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Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. The economy is known to have a high quality of life, high standard of living, healthcare, education, and human development index; making it an ideal country for most employees as well as employers to hire talent to expand their global market. The industries that contribute the most to the country's GDP are science and technology and tourism. The economy is also known as a highly industrialized region and is characterized by its highly productive workforce.
More information about average salaries in Belgium can be found on SalaryExplorer.
The employer's payroll taxes vary between 25% to 27% on case to case basis.
Employees pay 13.07% of their total gross compensation as social security contributions.
Income tax is levied at a progressive rate on all annual income as follows:
More information on income taxes levied can be found here.
The minimum wages set by law in Belgium is €1,625.7 per month.
The payroll cycle is set once a month and salaries are usually paid at the end of the month.
13th month salary
Most companies pay the 13th month salary as a bonus to their employees in December before Christmas
Employee stock options
There are no provisions that make it mandatory for employers to provide stock options to their employees. However, if an employer is looking at rewarding employees with stock options, relevant taxes must be paid.
Taxes on employee stock options in Belgium can be found here.
The standard working hours in Belgium are 38 hours weekly.
Any hours exceeding the regular 38 working hours a week is considered overtime and should get paid at 150% their regular rate. Overtime on Sundays and public holidays are paid at 200% their regular wage rates.
Belgium has 12 public holidays in 2021. The list of public holidays can be found here.
In Belgium, permanent employees are entitled to four weeks of fully paid leaves yearly.
White collar employees are entitled to upto 30 days of sick leave. Blue collar employees are entitled to upto 14 days of sick leave in a year. Blue collar employees are paid 100% of their salary for the first 7 days and 85% of their salary post the 7-day period.
Employed working mothers are entitled to 15 weeks of leave in case of single birth and upto 19 weeks of leave in case of multiple births.
Paternity paid leave of 10 days is offered and can be claimed within four months of the child’s birth. The first three days of the paternity leave is paid for by the employer. The remaining seven days are paid by the insurance fund.
An employment contract can be terminated depending on the employment agreement between the parties.
The notice period for blue collar employees are:
The notice period for white collar employees is determined by their annual salary. If their annual salary is less than EUR 25,277 employees are entitled to 3 months of notice period in case the service period is less than 5 years. The notice period increases by 3 months for each additional period of 5 years.
In case the salary of the employee exceeds EUR 25,277 per year, the notice period is mutually agreed by both parties at the time of termination.
In the absence of a notice period on termination, employees are entitled to a severance pay which would equal the amount they would earn during the notice period.
Generally, probation period is upto 2 weeks for blue-collar workers and between 1 to 6 months for while-collar employees.
It is mandatory for the employer to provide healthcare for employees working in Belgium. This shall be done through the means of the Belgian social security scheme by special agreement.
The social security system for employees covers the following:
Keeping aside the Belgian healthcare system, the employees are also entitled to complimentary benefits (on a regular basis) that include:
The standard VAT is 21%. However, there are reduced VAT rates for certain industries that can be found here.
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