Statutory notice period
The minimum notice an employer must give. Contracts and collective agreements can lengthen it and only rarely shorten it, and the tenure bands are where cross-border assumptions usually go wrong.
One employer-side schedule for blue- and white-collar alike since the unified status of 2014, in weeks and driven by service length alone. Transitional two-step sums apply to service predating 2014.
| Service | Employer notice | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 months of service | 1 week | starts the Monday after the week in which notice is given |
| 3 to under 6 months | 3 to 5 weeks, one more week per further started month | |
| 6 to under 24 months | 6 to 11 weeks, one more week per further started quarter | |
| 2 years | 12 weeks | |
| 3 years | 13 weeks | |
| 4 years | 15 weeks | |
| 5 to 19 years | 18 weeks at 5 years, rising by 3 weeks per further started year to 60 weeks at 19 years | |
| From 20 years | 62 weeks, rising by 1 week per further started year | |
| Contracts whose performance begins on or after 1 June 2026 | capped at 52 weeks once 17 years of service are reached |
Dismissal without notice is valid on payment of an indemnity equal to the pay for the missing period. For contracts beginning on or after 1 August 2026 the notice either side must give is capped at 1 week during the first six months. An employee who resigns follows a shorter ladder topping out at 13 weeks.
Source: Loi du 3 juillet 1978 relative aux contrats de travail, texte, LegiSocial, statutory text; Délais de préavis pour travailleurs en service depuis le 1er janvier 2014, Securex Lex4You, updated June 2026. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Minimum paid annual leave
The statutory floor for paid holiday. The counting basis matters as much as the number, since some laws count a six-day week and others count working days or calendar weeks.
4 weeks per year.
Twenty days in the common five-day week, twenty-four in a six-day regime. The entitlement is built through work in the previous calendar year, so a first year with a new status can be incomplete, and it carries double holiday pay on top of normal salary when taken.
Source: Vacances annuelles, securitesociale.be, portail officiel de la sécurité sociale belge. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Probation limit
The longest trial period the law allows an employer to agree, together with the notice that applies while it runs.
No probation period; the trial clause was abolished for ordinary contracts in 2014
Trial clauses written into ordinary contracts concluded from 2014 are void. Student and temporary-agency contracts keep a statutory trial of the first 3 working days, during which either side may end the contract without notice or indemnity.
What replaces it in practice are the short notice bands at the start of service. For contracts beginning on or after 1 August 2026, an amendment published in June 2026 caps notice at 1 week during the first six months, restoring a trial window in effect if not in name.
Source: La période d'essai, SPF Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale; Le retour de la période d'essai, Attentia, on the amendment published 15 June 2026. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Employer social contributions
What the employer pays on top of gross salary into statutory schemes. Some countries charge a percentage of pay, others charge flat amounts, and a single headline rate hides caps, regional rules and industry-rated items.
Figures apply for 2026.
| Scheme | Rate, per cent of pay | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Global social security contribution, employer, profit sectorFacial rate since the 2018 tax shift, wage moderation included; the automatic structural reduction lowers the effective rate, most strongly for low wages. The ceiling is the base amount introduced in mid-2025 and is indexed; special contributions and the employee share stay uncapped. | 25 | pay up to 85,000 EUR per quarter |
| Annual vacation contribution for blue-collar workersBlue-collar only, counted on wages at 108 per cent, financing their holiday pay through the national vacation office. White-collar holiday pay is carried directly by the employer instead. | 15.84 | the whole salary, with no ceiling |
Employers averaging ten or more workers pay a supplement of well over one per cent, and a small work-accident levy applies across the private sector. Sector security-of-existence funds, the company-closure fund, work-accident insurance bought from private insurers, the levy on extra-legal pension premiums and the white-collar double holiday pay are further employer costs outside the table.
Source: Cotisations déclarées, ONSS, Office national de sécurité sociale; Cotisations sociales, deuxième trimestre 2026, FEB/VBO, citing the ONSS administrative instructions; Cotisations ONSS: le plafonnement des salaires élevés confirmé à 85.000 € par trimestre, De Gand & Partners, on the loi-programme du 18 juillet 2025 and its arrêté royal du 6 octobre 2025. Checked on 2026-07-27.