Pay in Belgium explained: 13th month, holiday pay, net salary
Belgian pay has a few features that surprise people coming from abroad: a 13th month that is not in the law but in almost every sector agreement, double holiday pay, meal vouchers instead of a lunch allowance, wages that follow the cost of living automatically, and notice periods counted in weeks. This guide explains each of them in plain terms, for expats who receive a Belgian job offer and for foreign employers hiring in Belgium. Every figure has a source listed under its section, and each section links to the page or calculator with the details.
Gross and net salary in Belgium
Belgian salaries are agreed and advertised as a gross amount per month. From that gross amount 13.07 percent employee social security is deducted first; for lower wages part of it is given back through the work bonus. On what remains, the employer withholds payroll tax every month as an advance on income tax, depending on the salary, the family situation and dependent children.
Income tax is progressive, in brackets from 25 percent to 50 percent, plus a municipal surcharge that differs per municipality. That is why the share you keep falls as pay rises, and why two people with the same gross rarely take home the same net. Net extras such as meal vouchers come on top and are not taxed like salary.
For an employer the gross salary is not the full cost. Employer social security of about 25 percent for white-collar staff comes on top before reductions, and a year counts roughly 13.92 monthly salaries once the end-of-year premium and double holiday pay are included. The gross to net calculator works out the employee side with the parameters for income year 2026.
Sources: RSZ, welke soorten bijdragen bestaan er? (werknemersbijdrage 13,07%) (checked on 2026-10-23); Practicali, geïndexeerde bedragen aanslagjaar 2027 (checked on 2026-08-14); Securex Lex4You, patronale basisbijdragen (checked on 2026-08-14)
13th month and end-of-year premium
Belgium has a 13th month, but it does not come from a general law. It is the end-of-year premium, set by the collective agreement of each joint committee, and almost every sector has one. The formula, the seniority condition and the payment date differ per committee, so the joint committee of the employer decides what applies.
For white-collar staff in joint committee 200, the largest committee, the premium equals one monthly salary. You need at least six months of seniority when it is paid, an incomplete year gives one twelfth per fully worked calendar month, and it is paid in December at the latest unless the company agreed otherwise.
The premium is gross pay: employee social security of 13.07 percent comes off, and payroll tax is withheld at the separate rate for exceptional pay, which is higher than on a normal month. That is why the net premium is often lower than people expect. The final tax is settled in the annual tax return, which partly corrects the higher withholding.
End-of-year premium per joint committee→Calculate your net 13th month→
Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, sectorfiche PC 200 (checked on 2026-10-01); Securex Lex4You, vakantiegeld en uitzonderlijke vergoedingen (bedrijfsvoorheffing) (checked on 2026-10-01)
Holiday pay in Belgium
Holiday pay in Belgium comes in two parts. Single holiday pay is simply the normal salary that continues during leave. Double holiday pay is an extra amount once a year, usually paid in May or June, and it is what most people mean when they talk about holiday pay.
For white-collar employees the employer pays double holiday pay directly: 92 percent of the gross monthly salary after a full year of work. Blue-collar workers are paid by a holiday fund instead of the employer: 15.38 percent of the gross pay of the previous year, counted at 108 percent, which covers both the paid leave days and the extra.
Rights are built with the work of the previous calendar year. Someone who starts working in Belgium during the year therefore only builds full rights for the year after; supplementary holiday schemes can fill part of the gap. A white-collar employee who leaves receives departure holiday pay from the old employer for the rights already built.
Sources: Securex Lex4You, hoe wordt het vakantiegeld van de bedienden berekend? (checked on 2026-10-23); Rijksdienst voor Jaarlijkse Vakantie, berekening vakantiegeld (checked on 2026-10-23)
Meal vouchers
Meal vouchers are the Belgian alternative to a lunch allowance. Since 1 January 2026 a voucher is worth at most 10 euros: the employer pays no more than 8.91 euros and the employee contributes at least 1.09 euros, withheld from net pay. There is one voucher per day actually worked, loaded onto an electronic card and valid for twelve months.
Within those limits the voucher is free of social security and income tax, which makes it worth more than the same amount as a gross raise. The conditions are strict: the vouchers must be granted through a collective agreement or a written individual agreement, and if the employer pays more or the employee less than the limits above, the exemption is lost and the voucher counts as ordinary pay.
There is no general legal right to meal vouchers, and the face value differs per employer: 10 euros is a ceiling, not a standard. In some joint committees they are mandatory. For an expat it is worth asking for the face value with every offer, because over a full year of working days the difference adds up.
Meal vouchers: amounts and conditions→
Sources: Acerta, verhoging van de maaltijdcheques: veelgestelde vragen (checked on 2026-10-22)
Eco vouchers
Eco vouchers are a smaller extra, once a year: at most 250 euros per employee per year, free of social security and tax, to spend on ecological products such as energy efficient appliances, bicycles, plants or second hand goods. Electronic eco vouchers stay valid for 24 months.
Whether you receive them depends on the sector. In joint committee 200 and many industrial committees a collective agreement makes them mandatory; in other sectors they are the free choice of the employer, and some committees allow an equivalent benefit instead. The overview per joint committee shows the amount for 2025 and 2026 and whether another benefit may replace them, taken from the list of the Federal Public Service Employment.
Eco vouchers per joint committee→
Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, sectoraal overzicht ecocheques 2025-2026 (checked on 2026-10-01)
Salary indexation and the centenindex
Belgian wages follow the cost of living automatically. The basis is the health index, and every joint committee sets its own moment and formula: white-collar staff in joint committee 200 are indexed once a year on 1 January, many industrial committees at fixed moments during the year. The employee does nothing; the increase simply appears on the payslip.
For January 2027 the forecast for joint committee 200 stood at 4.46 percent on 23 October 2026 (Securex). It is a forecast: the definitive percentage only follows from the inflation of the last months of the year. Indexation is not a raise, and a raise agreed in a job offer comes on top of it.
Since the centenindex law, indexation of higher wages is partly capped: for fixed full-time base salaries above 4,000 euros, the first 2 percentage points yield at most 80 euros a month, and only the part of the index above that counts on the full salary. The centenindex calculator applies this to any salary and sector.
Indexation per joint committee→Centenindex calculator→
Sources: Securex Lex4You, indexprognoses (raming Securex, 2026-10-23) (checked on 2026-10-23); Acerta, de meest gestelde vragen over de centenindex (checked on 2026-10-15)
Notice period in Belgium
Since the unified statute, blue-collar and white-collar workers have the same notice periods. They are counted in weeks, grow with seniority and depend on who ends the contract. If you resign, the term runs from one week at the start to at most 13 weeks from 8 years of service. If the employer dismisses you, the term is considerably longer and keeps growing with each year of service.
Notice is given in writing and the term starts on the Monday after the week in which it was served. During the term the employee keeps working with normal pay. An employer can also end the contract immediately and pay the remaining term as a severance payment, and both sides can agree on a shorter term, for example when a new employer wants someone to start sooner.
The statutory tables were recently adjusted for contracts that started this year, and seniority built before 2014 follows transitional rules. The notice period calculator gives the term in weeks with concrete dates; for a contract that started this year, check the official table of the Federal Public Service Employment as well.
Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, opzeggingstermijnen bij ontslag door de werknemer (checked on 2026-10-23); FOD Werkgelegenheid, opzeggingstermijnen bij ontslag door de werkgever (checked on 2026-10-23)
Company car and mobility budget
A company car with private use is common in Belgian packages. The employee pays no social security on it, but tax on a benefit in kind: catalogue value x age factor x 6/7 x a CO2 percentage between 4 percent and 18 percent, with 4 percent for a fully electric car and a minimum of 1,690 euros a year for income year 2026.
The benefit is added to taxable pay and taxed at the highest rate of the employee, so the car costs the driver a monthly amount in withholding tax. In return there is no own car, insurance or maintenance to pay, so for most drivers the company car remains a strong part of the package.
Employers can offer the federal mobility budget as an alternative: the car is traded for a yearly budget of at least 3,233 euros and at most 17,244 euros, never more than 20 percent of the gross annual salary. It can go to an electric car, to sustainable mobility and housing close to work, or be paid out in cash at the end of the year after a contribution of 38.07 percent.
Company car calculator→Company car or mobility budget?→
Sources: Securex Lex4You, bedrijfswagen: voordeel van alle aard op fiscaal vlak (checked on 2026-10-23); KPMG, mobility budget in Belgium (bedragen 2026) (checked on 2026-10-23)
This guide gives the general rules. The collective agreement, the employment contract and the payroll provider decide what exactly applies in a given case.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a 13th month in Belgium?
Not by general law, but almost every sector grants one through its collective agreement, as an end-of-year premium paid in December. For white-collar staff in joint committee 200 it equals one monthly salary, with at least six months of seniority at the time of payment and a pro rata for an incomplete year. It is taxed at a separate, higher withholding rate than monthly pay.
How is holiday pay calculated?
White-collar employees keep their normal salary during leave and receive double holiday pay of 92 percent of the gross monthly salary from the employer, usually in May or June. Blue-collar workers are paid by a holiday fund: 15.38 percent of the gross pay of the previous year, counted at 108 percent. Both are based on the work of the previous calendar year.
What is the notice period?
It depends on seniority and on who ends the contract, and since the unified statute it is the same for blue-collar and white-collar workers. If you resign, it runs from one week at the start to at most 13 weeks from 8 years of service. If the employer dismisses you, the term is longer and keeps growing with seniority. It starts on the Monday after the week in which notice was given.
Are meal vouchers taxed?
No, as long as the legal conditions are met: a face value of at most 10 euros, an employee contribution of at least 1.09 euros, one voucher per day actually worked and a collective or written individual agreement. The voucher is then free of social security and income tax. If one condition is not met, the exemption is lost and the voucher counts as ordinary pay.
How do I calculate gross to net salary in Belgium?
Take off 13.07 percent employee social security, reduced for lower wages by the work bonus, and then the payroll withholding tax, which depends on the salary, the family situation and dependent children. The calculator does both steps with the parameters for income year 2026.
How does salary indexation work in Belgium?
Wages follow the health index automatically, with a moment and formula set per joint committee. White-collar staff in joint committee 200 are indexed once a year on 1 January; for January 2027 the forecast stood at 4.46 percent on 23 October 2026. Above 4,000 euros the centenindex caps the first 2 percentage points.
Curious what a technical job in Belgium pays?
Our vacancies show a gross monthly range. With this guide and the calculators you can work out what that means net and in the full package.