End-of-year premium on dismissal or departure: what do you pay as an employer?

The short answer: in most sectors an employee who leaves during the year is entitled to a pro rata end-of-year premium, one twelfth per month worked, once they meet a minimum seniority. The big exception is the same everywhere: dismissal for serious cause. For resignation it depends on your joint committee: in PC 200 only from three years of seniority, in chemicals from one year, for electricians and in the metal blue-collar agreements always. Get that wrong and the bill arrives later via the union or the inspectorate. Below are the rules per committee as they appear in the sector fiches, and how to process them cleanly in your final settlement. The overview per sector is on our page end-of-year premium per joint committee.

The short answer: pro rata, except for serious cause

Three situations recur in almost every agreement. Dismissal by the employer, other than for serious cause: the employee keeps the pro rata. Dismissal for serious cause: no premium, in none of the sectors below. Resignation or termination by mutual agreement: here the sectors differ, from 'always pro rata' to 'only after three years'. On top of that most agreements require a minimum seniority before there is any entitlement at all, from one month to six months. An expired fixed-term contract also gives a pro rata in most sectors. A company agreement or an individual arrangement can be more generous than the sector, never less.

Per joint committee: who gets what on leaving

PC 200, white-collar: one monthly salary after six months of seniority, one twelfth per fully worked calendar month. On dismissal (not for serious cause) and after a fixed-term contract of at least six months you pay the pro rata. On resignation or mutual termination only from three years of seniority, since 1 January 2026 (previously five years). PC 207, white-collar chemicals: pro rata if the employee has six months of seniority when notice is served, not for serious cause and not on resignation with less than one year of seniority. PC 116, blue-collar chemicals: pro rata from three months of seniority, with the same two exceptions. PC 111, blue-collar metal: provincial agreements, but pro rata everywhere, also on resignation since 1 July 2015 and on permanent medical incapacity. PC 209, white-collar metal: also provincial; in Brabant and Brussels for instance a pro rata from one year of seniority, except for serious cause. PC 149.01, electricians and PC 124, construction: the premium runs through the sector fund, not through you. For electricians Volta pays the pro rata on every departure, including resignation; in construction the fund grants the loyalty stamps based on the declared wages. You pay the fund contribution there, no separate premium on departure.

Temporary agency workers and student workers

A temporary agency worker does not get the end-of-year premium from you or from the agency, but from the Social Fund for Temporary Agency Workers: 8.33 percent of gross pay, if they worked at least 65 days for agencies in the reference period from 1 July to 30 June. The cost is built into the coefficient the agency charges you. If you later hire an agency worker permanently, the agency period counts towards the seniority condition in most agreements; check your sector fiche. Student workers fall outside the scheme in most sectors, although in PC 200 and PC 220 you sometimes see a pro rata for those working under an ordinary employment contract.

When and how you pay the pro rata

Most agreements let you choose between paying with the final settlement or at the usual payment moment in December; some impose the former. Practically: put the pro rata on the last payslip, together with the holiday pay on leaving, so the file is closed. Calculate the amount on the pay the agreement prescribes, usually the monthly salary of the last full month or the December base salary, and count the months according to your committee's rule: PC 200 counts full calendar months, PC 207 counts a month if the employee started before the 16th. If you terminate the contract with severance pay, the end-of-year premium is also part of its calculation base: the indemnity is calculated on current pay including the premium. How the notice period itself works is in the knowledge base.

What it costs you, and how to budget it

A pro rata end-of-year premium is ordinary pay: you pay employer social security on it and the employee the usual deductions plus withholding tax at the rate for exceptional payments. For a white-collar employee at 3,800 euros gross who leaves after eight months, it is eight twelfths of 3,800 euros, so 2,533 euros gross, roughly 3,200 euros employer cost. Check it with the end-of-year premium calculator. The lesson for your budget: book the end-of-year premium monthly as a provision (one twelfth per employee), then a departure in October is not an unexpected cost but a settlement of what was already set aside. That is also how our employer cost calculator works: it includes the premium in the annual cost per employee.

Checklist for every departure

Five questions that make your final settlement watertight. One: which joint committee, and what does the sector fiche say about seniority and pro rata? Two: who ends the contract, and is it for serious cause? Three: how much seniority does the employee have on the date notice is served (not on the last working day)? Four: which months count, and which pay is the basis? Five: do you pay now or in December, and is that written in your work regulations or the agreement? If in doubt about a company agreement that deviates from the sector, a call to your payroll provider is cheaper than a dispute afterwards. What your technical profiles otherwise expect from their package is in fringe benefits for technical profiles.