Public holidays 2027

Public holidays 2027 in Belgium: dates and rules

In 2027 three of the ten legal public holidays fall in the weekend: Labour Day, Assumption Day and Christmas Day. For those you get a replacement day. Below you find all dates, the rules from the public holidays act and what your sector agreement adds on top.

The ten legal public holidays of 2027

Three holidays fall in the weekend: for those you get a replacement day.

Date	Public holiday	Replacement day needed?
Friday 1 January 2027	New Year's Day	No
Monday 29 March 2027	Easter Monday	No
Saturday 1 May 2027	Labour Day	Yes, falls on a Saturday
Thursday 6 May 2027	Ascension Day	No
Monday 17 May 2027	Whit Monday	No
Wednesday 21 July 2027	Belgian National Day	No
Sunday 15 August 2027	Assumption Day	Yes, falls on a Sunday
Monday 1 November 2027	All Saints' Day	No
Thursday 11 November 2027	Armistice Day	No
Saturday 25 December 2027	Christmas Day	Yes, falls on a Saturday

When do you get a replacement day?

If a holiday falls on a Sunday or on a normal inactivity day in your company, such as Saturday in a five-day week, it is replaced by a normal activity day. So you always keep ten paid holidays a year.

Who chooses the replacement day follows a fixed order: first the joint committee, then the works council, then the union delegation, then an agreement with the employees and only after that an individual agreement between you and your employer. If nothing is agreed, the replacement day is the first normal activity day after the holiday.

Your employer must post the replacement days for 2027 in the company before 15 December 2026. If nothing is posted, check your work rules or ask your HR department.

You take the replacement days of 2027 in 2027 itself; carrying them over to 2028 is not allowed. You can also agree with your employer that you choose the replacement day freely, like a day of holiday.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, feestdagen: principe, vervangingsdagen, loon en inhaalrust (checked on 3 November 2026); Wet van 4 januari 1974 betreffende de feestdagen (Justel) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, leg tijdig de vervangende feestdagen in 2027 vast (5 oktober 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Your pay on a public holiday

For a holiday or replacement day you receive the pay you would have earned had you worked, premiums and benefits in kind included. With an hourly wage that is your hourly rate times the hours lost; with piece rates it is the average of the two weeks before.

If you are absent without justification on the working day right before or right after the holiday, you lose the pay for that holiday.

If you are ill, have a work accident or are on maternity leave, you keep your holiday pay for the holidays in the first 30 days of that absence. For other suspensions of your contract, for instance force majeure, it is 14 days.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, feestdagen: principe, vervangingsdagen, loon en inhaalrust (checked on 3 November 2026); Koninklijk besluit van 18 april 1974 tot bepaling van de algemene wijze van uitvoering van de wet van 4 januari 1974 betreffende de feestdagen (Justel) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Working on a holiday: compensatory rest and supplement

Working on a holiday is only allowed where the labour act also allows Sunday work, for instance in full-continuous shifts. If you work more than four hours you get a full day of compensatory rest; four hours or less, half a day. That rest falls within six weeks after the holiday, on a day you would normally work.

The law provides no supplement for normal hours on a holiday. A supplement comes from your sector agreement or your work rules. Overtime on a holiday does carry a legal 100 percent overtime premium.

Holidays after you leave

If you worked for your employer between 15 days and one month, they still pay one holiday falling within 14 days after your last day. If you worked longer than a month, they pay all holidays within 30 days after you leave.

That right lapses if you resigned without urgent cause or if your employer dismissed you for urgent cause. It also stops as soon as you start with a new employer.

11 July, 27 September and 15 November

The holidays of the Flemish, French and German-speaking Communities are not legal holidays. They are only mandatory in sectors or companies that made them a day off; the FPS cites the assembly of bridges and metal frameworks in JC 111 as an example. In 2027, 11 July falls on a Sunday, 27 September and 15 November on a Monday.

Sources: Securex Lex4You, leg tijdig de vervangende feestdagen in 2027 vast (5 oktober 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, feestdagen: principe, vervangingsdagen, loon en inhaalrust (checked on 3 November 2026)

Extra holidays and bridge days per joint committee

What the sector agreement grants on top of the ten legal holidays. A company agreement or your work rules can add more.

Joint committee	Sector	On top of the legal holidays
JC 111	Metal, blue-collar	No extra holiday for the whole sector. Sub-sectors do have one: those assembling bridges and metal frameworks get a paid day for the community holiday (agreement of 21 November 2011); in the Centre region a paid day on 27 September; in the Waasland five additional days of leave.
JC 112	Garages	No extra holiday found in the sector's agreement guide; the sector does grant seniority leave, paid under the rules of the royal decree of 18 April 1974.
JC 116	Chemicals, blue-collar	Only the ten legal holidays. Those working 40 hours a week do get 12 compensatory rest days a year for the working time reduction.
JC 118	Food, blue-collar (meat sub-sector sheet)	Only the ten legal holidays; no extra holiday or bridge day in the agreement sheet.
JC 124	Construction	12 compensatory rest days a year, paid by Constructiv, to get from 40 to an average of 38 hours. For 2027 the six agreement days are fixed: 30 and 31 March and 28 to 31 December in Flanders and the German-speaking municipalities, 4 and 5 May and 28 to 31 December in Wallonia; the six days from the royal decree were not yet published on the check date. The sector also replaced collectively: 1 May by Friday 7 May, 15 August by Friday 13 August and 25 December by Monday 27 December 2027.
JC 140.03	Road transport and logistics	Only the ten legal holidays. If you work on a Sunday or holiday, the agreement pays a 100 percent supplement, so 200 percent.
JC 149.01	Electricians	Only the ten legal holidays; no extra holiday or bridge day in the agreement sheet.
JC 149.02	Coachwork	No official agreement sheet available and not listed among the sectors that grant 11 July as an extra day off. Check your work rules.
JC 149.04	Metal trade	No official agreement sheet available and not listed among the sectors that grant 11 July as an extra day off. Check your work rules.
JC 200	White-collar (supplementary JC)	Only the ten legal holidays; no extra holiday or bridge day in the agreement sheet.
JC 207	Chemicals, white-collar	Only the ten legal holidays; no extra holiday or bridge day in the agreement sheet.
JC 209	Metal, white-collar	No extra holiday for the sector. In the Centre region the annual working time is cut by two paid days, paid under the holiday rules (agreement of 4 April 1985).
JC 220	Food, white-collar	Only the ten legal holidays; no extra holiday or bridge day in the agreement sheet.
JC 226	International trade, transport and logistics, white-collar	Securex lists JC 226 among the sectors that grant the regional holiday of 11 July as an extra day off; if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, as in 2027, it must be replaced. The agreement text itself was not freely available on the check date.

Frequently asked questions

1 May 2027 falls on a Saturday: do I get an extra day off?

Yes, if Saturday is a normal inactivity day in your company. The holiday then moves to a normal activity day, for example Friday 30 April or Monday 3 May. The same applies to Sunday 15 August and Saturday 25 December.

Can my employer choose the replacement day on their own?

Only if nobody higher in the order fixed something: the joint committee, the works council, the union delegation or an agreement with the staff come first. Without any agreement it is automatically the first normal working day after the holiday.

Source: FOD Werkgelegenheid, feestdagen: principe, vervangingsdagen, loon en inhaalrust (checked on 3 November 2026)

Are 11 July, 27 September and 15 November legal holidays?

No. The public holidays act lists ten days and those community holidays are not among them. You only get them off if your sector agreement, your company or your work rules grant them; the table above shows which joint committees do.

General information based on the law and the sources listed. Your collective agreement, your contract and your payroll provider or union remain decisive for your own situation.

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