Holiday pay

In Belgium you receive single holiday pay (your normal wage during holidays) and double holiday pay: roughly 92 percent of a gross monthly salary, usually paid in May or June. It accrues based on your performance in the previous year.

Single and double holiday pay

Single holiday pay is simply your wage continuing while you take leave. Double holiday pay is the real extra: roughly 92 percent of your gross monthly salary, once a year. For blue-collar workers payment runs through a holiday fund (around 15.38 percent of gross annual pay at 108 percent, paid in one go); for white-collar staff the employer pays directly.

Accrual: the holiday service year

This year's rights are built with last year's performance. If you worked the full previous year, you are entitled to four weeks of paid leave plus the full double holiday pay this year. Starters still build rights through supplementary or youth holiday schemes; ask about them in your first job.

When changing employer

If you leave as a white-collar employee, your old employer pays out departure holiday pay for your accrued rights; your new employer settles it later when you take leave. As a blue-collar worker everything runs through the holiday fund and little changes. Keep this in mind when switching jobs: your first payslips at the new employer may look different than expected.