereavement leave will be added from the 4th day onwards to the total period of the guaranteed salary (both for blue collar and white-collar workers). This can only be done when the 4th day of the bereavement leave immediately follows the 3rd day of the bereavement leave. Concretely applied in an example, this means the following:

For example: a white-collar worker takes 10 consecutive days of bereavement leave. Immediately afterwards, he becomes incapacitated for work for 30 days. The 10 days of bereavement leave are paid by the employer. The last 7 days of the bereavement leave can be added to the period of the guaranteed salary, so that the employer does not have to pay 30 days of guaranteed salary, but only 23 days (30 – 7). For the last 7 days of the incapacity for work, the white-collar worker will receive incapacity benefits from the health insurance fund.

! If a collective labour agreement on company or sector level, the working regulations or the individual employment contract already grant more than 3 days of bereavement leave before the entry into force of this new law, these additional days of bereavement leave cannot be deducted from the guaranteed salary.

Other changes

The new law has also extended the scope of bereavement leave to the death of a foster child of the employee in the framework of short-term foster care and to the death of the employee’s foster father or foster mother in the framework of long-term foster care.

[1] Definition long-term foster care = foster care where the child stays in the foster family for at least 6 months and is registered in the population register of the municipality where the family resides.

The Federal Government has introduced several support measures for employers since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. With this newsletter, we would like to inform you about the measures that will be extended and about the measures that will come to an end.

Corona unemployment

Corona unemployment – extension

The existing corona unemployment scheme , which would normally expire on 30.06.2021, has been extended to 30.09.2021. More information about the conditions for employers who wish to make use of this type of temporary unemployment can be found in our newsletter of 09.11.2020: COVID-19: temporary unemployment.

We would like to remind you that, as an employer, you need to take the following steps if you wish to apply corona unemployment:

Inform your employees in writing prior to the start of corona unemployment about:

• the period of corona unemployment
• the number of days during which the employee will be temporarily unemployed and in the event of partial corona unemployment, the number of days the employee is expected to work.

Inform your Payroll Business Partner which days your employees will work and which days they are unemployed.

Pro-Pay takes care of the required electronic registration of these unemployment days, which allows the Unemployment Office (RVA/ONEM) to determine the unemployment allowance for the employee.

Assimilation corona unemployment for holidays

Employees accrue holiday rights based upon their performance in the preceding calendar year, also referred to as the holiday reference year. A number of absences are assimilated for the entitlement to holidays and are thus considered as days worked. The days of temporary unemployment in the context of COVID-19 that took place between 01.02.2020 and 31.12.2020 were already assimilated to days worked for the holiday entitlement in 2021. However, no further official decision has been taken yet that assimilates the days of corona unemployment for the entitlement to holidays in 2022.

Mandatory telework declaration – end

Over the past 3 months, we have informed you about the mandatory telework declaration. Via the mandatory electronic registration system of the government, employers had to declare the number of persons working in the company and the number of non-teleworkable functions.

As of 27.06.2021, teleworking is no longer mandatory, but it is still strongly recommended for all companies, associations and services, regardless of their size, and for all employees whose job function is suitable for telework. Consequently, from the month of July onwards, the teleworking declaration no longer has to be submitted.

For your information: from 27.06.2021 onwards, there is no longer an obligation to provide your employees with a certificate confirming the necessity of their presence in the company.

Temporary increase office costs – extension

As mentioned in our newsletter of 09/04/2021, you as an employer, have the possibility to grant your employees who work from home on a structural and regular basis a monthly lump sum indemnity of € 129.48 for office costs. This indemnity is exempt from taxes and social security contributions.

The federal government increased the monthly lump sum indemnity in the 2nd quarter of 2021, from € 129.48 to € 144.31. In a press release it was announced that this temporary increase will be extended to the 3rd quarter of 2021 (from 01.07.2021 to 30.09.2021). Please note that this measure has not yet been officially published.

Extension quota 475 hours for students in Q3 in 2021

In our previous newsletter on student work, we informed you that the hours worked by a student during the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2021 (so from 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2021) in the health care and education sector were not counted towards the annual quota of 475 hours.

In the meantime, a draft act has been published that brings more clarity about student work in the 3rd quarter of 2021 (so from 01.07.2021 to 30.09.2021). The hours a student will work during the 3rd quarter will not count towards the quota of 475 hours. This will allow students to work more than 475 hours with the lower solidarity contribution on a yearly basis. This measure will apply to all students in all sectors (so not only to sectors that were mandatory closed in the past months due to COVID-19). The purpose of this measure is to support the whole economy in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Please note that it concerns a draft act. The official law has not yet been published.

When an employee uses his own car to travel for professional purposes, the employer can reimburse him for the costs incurred.

It is not necessary to be able to prove the exact amount of these costs as the authorities have fixed a maximum lump sum per kilometre that is accepted as a cost proper to the employer. It follows that no taxes and social security contributions are payable for the mileage allowance if the maximum is not exceeded.

This amount is adjusted every year.

The new amount applicable from July 1, 2021 until June 30, 2022 equals € 0.3707 per kilometre.

As a reminder: the amount that was applicable from July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2021 was € 0.3542 per kilometre. Note that there is an increase compared to the previous amount.

An additional condition is that the number of kilometres per year should not be abnormally high (max. 24.000 kilometres per year). If the number of kilometres is higher, proof must be furnished.

This amount is a maximum amount. Employers can reimburse the driven kilometres at a lower rate without any discussion. A higher reimbursement is also possible, but in that case the burden of proof lies with the employer and the employee. They should be able to prove that the allowance granted is in line with the actual cost.

As mentioned in our newsletter of March 29, 2021 the Belgian government has introduced a mandatory electronic registration system where employers must provide a number of data about telework.

Originally, it was communicated that the telework declaration had to be submitted on a monthly basis. However, the social security authorities (RSZ/ONSS) have recently changed their position. If your number of persons working in the company and your number of “non-teleworkable” functions remain the same for the month of June compared to your last declaration, you do not have to file a declaration in June.

If your number of persons and/or your number of “non-teleworkable” functions does change in the month of June compared to your last declaration, you are still obliged to file the telework declaration. Make sure to submit the declaration for the month of June in due time. The declaration should be filed no later than June 6.

You can submit the declaration via the web portal of the social security authorities (RSZ/ONSS): Corona Telework Declaration

If you are unable to submit the declaration yourself, you can call upon your Payroll Business Partner. In that case, please provide us with the following information:

• Number of persons working in the company
  The number including independent consultants, seconded staff, subcontractors, temporary workers, security personnel, etc.
• Number of persons for whom teleworking is not possible.
  Names of persons are not necessary, the number is sufficient.

Functions for which teleworking is impossible are those functions that, by their nature, cannot be performed at home. More specifically, it concerns blue-collar workers in a production environment, reception staff, sales representatives, courier services etc.

For your information: provide your employees who are present at the workplace, whether exceptionally or not, with a certificate confirming the necessity of the employee’s presence in the company. Make sure to provide this certificate even if you do not need to file a new telework declaration in June. If wished for, Pro-Pay can provide you with an example of such a certificate.

On February 1, 2021, the subscription fees for the train (NMBS/SNCB) and the bus (TEC/De Lijn) have been increased. In this newsletter, we would like to inform you of the impact of these increases for you as an employer.

We repeat in a nutshell the general principles that determine whether you, as an employer, are obliged to contribute to the commuting costs of your employees:

• For employees who come to work by public transport, the employer is obliged to pay a contribution. Before July 1, 2020, the employer only had to contribute if the employee travelled more than 5 kilometers to work by bus, tram, metro or waterbus. Since July 1, 2020, this contribution applies as from the 1st kilometer.
• All employers are subject to a minimum contribution, laid down at the level of the National Labour Council (CNT/NAR). Within the National Labour Council, a collective bargaining agreement was concluded that determines the employer’s contribution based on lump sums. These amounts have remained unchanged since July 1, 2019.
• For employees who come to work by their own means of transport (car, bicycle,…), it should be checked whether a contribution has been determined at sector level.

As you can read below, increases of the fares of the public transport companies do not affect every employer.

Train

As from February 1, 2021, the NMBS/SNCB increased the fee of the commuting train season tickets by 1,95%.

Whether you, as an employer, have to contribute to this increase in fares, depends on the joint industrial committee (sector) to which your company belongs, and the collective labour agreements that were concluded in this joint industrial committee:

1. Your sector does not stipulate anything about the contribution to commuting costs or refers to the general minimum regulation provided for by the National Labour Council: your contribution does not increase, as the lump sums remained unchanged.
2. Your sector provides for the employer’s contribution to be equal to a percentage of the actual rail fares: your contribution will increase.
3. You make use of a third-party payer agreement whereby you as an employer pay a contribution of 80% of the actual price of the train season ticket to the train company and the state pays the remaining 20%: your contribution will increase.

Metro, tram, bus, waterbus

Does your employee travel to work by metro, tram, bus or waterbus? First of all, check whether your sector has stipulated anything for this reimbursement.

If your sector does not stipulate anything, the price increases will have an impact on your contribution to the commuting costs, depending on which of the following regulations applies:

• Is the reimbursement of the transport linked to the distance travelled? Then the employer’s contribution is calculated on the basis of the fixed lump sums of the railway transport, but the contribution is limited to 75% of the actual transport cost.
• Is the reimbursement of the transport not linked to the distance? The contribution of the employer is 71,80% of the actual transport cost, not exceeding the lump sum provided for the train for a distance of 7 kilometers.

Private transport

Does your employee come to work using his own car, bike or by foot?

A mandatory contribution to private transport is not provided for by the National Labour Council. Therefore, the employer’s contribution for private transport is often provided for at sectoral or company level. If your sector refers to the lump sums of the railway transport, your employer’s contribution will not increase. However, some sectors refer to a percentage of the actual train fares. In this case, the employer’s contribution to the commuting costs will increase.

Combined public transport

Your employee combines the train with one or more other means of public transport?First of all, check the regulations in your sector.

If your sector does not stipulate anything and if only one ticket has been provided for the whole distance, the employer’s contribution is calculated on the basis of the established lump sums of the railway transport. If several tickets are provided, the employer’s contribution must be calculated separately for each means of public transport. These employer contributions must be added together.

Conclusion

The increase in the public transport fares does not necessarily mean an increase in cost for you as an employer. A lot depends on the rules that apply in your sector. Please check for your employees who come to work by public transport whether a reimbursement is applied as from the 1st kilometer.

Each year in January, salaries are adjusted to the cost of living for employees of companies subject to Joint Industrial Committee 200 (JIC 200). In Belgium, this is referred to as the indexation of salaries.

This indexation is a mechanism whereby salaries are linked to the evolution of the flattened health index. The monthly salary is more specifically increased by a percentage equal to the inflation rate of the previous calendar year. The indexation system as foreseen by JIC 200 is applicable to all employees falling under the scope of this Joint Industrial Committee.

Based on current forecasts, we expect that the indexation percentage for January 2021 will be approximately 1,07%.

We will inform you once the exact indexation percentage is known (early January 2021).

Furthermore, we wish to inform you that in 2021, negotiations will be organized at sector level, with a view on concluding an agreement regarding the salary conditions in JIC 200. These agreements will be concluded based on the wage norm as determined at federal and intersector level. In other words: in 2021, you may expect a collective labour agreement for JIC 200 for the years 2021-2022, that may provide in an increase of purchasing power for the employees, as was the case in the previous sector agreement. We will inform you about the wage norm and the results of the negotiations in JIC 200 in 2021 as soon as we know more.

As of October 1, parents will no longer be able to use corona parental leave to take care of their children. As there are currently no plans to extend this type of leave, some parents find themselves in a difficult situation when their children have to stay home because the school or day care have been closed to prevent the further spreading of the coronavirus. These parents will be able to benefit from temporary unemployment due to force majeure, under certain conditions.

At the moment, a legislative proposal to this end has been approved in parliament, but the actual law has not yet been published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The law will have retroactive effect as from October 1, 2020 onwards.

Conditions

If the employee has a (child) care issue, he or she will be able to benefit from temporary unemployment force majeure, when he or she is in one of the following situations:

• A minor he or she lives with cannot go to school or the nursery, because the school or nursery is closed in order to prevent the further spreading of the coronavirus;
• He/she has a dependent disabled child that, regardless of its age, cannot go to the care centre as this care centre is closed in order to limit the spreading of the coronavirus.

If the employee falls under the scope of one of these two cases, he/she can benefit from temporary unemployment due to force majeure during the period of closure of the nursery, school or care facility, based on a certificate “corona closure”. This certificate, that needs to be completed by the nursery, the school or the care facility, can be found on the website of the Unemployment Office (RVA/ONEM): Attest sluiting Corona

The employee benefitting from this right must immediately inform his or her employer. He/she has to ask the competent institution (nursery, school or care center) to complete the corona closure certificate, which, among others, includes the period of closure. He/she must complete his/her part of the certificate and sign it. He/she should give the completed and signed certificate to his/her employer as soon as possible.

Procedure

The application procedure is similar to the procedure we discussed in our newsletter of August 6, 2020. A distinction must be made between companies that have been “severely impacted” by the coronacrisis, and the companies that are not considered as such.

We therefore refer to our newsletter of August 6, 2020, for the procedure for severely impacted companies: Temporary unemployment as from September 1. For this specific case, the employer must additionally keep the corona closure certificate at the disposal of the Unemployment Office, that might request this for inspection.

A company that is not considered to be “severely impacted”, has to apply the “classic” procedure of temporary unemployment force majeure. The following formalities should be complied with:

• Notify the force majeure via the electronic application www.socialsecurity.be mentioning as a reason “corona – opvang kind wegens sluiting” (Dutch) / « Corona – Garde d’enfant en raison de fermeture » (French);
• Send the corona closure certificate (via post or e-mail) to the department Temporary unemployment of the competent Unemployment Office;
• Deliver a C3.2A-form to the employee concerned;
• Introduce an electronic declaration ASR-scenario 2 and an ASR-scenario 5.

The employee has to introduce his/her own declaration with the payment institution of his/her choice in order to receive the allowances.

! As explained, this concerns a legislative proposal that has not yet been published. The Unemployment Office’s FAQ however, have already been updated to include these new rules, so we expect the law to be published soon.

As 2020 is gradually coming to an end, we want to provide you with an overview of the Belgian public holidays for 2021, and a reminder of the rules applicable to replacement days.

Public holidays in 2021

• New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1st 2021
• Easter Monday – Monday, April 5th 2021
• Labour Day – Saturday, May 1st 2021
• Ascension Day – Thursday, May 13th 2021
• Whit Monday – Monday, May 24th 2021
• Belgian National Holiday – Wednesday, July 21st 2021
• Assumption Day – Sunday, August 15th 2021
• All Saints’ Day – Monday November 1st 2021
• Armistice Day – Thursday, November 11th 2021
• Christmas – Saturday, December 25th 2021

Applicable rules

If a public holiday falls on a Sunday or another day which is normally a non-working day (usually a Saturday), it must be replaced by a replacement day on a normal working day. In theory, in Belgium, employees cannot work on public holidays. The employer, however, is obliged to pay the employee a normal salary for that holiday.
In the list above, the public holidays that fall on a non-working day in the course of 2021, have been marked in bold. Employees are entitled to three replacement days in 2021: one for Labour Day (1 May), Assumption Day (15 August) and Christmas (25 December).

The law of January 4, 1974 provides for the manner in which replacement days should be determined. In theory, the Joint Industrial Committee competent for each sector, may decide when replacement days shall fall, but we don’t see this very often in practice. If the Joint Industrial Committee has not taken its decision before October 1, 2020, each company may decide for itself when the replacement days for its employees will fall in 2021. The company may take that decision in one of the following ways:

• By the Works Council;
• If the company has no Works Council, by agreement between the union representatives and the employer;
• If the company has a Works Council nor union representatives, by agreement between all the employees and the employer;
• If no agreement can be reached for the whole company, individual agreements may be drawn up between the employer and each employee.

If replacement days cannot be decided upon using one of the solutions above, they automatically fall on the next normal working day following the public holiday (usually a Monday).
Employers must inform their employees of the replacement days for 2021 by displaying a signed and dated document on the company premises before December 15, 2020.

A sample of such a document can be obtained from your payroll administrator at Pro-Pay.

The summer holidays are over and school has started again, so about time to list all the regional principles regarding educational leave.

What is the scope?

Paid educational leave gives the employee the right to follow an approved training course and to be absent from work while keeping his/her entitlement to salary. Not each and every training course opens the right to educational leave. However, the training does not necessarily need to be linked to the employment activities exercised by the employee for the employer.

Since September 1, 2019, the Flemish, Walloon and Brussels regions have been able to set their own policy priorities. In Flanders, ‘Flemish training leave’ has replaced paid educational leave. In order to determine the competent region for this type of leave, you need to check where the seat of business is located where the employee is employed. This is the address/location as mentioned on the DmfA declaration for the National Social Security Office. The employee’s place of residence or the place where the training is followed are not the determining factors to decide whether there exists a right to educational leave.

With this newsletter we wish to explain the general system and the regional differences of training leave and we discuss the effects of COVID-19. We limit ourselves in the present overview to the rules and regulations of the three biggest regions.

Which employees are involved?

All employees from the private sector working on a full-time basis. Certain part-time working employees are also entitled to this type of leave.

Does this apply to all courses?

No. Only training courses approved by the authorities are eligible, but there are regional differences when it comes to these approvals.

Through the links below you can verify if a training is approved in the region where your employee is employed. Unfortunately enough, these databases are not available in English.

• Flemish region: https://www.vlaanderen.be/opleidingsdatabank
• Brussels: http://werk-economie-emploi.brussels/nl_BE/betaald-educatief-verlof-opleiding
• Walloon region: https://emploi.wallonie.be/home/formation/conge-education-paye.html
• German region: http://www.ostbelgienbildung.be/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2342/4465_read-32012/

Can the employer refuse the request for leave?

No, the employee has the right to take training leave and the employer cannot refuse. The days of absence however need to be planned in mutual consent between the employer and the employee.

How many hours of leave can the employee apply for?

This depends on the specific training course the employee follows.

How does the employee apply?

The employee must submit a proof of enrollment to the employer by October 31. In the event of a change of employer or in case of a registration for a training course during the year, this certificate or proof must be delivered within 15 days after the change of employer or registration.

When the employee follows a training course in the Brussels or Walloon region, (s)he needs to hand over a ‘certificate of accuracy’ to the employer on a quarterly basis. In the Flemish region, the employee is no longer required to hand over this certificate of accurate presence to the employer. The institution where the employee follows the training has to register the presence of the employee online. The employer will be able to consult these data on the digital platform of the Flemish government. If the employee does not follow the lessons punctually and therefore has taken more leave than (s)he is entitled to, (s)he will receive less training leave the next time (s)he wishes to register for a training course.

When does the leave need to be taken?

In the Walloon and Brussels region, the days of absence need to be taken between the start and the end date of the course. In the Flemish region, the employee has a little more time: the days of absence need to be taken between the day before the start date of the course and two days after the end date, or after the final exam.

Who’s paying?

The employee who is absent in the framework of educational leave receives his/her normal wage from the employer, but the latter can limit this to 2.928 EUR gross per month for full-time employees. This is the ceiling for school year 2019-2020. This amount will most likely stay the same for school year 2020-2021, but is yet to be confirmed by Royal Decree.

The employer can reclaim part of the salary paid during training leave from the Walloon, Brussels or Flemish government, depending on the region where the employee is employed. The employer can claim 21,30 EUR per hour of absence from the concerning regional government. This amount has remained unchanged for several years and we do not expect this to change for 2020-2021.

The deadlines for submitting the file to claim a reimbursement are very strict and vary by region:

• The Brussels region: The files must be submitted between September 1 and December 31 of the school year following the school year for which reimbursement is requested. So in order to obtain a reimbursement for the hours of absence of the employees for school year 2019-2020, the file must be submitted no later than December 31, 2020. As from this school year, the file can be submitted online.
• The Walloon region: The request can be submitted until March 31 of the school year following the school year for which reimbursement is requested. This means that reimbursement requests for school year 2019-2020 can be submitted until March 31, 2021.
• The Flemish region: you only have 3 months after the start of the course to claim compensation. If your employee has started a training in September 2020 in the framework of Flemish training leave, the file must be submitted before December 31, 2020.

And COVID-19?

The courses that were followed online between March 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020, are assimilated in the 3 regions with effective hours of attendance.

In the Flemish region, a system of ‘blended learning’ has been introduced for the upcoming school year 2020-2021, in which both physical presence and online learning are possible.

What can Pro-Pay do for you?

Pro-Pay can file the applications for (partial) reimbursement of the salary with the competent authorities on your behalf.

Please contact your Payroll Business Partner for more detailed information.