In the scope of the current COVID-19 crisis, the Belgian government recently approved some new support measures. Apart from that, it was announced that a number of existing support measures will be extended. In this newsletter, we outline the measures that are currently known.

In view of the frequency of these government decisions, we wish to emphasize that this newsletter reflects the state of affairs on June 19, 2020.
Given the fact that the majority of the measures has not yet been executed in legislation, we will inform you about the underlying source of the information on each topic.

Extension of existing support measures

Temporary unemployment corona force majeure extended until August 31

In response to the corona crisis, a simplified procedure to apply for temporary unemployment due to force majeure was introduced. This simplified procedure was valid until April 5 and has been gradually extended until June 30, 2020.

The government has decided in the meantime to extend this type of temporary unemployment until August 31, 2020 (included). The National Unemployment Office (RVA/ONEM) confirms this extension on their website. The procedure and conditions as explained in our previous newsletters have remained the same.

Corona parental leave extended until September 30

In our newsletter of May 5, we informed you about the introduction of a corona parental leave, allowing employees with children to find a better balance between work and the care of their children in the months of May and June.

This corona parental leave will be extended until September 30, 2020. For single parents and families having a child with a disability, the allowance will be increased with 150%. It is not yet possible to file an application with the RVA/ONEM for the summer months and the month of September, as the legislative framework is missing at this moment. In our opinion, it is possible to already start making arrangements with your employees regarding their intended corona parental leave, should you wish to do so. In that case, we would recommend to conclude an agreement that the corona parental leave is subject to the supporting legislation being published.

Introduction of new support measures

New type of temporary unemployment: “transitional” economic unemployment

The current type of temporary unemployment based on force majeure due to Corona is a special type of temporary unemployment that was specifically created to face the crisis many companies were and are still suffering from. When the current type of temporary unemployment will come to an end on August 31, the government wishes to introduce a transitional type of temporary unemployment being a “transitional” economic unemployment. Companies with a decrease in revenue of at least 10% will be able to make use of this type of unemployment of which the conditions, formalities and period are not yet known. The government mentioned in her communication that employees in this transitional system would be required to follow 2 days of training during each month of unemployment.

Consumption voucher

In view of increasing the purchasing power of employees, the government introduces a new type of voucher: the consumption voucher. This voucher is worth (maximum) 300 EUR and could be used by the employees in the sectors of industry that are most affected by the current crisis, such as the restaurant business and the cultural sector. Similar to the meal voucher and the eco voucher, no social security contributions or taxes would be due. Employers are not obliged to provide this voucher to their employees.

The conditions and formalities of this voucher are not yet known as the legal framework still needs to be drafted.

Temporary unemployment assimilated for holiday entitlement

According to the Belgian legislation, employees accrue holiday rights based on their performance in the preceding calendar year, also referred to as the holiday reference year. A number of absence types are assimilated for the entitlement to holidays and are thus considered days worked. For the absence of the employee due to temporary Corona unemployment, no assimilation was foreseen, resulting in a negative impact on the employee’s holiday entitlement in 2021.

A Royal Decree of June 4, 2020 has changes this rule. The days of temporary unemployment due to Corona that have taken place between February 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020 will be assimilated for the 2021 holiday entitlement.

Warning! For employees who remain temporary unemployed due to Corona after June 30, 2020, no assimilation is foreseen so far.

Extended right to maternity leave

In the period preceding the birth, a pregnant employee is entitled to 6 weeks of prenatal leave, of which 1 week is a mandatory week that needs to be taken as from the 7th day before the expected delivery date. An employee who continued to work from the 6th week until the 2nd week before the birth can extend her period of 9 weeks of postnatal leave by carrying over the days she worked in that period.

With retroactive effect as from March 1, 2020, periods of inability to work due to illness and temporary unemployment due to force majeure or due to economic reasons will be equalized with working days. This was not the case in the past, resulting in a shorter postnatal leave for the employee as she was unable to carry over these days.

This change is the result of a Law of June 12, 2020 that was published in the Belgian State Gazette of yesterday, June 18, 2020. This law is not limited to a certain period and thus enters into force for an unlimited period of time.

As of July 1, 2020, a couple of changes apply in joint industrial committee 200 (JIC 200) when it comes to the employer contribution in the commuting travel. As June is also the month in which the eco vouchers and the annual premium are being paid, we’d like to inform you on what the impact of temporary unemployment might be on these benefits.

Bicycle allowance

As of July 1, 2020, a mandatory bicycle allowance of €0,10 is due per actual cycled kilometer (maximum 40 km per day round trip). This bicycle allowance is only due for employees who use their bike on a regular basis for their commuting travel and cannot be combined with other contributions to support the commuting travel, with the exception of the employer contribution for public transport.

Employees who wish to claim the bicycle allowance will need to provide their employer with a signed declaration stating that they regularly use the bike for commuting travel.

Public transport, other than the train

Up to now, an employer had to contribute to the cost of the employee for the use of public transport other than the train for commuting travel, if the distance between home and work was at least 3 kilometers.
On July 1, 2020, this minimum distance will be decreased to 1 kilometer.

Impact temporary unemployment Corona on yearly premium and eco vouchers

The month of June is the month when the eco vouchers are granted and the annual premium foreseen in JIC 200 is paid, unless the employer decided to replace these benefits by providing an equivalent benefit on company level.

In order to determine whether the employees are entitled to the full amount of eco vouchers (€250) or the full annual premium (€265,12), one needs to look at the working days of the employee performed between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020 (the reference period). Some of the employee’s absences in that period will be considered as days worked, whereas other absences will not be assimilated.

The days of temporary unemployment force majeure due to Corona are not assimilated for the calculation of the annual premium and the eco vouchers, resulting in a possible decrease of the amounts based on the number of days of temporary unemployment in the reference period.
The employer can nevertheless decide on a company level to assimilate the period of temporary unemployment to actual days of work.

Points of action?

• Check which employees cycle to work and ask them to provide you with a written declaration concerning their commuting travel by bike and the distance they cycle.
• Check whether you have employees travelling less than 3 kilometers to work and whether they are entitled to a contribution in their costs for public transport.
• Inform your Payroll Business Partner if there are employees who are entitled to a bicycle allowance or an employer contribution for public transport.
• Inform your Payroll Business Partner if you wish to assimilate periods of temporary unemployment force majeure due to Corona for the entitlement to eco vouchers or the yearly premium. Without feedback from your side, the rules as provided for by the collective labour agreements will be applied.

A recently adopted legislative proposal aims to suspend from now on the notice period during a period of temporary unemployment force majeure Corona. This change would also be applicable to employees who were dismissed before the publication of the act and are currently performing a notice period.

It is very likely that this law will be approved in the upcoming days. In this newsletter, we briefly reiterate the principles concerning the suspension of the notice period. We’ll also give you more information about the intended legislative change.

We will of course keep you updated on further developments regarding this legislative proposal.

Notice period and suspension of the notice period

If the employer terminates the employment contract with a notice period, the employee will continue to perform his activities during the notice period, while receiving his usual salary for the performed work. The employment contract therefore only takes an end at the end of the notice period.

However, in the event of a number of specified absences of the employee during the notice period, the employment contract as well as the notice period are suspended (illness, holidays, etc.). That means that the notice period stops during the suspension period and is extended with the duration of that suspension.
Other absences, such as public holidays, do not suspend the notice period.

Example: an employee is dismissed with a notice period of 4 weeks, starting on Monday 18.05.2020. As a rule, the notice period of 4 weeks would last from Monday 18.05 until Sunday 14.06 included. The public holidays of Thursday 21.05 (Assumption) and Monday 01.06 (Whit Monday) do not suspend the notice period.
However: the employee is ill for 3 days during the notice period. The notice period will therefore be suspended and extended with 3 days. The notice period will now end on Wednesday 17.06 instead of 14.06 (3 days later than initially foreseen).

Current legislation

Many employers are currently using the regime of temporary unemployment force majeure Corona (hereinafter “Corona unemployment”), which suspends the employment contracts of their employees.

According to current legislation, the notice period is not suspended during Corona unemployment. The notice period therefore continues during Corona unemployment and consequently, the employment contract can end during Corona unemployment.

Legislative proposal

The government fears that this would lead to “cheap” dismissals during Corona unemployment. For that reason, a legislative proposal was introduced in order to suspend the notice period in case of Corona unemployment.

The new act would be applicable as from publication in the Belgian Official Gazette and would also apply to employees whose notice period is still ongoing at the moment of publication. For those employees, the new provision would apply with retroactive effect as from 01.03.2020.

Consequences for you as an employer

This legislative proposal not only applies to future dismissals with a notice period, but also to notice periods you have already notified in the past and that are ongoing at the moment. For the employees who were given notice and who are/were unemployed due to Corona, the notice period will thus nevertheless be suspended during all periods of Corona unemployment as from 01.03.2020.

If the employee’s notice period has already ended before the publication of the act in the Belgian Official Gazette, nothing changes: the employment contract has come to an end.

So keep this in mind if your employees are on Corona unemployment and you dismiss or have recently dismissed an employee with a notice period.

The above information is subject to the final legislative text that will be published in the Belgian Official Gazette.

As mentioned in our previous newsletters, in March, the Belgian government introduced the possibility to apply for temporary unemployment for employees, using a simplified procedure.

This simplified procedure could initially be used up to May 31, but has now been extended until June 30. For more information about this procedure, we refer to our previous newsletter of April 8, or you can contact your Payroll Business Partner at Pro-Pay.

On May 2, 2020, the Council of Ministers approved the introduction of a special type of parental leave, also referred to as the corona parental leave. This temporary type of leave needs to allow parents to ensure a better combination of work and the care for children in the months of May and June. Given the fact that the Ministerial decision will most probably only be published in the Belgian State Gazette by May 12, the present newsletter is based on information published by the Belgian unemployment office (RVA/ONEM) and what has been communicated in the press by the Minister of Work.

Modalities

Provided that they have the preliminary approval of their employer, employees can decrease their working time in the months of May and June 2020 to take care of a child younger than 12. The corona parental leave is in other words not a right for the employee.

The corona parental leave can be taken as follows:

• Full-time employees can reduce their working time by half or by 20%
• Employees working minimum 75% of a full-time working schedule can ask for a half-time reduction of their working time

The employee will be able to ask corona parental leave for the whole period at once or, alternatively, per month or per week.

Employees who are currently already benefitting from parental leave in the normal regime will be able to change their current leave to corona leave or to suspend their current parental leave to apply for corona leave instead. The use of corona parental leave does not have an impact on the period during which an employee can benefit from the normal parental leave. It comes in other words on top of the existing parental leave.

Conditions

1. The employee must have been working for the current employer for at least one month.
2. The leave can be taken by all parents (including foster parents) who have at least one child younger than 12 at the moment of the application (younger than 21 years in case of a child with a handicap).
3. The corona parental leave needs to be taken between May 1 and June 30, 2020.

Application procedure

The employee needs to apply in writing for the corona parental leave with the employer at the latest 3 working days preceding the intended starting date of the leave. There are no formalities linked to the document so an application by e-mail is acceptable. Within 6 working days and in any case before the intended starting date of the leave, the employer needs to inform the employee of the decision taken regarding the corona parental leave.

Following the approval of the employer, the employee can file his or her application (online) with the Unemployment Office.

! Given the fact that the legislation regarding the corona parental leave has not been published yet, it is not possible at this moment to file the application with the Unemployment Office.
According to the Minister of Work, employer and employee can however already come to an agreement regarding the modalities of the corona parental leave and can already start applying the leave, as the legislation would have retroactive effect as from May 1, 2020 onwards.

In the framework of the corona crisis, the government has announced that the hours a student performs between April 1 and June 30, 2020, will not be counted towards the annual quota of 475 hours. What does this mean? And what exactly are the conditions for student work?

A perfect time to outline the basic principles of student work before the start of the summer and potentially busier times upon an exit from the lockdown. In this newsletter, we will also address two more recent developments regarding student work: the obligation of the employer to have a copy of the enrolment certificate of the student and the expansion of the number of “NSSO-advantageous” hours of student work in the framework of the corona crisis.

Who is eligible for student work?

A student has to be at least 16 years old (15 years if he completed the first two years of secondary school) and has to follow a full-time training curriculum. Someone following an evening class is not considered eligible for student work.

A student finishing school in June and graduating, can work with a student contract until September 30 of the same year.

The student can work a maximum of 12 subsequent months.

Lower solidarity contribution for student work and quota of 475 hours

Under certain conditions, student work is exempt from normal social security contributions. Student work is subject to a much lower solidarity contribution (5,42% for the employer and 2,71% for the student), provided that the following conditions are met:

• The student is employed in the framework of a priorly concluded written student agreement that contains certain legally mandatory provisions. The student contract is always a fixed-term contract (max. 12 months).
• The student works a maximum of 475 hours during the calendar year (the quota of 475 hours). If the student works more than 475 hours, the solidarity contribution is no longer applicable and regular social security contributions (as for a normal employee) will be due as from the 476th hour onwards.
  The student can consult the number of worked hours at Student@work. He or she can also download a certificate confirming the number of available hours of the quota. We highly recommend requesting this certificate in advance in order to be sure of the number of quota hours the student has left to work with the advantageous solidarity contribution.
• The student is only allowed to work during periods he/she does not have to be present at school.
• The employer has performed a specific Dimona declaration for students prior to the start of the employment. If you prefer your Payroll Business Partner to make this declaration, please inform him/her at least two working days before the start of the employment.

Salary and working conditions

You have to pay at least the minimum salary in the sector, as applicable to your other employees (or the minimum salaries on company level if more advantageous rules were agreed upon) to the student, unless the sector itself provides an exception for student work. For example, in JIC 200 (joint industrial committee for white-collar employees), specific minimum salaries are provided for students.

As a general rule, the same labour law rules are applicable to students as to a normal employee. For example, students also have to receive a copy of the working regulations when they start their employment.

Enrolment certificate

As an employer, you must be able to demonstrate that the person employed is actually a student. The NSSO therefore requires that you present the student’s enrolment certificate for the ongoing academic year upon their request.

Keeping that in mind, we highly recommend you to request the student to provide you with a copy of that enrolment certificate prior to the start of the employment and to keep this copy available at the company’s premises.

Extension quota 475 hours in Q2 2020 following the corona crisis

As indicated above, a student can work a maximum of 475 hours per calendar year with a lower solidarity contribution. In order to make it possible to use students to alleviate the increased work pressure in certain sectors due to the corona crisis, the government has decided that the hours a student works in the second quarter of 2020 (April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020) will not count towards the annual quota of 475 hours.

Students who work in Q2 will therefore be able to work more than 475 hours with the lower solidarity contribution in calendar year 2020. Please note that the web application of Student@work has not been adapted to the new rule yet.

This is applicable to all students, regardless of the sector in which they are employed. The other principles as mentioned above remain applicable (Dimona, student contract in writing etc).

What should you do as an employer?

Before the start of the student’s employment:

• Request enrolment certificate and certificate Student@work
• Sign student contract
• Perform Dimona declaration: inform Pro-Pay!

Upon start of employment: give the student a copy of the working regulations and ask him or her to sign an acknowledgement of receipt.

Recently, the Belgian government has announced new support measures as well as modifications of the current support measures in the framework of the corona crisis. We outline the measures that are currently known in this newsletter.

We cannot emphasize enough that the Belgian government adjusts these measures as much as every day. This newsletter reflects the state of affairs on April 17, 2020.

Simplified procedure temporary unemployment extended to May 31

As communicated in our newsletter of April 8, a simplified procedure to apply temporary unemployment due to force majeure for your employees has been introduced in response to the corona crisis. This procedure was valid until April 5, but has recently been extended until April 19.

In the meanwhile, the Unemployment Office (RVA/ONEM) has confirmed that the simplified procedure is extended until May 31, 2020. The procedures and conditions remain unchanged and are to be found in our newsletter of April 8.

Withholding tax

In our newsletter of March 23, we informed you that you are eligible for a two-month deferment of payment of the withholding tax for the months of February 2020 (deferment until 13 May 2020) and March 2020 (deferment until 15 June 2020).
This deferment has been extended to April. The payment period of the withholding tax of April 2020 has more specifically been prolonged to July 15, 2020.

If you wish to use the possibility of a deferment of payment, we explicitly ask you to contact your Payroll Business Partner at Pro-Pay.

Agreement social partners about proposal to modify medical certificate

The “Group of Ten”, a group composed of the most important employee and employer representatives, has reached an agreement about the adaptation of the rules regarding medical certificates and the guaranteed salary for ill employees.

The social partners have made the following suggestions:

• To split the medical certificate into two parts, so the GP can make the distinction between an employee who is ill and an employee who is obliged to stay at home, for example because a family member is infected with the corona virus.
  The ill employee will receive a guaranteed salary. The employee who is obliged to stay at home, has to work from home or will receive a temporary unemployment allowance if working from home is not possible.
• To align the illness benefits with the temporary unemployment allowances by increasing the illness benefits up to tot 70% of the (capped) gross salary.

This agreement still has to be confirmed by the federal government. We therefore have to wait for the effective implementation of this agreement.

Additional socio-economic measures

Lastly, the government has announced, among others, the following temporary measures in “critical” or “essential” sectors:

• 220 voluntary overtime hours that are during a limited period of time free from withholding tax and social security contributions in essential sectors;
• The temporary posting of employees to essential sectors;
• The employment of temporarily unemployed employees in critical sectors;
• The possibility to conclude subsequent short fixed-term employment contracts.

These measures have yet to be finalized. In addition, we expect that supplementary measures for all employers (e.g. with regard to the expansion of student work or the inclusion of asylum seekers) will be developed soon.

We now have to wait for the actual implementation of these measures in the form of a royal or ministerial decree. We will reach out to you as soon as we have more information.

The National Social Security Office (NSSO) has published in its administrative instructions a new amount, adjusted to the cost of living, for the reimbursement of office costs. This indemnity amounted to maximum €126,94 per month and will, as from April 1, be increased to maximum €129,48 per month.

Office costs and the NSSO

Employees working from home on a structural and regular basis can be granted an allowance by the employer for that homework. Given the fact that costs related to homework are relatively small and difficult to prove, the NSSO accepts to estimate these costs on a lump sum basis. For some costs, amongst which the indemnity for homework, the NSSO itself has determined acceptable lump sum amounts as well as the conditions that apply to grant these amounts.

The lump sum indemnity for office costs applied by the NSSO covers the costs for heating, electricity, small office equipment, insurances, …
The indemnity can be granted to employees who do not have a workspace at the company’s premises or, if they do have one, when it appears from the the employee’s function that he/she works from home on a regular basis.

To employees who did not use to work from home but are obliged to do so given the Covid-19 measures, the employer can grant this indemnity without the need to conclude a formal teleworking agreement. The indemnity can also be granted to employees working partially from home and being partially unemployed.

On top of the maximum office costs reimbursement of €129,48, the employer can also reimburse the following costs on a lump sum basis:

• €20 per month if the employee uses his/her own computer for professional purposes;
• ​€20 per month if the employee uses his/her private internet connection for professional purposes.

It goes without saying that these lump sum amounts can only be granted to the employee if the office and internet costs are not yet reimbursed by other means.

Please be informed that apart from the indemnity for office costs, the NSSO applies other ways of reimbursement of costs related to telework and homework that are not discussed in the present newsletter.

The tax authorities

The indemnity of €129,48 for office costs can be granted free from social security contributions if the conditions linked to the application are fulfilled. The tax authorities do not have a similar officially accepted lump sum amount for the reimbursement of office costs, but often tend to follow the point of view of the NSSO on the matter.

If you want to have certainty on a tax level whether a lump sum reimbursement will be accepted, a ruling will need to be applied for. The tax authorities’ Ruling Committee provides a simplified procedure to get a ruling specifically for telework during the current coronavirus pandemic.

As you could read in our previous newsletter, the Belgian government introduced the possibility to apply for temporary unemployment for employees, using a simplified procedure. This simplified procedure could initially be used up to the 6th of April but has been extended in the meantime until the 19th of April. It is worthwhile noting that this is only one of the measures taken by the Belgian government to face the current crisis so you might be able to benefit from other measures.
We cannot emphasize enough the fact that the Belgian government changes these support measures on a regular basis. This newsletter provides you with a status of affairs applicable on April 8th 2020.

Temporary unemployment

Under certain conditions, you can apply for temporary unemployment allowances for employees who can no longer be fully or partially employed. By applying temporary unemployment, you suspend the employment contract of your employee on a temporary basis.

Procedure

Not every employer can use the possibility of temporary unemployment. Only employers facing a direct impact of Covid-19 on their workforce, resulting in employees who can no longer or only partially execute their function, can use the special procedure of temporary unemployment.
Examples are: a shop being closed, sales representatives who can no longer visit their clients and do not have enough work to do from home, orders no longer being made, etc.

Not all employment contracts need to be suspended. Only for those employees who can no longer or only partially work because of their function, temporary unemployment can be used.

If you wish to apply temporary unemployment as an employer, a simplified procedure applies until the 19th of April 2020. It entails that you 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.

It is possible to suspend the employment contract either fully (the employee does no longer work) or partially (the employee works one or more days per week). In case the employee is partially unemployed, the employer determines how many days the employees can continue to work. The employees do not need to formally approve but obviously, they need to be informed upfront when they are supposed to work and when they will be unemployed. This information to the employees does not need to meet any formal requirements, an e-mail can be sufficient in some cases.

The unemployment allowance

The employee who is temporarily unemployed needs to contact his labour union (in case he/she is a member) or the “Auxiliary office for unemployment allowances” in order to open a file and be able to receive unemployment benefits. Opening a file with the Auxiliary office can be done online. The labour union or auxiliary office will transfer the unemployment allowance monthly to the bank account of the employee.

The allowance amounts to 70% of the gross monthly salary. The monthly salary being limited however to 2.754,76 EUR. On top of that, the unemployment office pays 5,63 EUR per day of unemployment. Both amounts are subject to 26,75% of withholding tax.

In some sectors of industry there is an additional obligation to pay a supplement on top of this unemployment allowance. Apart from that, it is possible for the employer to pay a supplement on a voluntary basis. This supplement can be granted free of social security contributions on the condition that the total of the unemployment allowance + the supplement(s) does not exceed the taxable salary earned by the employee in case he would have worked.

The employees who are partially unemployed continue to receive their salary for the days they work. Pay attention to the fact that employees who normally speaking have a lot of business travel and who only work from home in the present circumstances, will no longer be entitled to certain lump sum reimbursement of costs related to their travel.

Temporary unemployment days are equalized with working days in view of pension accrual. At this moment, there is no equalization yet for the accrual of holiday entitlement and holiday pay but based on what we read in the press, legislation is to be expected that will organize said equalization.

As far as the equalization is concerned for the year-end premium and other benefits granted on sector level, one needs to check what has been organized on the level of the joint industrial committee. It cannot be excluded that several sectors of industry will come to an agreement to equalize this exceptional period and consider the temporary unemployment as days of work, if this was not yet the case.