Labour and employment law in Belgium

Introduction

Belgium has fairly extensive protective labour laws, as enacted by Parliament. Moreover, collective bargaining between the so-called ‘social partners’, i.e. the employers’ organisations and the trade unions, plays a very important role in the shaping of the rules of labour law. Case law, in particular that of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, can have considerable influence on the application of labour and employment law in practice. In Belgium, specialised labour courts deal with disputes in relation to employment relationships. Enforcement of labour law provisions may also be initiated by other authorities, including the labour inspectorate or tax and social security authorities. The Social Inspectorate also provides information to employers and workers, gives advice, arbitrates and verifies whether labour law and the various collective labour agreements are complied with.

Key Points

• Collective bargaining agreements are entered into on national or industry level between the trade unions and employers’ organisations or on company level between the trade unions and an individual employer. They include provisions with regard to wages and working conditions.
• Belgian labour law is characterised by stringent language regulations. All labour documents and labour-related communications with the employees must be conducted in either Dutch, French or German, depending on the location of the employer’s operating unit. The sanction is the nullity (with the exception of the Brussels and German regions where the sanction is the replacement of the document).
• As a rule, termination of an employment contract is not subject to any prior administrative or court approval in Belgium. The calculation of notice periods is based on the seniority of the employee. Moreover, all employees have the right to ask for the concrete reasons which have led to dismissal.
• Well-being and anti-discrimination have an increased importance in Belgian labour relations.
• The Belgian labour market is characterised by a high insider-outsider effect (especially for migrant workers, older workers and people with disabilities) and low professional mobility because of high minimum wages and high levels of protection offered by labour law provisions and the social security system.

Legal framework

Employment law in Belgium is mainly based upon the following sources:

• International law and EU law, especially EU Regulations and Directives;
• The Constitution;
• National Acts, in particular the Act of 3 July 1978 on employment contracts;
• Legislative Decrees of the Regions and Communities;
• Royal and Ministerial (executive) decrees;
• Collective bargaining agreements, i.e. agreements on national, sectorial or company level between one or more trade unions, on the one hand, and one or more employers’ organisations or one or more employers, on the other hand, on a wide range of collective labour issues;
• Employment contracts;
• Internal work rules (‘arbeidsreglement / règlement de travail’), i.e. a mandatory document including a set of rules that are proper to the employer and the employees of his/her undertaking;
• Policies;
• Custom.

In principle, case law precedents have no legally binding force. Yet, in practice, decisions of the highest courts, i.e. the Supreme Court (‘Hof van Cassatie / Cour de Cassation’) and the Constitutional Court, have strong persuasive authority, especially when confirmed repeatedly. Also, judgements of international courts like the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, can have an important impact.

New Developments

Belgian employment law has seen a notable number of changes and announced reforms in 2025–2026. A first important development is the Private Investigations Act of 18 May 2024, which replaced the 1991 private detectives’ legislation and entered into force on 16 December 2024. It has a much broader scope than the former regime and may apply not only to external investigators, but also to internal investigations conducted by employers or their staff. It also requires employers to regulate internal investigations in an internal policy by 16 December 2026, failing which internal investigations and their findings may be null and void.

Another recent change concerns parental leave for long-term foster care. As from 1 July 2025, employees who are officially appointed as foster parents and who take a child into their family in the framework of long-term foster care obtain access to parental leave rights comparable to those of biological or legal parents. The leave is granted per foster parent and per child, and its duration mirrors ordinary parental leave, i.e. up to four full months, which may also be taken in reduced forms.

At pension level, the statutory retirement age has already increased to 66 as from 2025 and will rise further to 67 in 2030.   In parallel, the new federal government has announced a gradual reshaping of end-of-career schemes. Therefore, new intake into the SWT (the former bridge pension system) has stopped mid-2025.

The government’s Autumn 2025 Agreement also announced several important labour-market reforms. These include a planned cap on wage indexation for higher salaries, a stricter reintegration framework for long-term sick employees, mandatory working-time registration from 1 January 2027, a broader use of flexi-jobs, an increase of voluntary overtime to 360 hours per year, more flexible night work rules in distribution and e-commerce, and the abolition of the traditional one-third minimum working-time requirement for part-time work. At this stage, most of these measures should still be described with caution as announced or draft reforms, since implementation details remain dependent on final legislation.

A further concrete legislative development is the strengthening of social criminal law sanctions. The Act of 19 December 2025, in force since 1 February 2026, increases the multiplier for criminal and administrative fines under the Social Criminal Code from x8 to x10. It also tightens the treatment of aggravating factors, including by providing that, for certain level 4 offences, the fine may not fall below 50% of the statutory maximum.

The government has also proposed a wage indexation cap for wages above EUR 4,000 gross per month. Under the draft proposal of 23 February 2026, the measure would work through a moderated indexation system in phases, starting from June 2026, and would be coupled with a special wage moderation contribution for employers.

Another prominent proposal is the reintroduction of a probationary-style regime. The government introduced a legislative proposal providing that, for new employment contracts concluded after the new law enters into force, the notice period during the first six months of employment would be standardised at one week. Although this does not formally restore the old probation clause, it effectively reintroduces a probationary period in substance. The Council of State has, however, criticised the proposal, including by referring to the standstill principle.  The same proposal is also reflected in the current Employment Law Overview – Belgium update notes, which state that the government intends to limit the notice period to one week during the first six months of seniority, while expressly mentioning that the legislation is still in draft form.

Looking ahead, several additional reforms remain relevant for Belgian employers.  Belgium states that Belgium is expected to transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive in 2026, which should significantly affect pay transparency and gender pay-gap reporting obligations. In addition, the flexi-job system will be extended to all sectors and there will be several important updates in working time law (extension of voluntary overtime, abolition of the prohibition of night time work.