Outplacement

Outplacement in Belgium: rights, costs and deadlines

If you are dismissed, in many cases you are entitled to outplacement: guidance towards a new job, paid by your former employer. Which scheme applies depends on your notice period and your age. Below the two schemes stand side by side, with the deadlines and costs from the law.

The two schemes side by side

	General scheme	Special scheme 45 and over
Who	Dismissed with a notice period of at least 30 weeks or a matching indemnity, whatever your age, not for urgent cause. Private and public sector.	At least 45 at dismissal, at least one uninterrupted year of service, notice period shorter than 30 weeks, not for urgent cause. Private sector only.
What you get	60 hours of guidance. With an indemnity it is worth 1/12 of your gross annual pay of the previous calendar year, at least 1,800 and at most 5,500 euros excluding VAT.	60 hours of guidance, fully paid by your employer or collectively by the joint committee.
Duration	At most 12 months in three phases: at least 20 hours in the first 2 months, 20 hours in the next 4 months and 20 hours in the last 6 months.	The same three phases over at most 12 months.
When your employer must offer	By registered letter, within 4 weeks after the start of your notice period, or within 15 days after the end of your contract with an indemnity. You reply within 4 weeks; silence counts as acceptance.	By registered letter, at the earliest when notice is given and at the latest 15 days after the end of your contract. You reply within one month; if you refuse without reason or do not react, your employer is released.
What it costs you	With a notice period the hours come off your paid job-search leave. With an indemnity, 4 weeks of pay have always been deducted since 2016, even if you do not follow the guidance, unless your employer made no valid offer.	Nothing: the cost is your employer's.
If you refuse	No sanction from the unemployment office; the 4-week deduction remains, though.	The unemployment office can suspend your benefit if you do not cooperate or do not request guidance you are entitled to.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: algemene regeling (opzegtermijn van minstens 30 weken) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: specifieke regeling voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder (checked on 3 November 2026); Wet van 5 september 2001 tot de verbetering van de werkgelegenheidsgraad van de werknemers, art. 11/1 tot 17 (Justel) (checked on 3 November 2026); Nationale Arbeidsraad, cao nr. 82 van 10 juli 2002 betreffende outplacement voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder, gewijzigd door cao nr. 82bis (PDF) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, mag de werknemer een geldig outplacementaanbod weigeren (bijgewerkt 10 februari 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026); RVA, infoblad T101: outplacement, vrijstellingen en sancties (bijgewerkt 10 maart 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Which scheme applies to you?

If you are entitled to a notice period of at least 30 weeks, or to a matching severance payment, you fall under the general scheme from the single-status act, whatever your age. That scheme applies to dismissals since 1 January 2014, in the private and public sector, but not to dismissal for urgent cause.

If your notice period is shorter than 30 weeks, you are at least 45 and have worked at least one uninterrupted year for your private-sector employer, the special scheme of collective agreement 82 applies. If you resign yourself, you have no right to outplacement under either scheme.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: algemene regeling (opzegtermijn van minstens 30 weken) (checked on 3 November 2026); Wet van 26 december 2013 betreffende de invoering van een eenheidsstatuut, art. 76 tot 91 over outplacement (Justel) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: specifieke regeling voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder (checked on 3 November 2026); Nationale Arbeidsraad, cao nr. 82 van 10 juli 2002 betreffende outplacement voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder, gewijzigd door cao nr. 82bis (PDF) (checked on 3 November 2026)

The general scheme: 60 hours and four weeks of pay

If you work your notice period, you get 60 hours of guidance taken from your paid job-search leave. If you are dismissed with a severance payment, the package is 60 hours worth one twelfth of your gross annual pay of the previous calendar year, with a minimum of 1,800 and a maximum of 5,500 euros excluding VAT, pro rata for part-time work.

In return, your severance payment has always been reduced by four weeks of pay since 1 January 2016, whether or not you follow the guidance. The deduction only lapses if your employer made no offer, made an invalid offer, did not carry it out, or if within 7 days of the dismissal you show medically that you cannot follow outplacement. If a running notice period is later converted into a payment, the deduction is the number of hours still to follow divided by 60, times four weeks of pay.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: algemene regeling (opzegtermijn van minstens 30 weken) (checked on 3 November 2026); Wet van 5 september 2001 tot de verbetering van de werkgelegenheidsgraad van de werknemers, art. 11/1 tot 17 (Justel) (checked on 3 November 2026)

The special scheme for over-45s

Your employer must make you an offer on their own initiative: 60 hours over at most twelve months, in three phases of at least 20 hours each, entirely at their cost. If you work less than half-time, you only get the offer if you expressly ask for it. The right stops as soon as you can claim your retirement pension.

Your employer need not make an offer if you are 62 or have a 42-year career, or if you leave with a company supplement in a collective dismissal at a company in difficulty or restructuring. Those thresholds have applied since 1 December 2018; the unemployment office then treats you as exempt, so you may refuse a spontaneous offer without consequences.

If you are not exempt, you must cooperate in good faith. If you refuse or do not request guidance you are entitled to, the unemployment office can suspend your benefit. An employer who fails in their duty pays a compensating contribution; in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia the unemployment office is no longer competent for that.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: specifieke regeling voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder (checked on 3 November 2026); Nationale Arbeidsraad, cao nr. 82 van 10 juli 2002 betreffende outplacement voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder, gewijzigd door cao nr. 82bis (PDF) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, voorwaarden voor outplacement in het specifieke stelsel (bijgewerkt 11 februari 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026); RVA, infoblad T101: outplacement, vrijstellingen en sancties (bijgewerkt 10 maart 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Deadlines: what must happen when?

In the general scheme your employer sends the offer by registered letter within four weeks after the start of your notice period, or within 15 days after the end of your contract with a payment. You have four weeks to reply; if you do not react, you are deemed to accept. If no offer comes, put your employer in default in writing; they then get four weeks to still make a valid offer.

In the special scheme the offer may come as early as the notification of notice and must be there at the latest 15 days after the end of your contract. You decide within one month. You may also ask to start the guidance only after your notice period; if your employer agrees, the offer counts as accepted.

New job found or medical force majeure

If you find a new job and therefore stop the guidance, you may resume it if you lose that job again within three months. You request that in writing within one month of the loss; the remaining hours continue from the phase where you stopped, and the whole programme ends at the latest twelve months after it started.

If your contract ends through medical force majeure, since 1 April 2024 you no longer have a right to the old outplacement package of 1,800 euros. Your employer now pays that amount to the Back to Work fund of the national health insurance institute, which finances guidance for the long-term ill.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: algemene regeling (opzegtermijn van minstens 30 weken) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: specifieke regeling voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: specifieke regeling bij medische overmacht (opgeheven vanaf 1 april 2024) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, nieuwe verplichting voor de werkgever die zich beroept op medische overmacht (25 maart 2024) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, geen outplacement meer bij medische overmacht (14 maart 2024) (checked on 3 November 2026)

What changes in 2026?

The outplacement rules themselves have not changed in 2026. The notice period for dismissal by the employer is, however, capped at 52 weeks from 17 years of seniority for contracts starting from 1 June 2026. The 30-week threshold for the general scheme remains, so even with that cap you fall under the general scheme with long seniority.

Sources: Securex Lex4You, opzeggingstermijn: een plafond van 52 weken voor nieuwe arbeidsovereenkomsten (2 juni 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: algemene regeling (opzegtermijn van minstens 30 weken) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Frequently asked questions

Is there a separate outplacement scheme for over-60s?

No. The law knows three age limits: 45 for the special scheme, 62 or a 42-year career as an exemption, and the moment you can claim your retirement pension, after which the right stops. Under the general scheme your age plays no role.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: specifieke regeling voor werknemers van 45 jaar en ouder (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: algemene regeling (opzegtermijn van minstens 30 weken) (checked on 3 November 2026); RVA, infoblad T101: outplacement, vrijstellingen en sancties (bijgewerkt 10 maart 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026)

May I refuse an outplacement offer?

Under the general scheme yes, without a sanction from the unemployment office, but the four weeks of pay still come off your severance payment. Under the special scheme for over-45s you risk a suspension of your benefit, unless you are exempt.

Sources: Securex Lex4You, mag de werknemer een geldig outplacementaanbod weigeren (bijgewerkt 10 februari 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, outplacement: algemene regeling (opzegtermijn van minstens 30 weken) (checked on 3 November 2026); RVA, infoblad T101: outplacement, vrijstellingen en sancties (bijgewerkt 10 maart 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Who pays the outplacement firm?

Always your former employer, or the joint committee if the sector bears the cost collectively. You never pay directly; under the general scheme you do contribute through the four weeks of pay on your payment or through your job-search leave.

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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