Belgium Working Time: A Guide for Employers

Belgian working time law has been amended often, but the spine remains the 1971 Loi sur le travail (Working Time Act). The 2017 Loi Peeters (workable, manageable work) added flexibility in exchange for occasional longer days; the 2022 Labour Deal (Loi du 3 octobre 2022) added the right to compress the workweek into four days. The result is one of Europe's most flexibility-friendly working time regimes, sitting atop a tight 38-hour standard.

This post walks through what Belgian employers track, what flexibilities exist, and what the FPS Employment inspectorate checks during an audit.

#Quick Reference

#The Core Rules

#Standard Weekly Working Time: 38 Hours

The 38-hour week has been the Belgian standard since 2003. CBAs can reduce it (38 is the maximum the law allows for full-time work), and many do (the banking and insurance sectors sit at 36 or 37).

Hours above the contractual normal time count as overtime (heures supplémentaires / overuren). The standard cap on overtime is 91 hours per year for individual workers; CBAs can adjust this.

#Daily Maximum

8 hours per day is the floor. Flexibility provisions push this higher:

• 9 hours per day under the petite flexibilité (small flexibility) introduced by the loi Hansenne of 17 March 1987, with prior CBA or works council consent
• 11 hours per day under exceptional circumstances (defined sectors, emergencies)

#Weekly Maximum

40 hours per single week under standard rules, 48 hours including all overtime as a hard EU-derived ceiling.

#The Reference Period

Under the Loi Peeters (2017), the reference period for averaging the 38-hour week was extended from 4 months to 1 year by default for many sectors. This allows an employer to operate 40 or 42 hours in some weeks if compensated by shorter weeks elsewhere in the 12-month window.

#Loi Peeters: Workable, Manageable Work (2017)

The Loi sur le travail faisable et maniable introduced several flexibility tools:

• Annualization of working time: 1-year reference period for averaging the 38-hour week
• Voluntary overtime (heures supplémentaires volontaires): up to 100 hours per year per worker, paid at premium but not counted toward the cap
• Plus-minus account: workers can bank hours over 38 in good weeks and take them off later, with safeguards

The trade-off was higher flexibility for employers in exchange for stronger work-life balance protections elsewhere (training rights, telework framework, occasional homework).

#The Four-Day Week (Labour Deal 2022)

Workers can request a compressed four-day working week, with the same total hours spread across four days instead of five. The daily cap raises from 8 to 9.5 hours for these workers.

Employer can refuse only with written reasons. Approval rates have been over 60 percent in the first two years of the law.

#Rest Periods

#Daily Rest (Article 38ter)

11 consecutive hours between two workdays. Hard floor.

#Weekly Rest (Article 11)

35 consecutive hours per 7-day period. Sunday is the default rest day, with sectoral exceptions for retail, hospitality, healthcare, and transport.

#Breaks (Article 38)

Belgian statute does not mandate a specific break duration directly. The Loi du 4 août 1996 (Welfare at Work) requires breaks where the work duration warrants them; CBAs set specifics. Most CBAs require:

• 15 minutes after 6 hours of work
• An additional 30 minutes if the day extends beyond 9 hours

#Annual Leave: The Pécule de Vacances

Belgium's annual leave system is unusual:

• 20 days of paid leave for a full-time worker (4 weeks)
• A bonus payment (pécule de vacances) equivalent to 92 percent of monthly salary, paid in May or June
• Leave is fully accrued from the previous calendar year, not the current one (so a new hire in 2026 will typically take their first paid leave in 2027)

The 2024 reform allowed early-career workers to receive an advance on leave to mitigate this delay.

#Record-Keeping

Belgium has a strong records tradition. Required documents include:

• Dimona declaration: each worker registered with the social security administration before starting work
• Daily working time records: required since 2014 for part-time workers under the Loi-programme; general mandatory working-time registration for all employers takes effect 1 January 2027
• Overtime register: documenting voluntary overtime under Loi Peeters
• Annual leave records: with the pécule calculation

Records are kept for 5 years (in some cases 7 for tax purposes).

#After CCOO

Belgium had already required time tracking for part-timers and workers near maximum hours. Following the 2019 CCOO ruling, a 2025 federal agreement introduced a general working-time registration obligation. There is no across-the-board 2023 extension by Royal Decree.

The implementation date is a single one for all employers:

• 1 January 2027: mandatory working-time registration for all employers

Records must be electronically accessible, kept for 5 years, and retrievable on inspection within 24 hours.

#Inspection and Penalties

The SPF Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale (FPS Employment) enforces, through its labor inspectorate (Contrôle des lois sociales / Toezicht op de Sociale Wetten).

Penalties under the Social Penal Code:

Common findings:

• Voluntary overtime above 100 hours per worker
• Records delayed or missing
• Dimona declarations after the worker started
• Sunday work without proper basis

#Practical Compliance Checklist

1. Register every worker through Dimona before work starts. Late Dimona is a separate, serious offense.
2. Track daily working time for everyone in scope. Prepare for the general registration obligation that takes effect 1 January 2027.
3. Document the voluntary overtime opt-in. Written consent, capped at 100 hours per year, premium pay.
4. Honor the 11-hour daily rest and 35-hour weekly rest. Schedule them deliberately.
5. Calculate the pécule de vacances correctly. Disputes are common and expensive.
6. Retain records for 5 years. 7 for safety, given tax retention.

#Common Questions

Are exempt categories defined? Belgium has narrow exemptions for senior management and certain household workers. The categories are tighter than Germany's; middle managers are not exempt.

Can I use the four-day week without employee request? The four-day week is a worker-initiated right, but employers can propose it. Worker consent is required either way.

What about temporary agency workers? They are covered the same as employees of the user employer for working time purposes. The agency handles the Dimona; the user enforces working time.

Does the recordkeeping apply to telework? Yes. The Loi du 17 mars 2023 on telework reinforced that working time recording extends to home-based work.

Are public holidays separate from the 4 weeks? Yes. Belgium has 10 federal public holidays, separate from the 4-week leave. Some sectors have additional regional or sectoral holidays.

#Summary

• 38-hour standard week, 40-hour daily and 48-hour weekly maximums
• Loi Peeters allows up to 100 hours of voluntary overtime per year, annualized reference period
• Four-day week (Labour Deal 2022) on worker request
• Records: mandatory working-time registration for all employers from 1 January 2027
• Pécule de vacances unique Belgian leave bonus
• FPS Employment enforces; fines per worker per breach

#Sources

• Loi du 16 mars 1971 sur le travail on ejustice.just.fgov.be
• Loi Peeters (loi du 5 mars 2017)
• SPF Emploi guidance
• 2025 federal agreement introducing mandatory working-time registration for all employers from 1 January 2027

#Where to Go Next

• The EU Working Time Directive explained for the framework Belgium implements
• The ECJ CCOO ruling: why time tracking is mandatory for the trigger behind the 2027 registration obligation
• Netherlands' Arbeidstijdenwet for the close cousin to the north