Student work 2026 in Belgium: hours, pay and rules

Student work 2026 in figures

Sources: RSZ, administratieve instructies 2026/3: studenten (contingent, Dimona, overschrijding) (checked on 3 November 2026); Student@work, de officiële site van de RSZ voor jobstudenten (checked on 3 November 2026); RSZ, portaal van de sociale zekerheid: Student at work voor werkgevers (bijdragen en attest) (checked on 3 November 2026); RSZ, administratieve instructies 2026/3: de verschuldigde solidariteitsbijdrage voor studenten (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, overeenkomst voor tewerkstelling van studenten (begrip, leeftijd, vorm, proefperiode, loon) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, studenten automatisch op proef tijdens de eerste drie dagen (19 juni 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, blijft de student fiscaal ten laste van zijn ouders (bijgewerkt 28 mei 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026)

650 hours a year: how the package works

If you work under a student contract outside the hours you must be at school, you pay no ordinary social security on the first 650 hours per calendar year but a solidarity contribution. You count the hours across all your employers and may spread them freely; on 1 January the counter is back at 650. The law of 10 April 2025 made that package permanent.

Within the package you pay 2.71 percent and your employer 5.42 percent. If you go over 650 hours, ordinary contributions apply, but only on the hours above the package, even if you work them for another employer. If you graduate in June, the NSSO accepts that you keep working at the solidarity contribution until 30 September of that year.

Sources: RSZ, administratieve instructies 2026/3: studenten (contingent, Dimona, overschrijding) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, studenten zullen vanaf 2025 650 uren kunnen werken (9 mei 2025, wet van 10 april 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026); RSZ, portaal van de sociale zekerheid: Student at work voor werkgevers (bijdragen en attest) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Student@work and Dimona

On Student@work you see how many hours you have left and print a certificate for a future employer. That certificate contains an access code with which the employer can check your balance, valid in the month of issue and the two months after. Your employer declares you for every job through Dimona with the employee type STU and the number of planned hours per quarter; those hours are already reserved from your package.

If your employer files the Dimona late, the reduced contribution lapses and all your hours with them are subject to ordinary social security. If they file for a student who has already exceeded the package, they get a warning straight away.

Sources: RSZ, administratieve instructies 2026/3: studenten (contingent, Dimona, overschrijding) (checked on 3 November 2026); RSZ, portaal van de sociale zekerheid: Student at work voor werkgevers (bijdragen en attest) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, onder welke voorwaarden kan een student aan verminderde bijdragen tewerkgesteld worden (bijgewerkt 22 januari 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Your pay as a student worker

Your pay first of all follows the agreement of your employer's joint committee. If it has no rule for students, you are entitled to the average minimum monthly income, possibly reduced by age: since 1 July 2026 that is 2,233.61 euros a month from age 21, 90 percent at 20, 85 at 19, 79 at 18, 73 at 17 and 67 percent at 16.

On the first 650 hours your employer has withheld no payroll tax since 2025. If your taxable income in 2026 stays below the tax-free allowance of 11,180 euros, you pay no tax yourself either.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, overeenkomst voor tewerkstelling van studenten (begrip, leeftijd, vorm, proefperiode, loon) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, studenten zullen vanaf 2025 650 uren kunnen werken (9 mei 2025, wet van 10 april 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, moet de student belastingen betalen (bijgewerkt 23 maart 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026)

Your student contract

Anyone who is a student and meets the conditions must receive a written fixed-term student contract, in two copies and signed at the latest on the first day. Your employer cannot opt for an ordinary contract. The contract is possible during school holidays and during the school year; after twelve uninterrupted months with the same employer you become an ordinary employee.

You can work from age 16, or from 15 if you are no longer in full-time compulsory education. Since May 2026 a 15-year-old in full-time compulsory education may too, but only for light work: at most 2 hours on a school day and 12 hours a week during a school period. Those in evening education or doing an unpaid internship from their curriculum cannot conclude a student contract.

The first three actual working days are always a trial period: if you only work on Saturdays, those are the first three Saturdays. During those days you and your employer can stop without notice or compensation. Afterwards a contract of up to one month carries 3 days' notice by the employer and 1 day by you; a longer contract 7 and 3 days.

The contract states among other things your identity, start and end date, the place, a short job description, your working time per day and per week, your pay and when it is paid, the joint committee, your timetable and the trial period. If the written contract, a mandatory mention or the Dimona is missing, you may leave at any time without notice or compensation.

Sources: FOD Werkgelegenheid, overeenkomst voor tewerkstelling van studenten (begrip, leeftijd, vorm, proefperiode, loon) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, studentenovereenkomst: de periode van 12 maanden en alternerend leren (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, werken als student wordt mogelijk voor elke 15-jarige (KB van 19 april 2026, lichte arbeid) (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, studenten automatisch op proef tijdens de eerste drie dagen (19 juni 2025) (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, studentenovereenkomst: verplichte vermeldingen (checked on 3 November 2026); FOD Werkgelegenheid, studentenovereenkomst: sancties bij ontbrekend geschrift of Dimona (checked on 3 November 2026)

Child benefit and your parents' taxes

In Flanders you keep the Groeipakket until 18 in any case. From 18 to 25 it is kept if you stay within the 650 hours under a student contract and work at most 80 hours a month under an ordinary contract; the hours above 650 count towards those 80. If you exceed both limits in a month, the Groeipakket lapses for that month.

Fiscally you remain dependent on your parents in 2026 as long as your net means of subsistence do not exceed 12,300 euros, whatever their family situation; that is the new limit from the law of 18 December 2025. The first 7,010 euros from student work do not count, and on the rest you may deduct 20 percent of expenses with a minimum of 580 euros.

Sources: Vlaamse overheid, Vlaams Groeipakket behouden voor wie werkt en studeert (checked on 3 November 2026); Securex Lex4You, blijft de student fiscaal ten laste van zijn ouders (bijgewerkt 28 mei 2026) (checked on 3 November 2026)