Resignation letter with notice period: Belgian template

You have a new job or you want to leave, and your open-ended contract is still running. With this letter you resign and work your notice period. Below you will find what must be in it, the model itself and how to deliver it correctly.

When do you use this model?

Use this model when you end your own open-ended contract and work your notice period. If you were dismissed and found another job, use the counter-notice model instead. If you want to leave straight away without a notice period, first talk to your employer about ending by mutual agreement.

Form requirements

• Notice is given in writing and states the start and the length of the notice period. If either is missing, the notice is void. According to the FPS Employment, the termination still stands, the contract ends at once and the party giving notice owes compensation in lieu of notice.
• If you give notice, you have three ways: you hand the letter to your employer, you send it by registered post or you have a bailiff serve it. If your employer signs the duplicate, that signature only counts as an acknowledgement of receipt.
• A registered letter only takes effect on the third working day after the date it was sent. Every day of the week counts as a working day except Sundays and public holidays.
• The notice period starts running on the Monday after the week in which notice was given.
• How many weeks your notice period lasts depends on your seniority and on who gives notice. The model therefore leaves the term open: calculate it with the calculator and fill in the result.

The model

Fill in the fields in square brackets and delete what does not apply. You fill in the term yourself: calculate it first with the calculator. Calculate your notice period→

[First name and surname]
[Street and number]
[Postcode and town]

[Employer's name]
For the attention of [name of the manager or HR department]
[Street and number]
[Postcode and town]

[Place], [date]

Subject: notice of termination of my employment contract

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hereby give notice to end my open-ended employment contract as [job title], with a notice period.

The notice period is [number] weeks. It starts on Monday [date of the Monday after the week of notification] and ends on [end date].

I will gladly help ensure a smooth handover of my tasks during this period.

Kind regards,

[Signature]
[First name and surname]

Received by the employer (on the duplicate):
Name: [name]
Date: [date]
Signature: [signature]

Tips

• Calculate your term and the Monday it starts on first, and only then fill in the dates. A mistake in the start or the length makes the notice void.
• Make two copies and have your employer sign yours for receipt. Then you have proof without waiting for a registered letter.
• Keep the letter short and neutral. The reason you are leaving does not belong in it; you are better off explaining it in a conversation.

Which language is required?

Which language is mandatory depends on where the operating site you work at is located. In the Dutch language area it is Dutch (Flemish language decree of 19 July 1973), in the French language area it is French (decree of the French Community of 30 June 1982). Both govern the language of social relations between employer and employee.

In Brussels-Capital and in the Flemish municipalities with language facilities, the federal law on the use of languages in administrative matters applies. In Brussels, documents for staff are drawn up in Dutch or in French depending on the employee's language; in the municipalities with facilities, in Dutch.

Both decrees provide that documents contrary to the language rules are void and that the court establishes that nullity of its own motion. The Flemish decree adds that the annulment may not harm the employee. In Brussels, documents in the wrong language must be replaced.

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This is a model, not legal advice. Adapt it to your own situation; your contract, your collective agreement and your payroll provider, union or lawyer remain decisive.