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Belgium

Government support for business and workers in Belgium

Table of contents
  1.  What government schemes(s) are available in your country to help employers and workers in the current COVID-19 crisis and for how long?
  2. What payments are made under the scheme(s) and how/by whom?
  3. Which employers and employees are covered?
  4. What procedure(s) does an employer have to follow to be able to take advantage of the scheme(s)?
  5. Are there any other important eligibility criteria?
  6. Are employees covered by the scheme(s) protected from dismissal?
Belgium

1. What government schemes(s) are available in your country to help employers and workers in the current COVID-19 crisis and for how long?

In Belgium, there are several "temporary unemployment" regimes (with the possibility of totally or partially suspending the employment contract, depending on the type of regime). In the context of the coronavirus crisis, the following regimes are likely to be applied: temporary unemployment for force majeure (until 30 June 2020) or economic unemployment (for blue-collar or white-collar workers). The rules and procedures are different depending on whether it is unemployment due to force majeure, economic unemployment for blue-collar workers or economic unemployment for white-collar workers. 

2. What payments are made under the scheme(s) and how/by whom?

Allowances: the employer is not obliged to pay normal remuneration for the days when the employee is unable to work due to force majeure. Until 30 June 2020, the employee will receive an allowance from the National Employment Office (NEO) corresponding to 70% of his average salary, subject to a maximum ceiling (of EUR 2,754.76 gross per month). An employee who is temporarily unemployed due to force majeure (linked to the coronavirus) will receive a supplement of EUR 5.63 gross per day from the NEO, in addition to the unemployment benefit. Only a withholding tax of 26.75% will be deducted from these benefits (no social security contributions). 

3. Which employers and employees are covered?

The temporary unemployment regimes apply to blue-collar workers in the private, public and non-profit sectors; white-collar workers in the private and non-profit sectors; temporary workers for the duration of their (possibly renewed) temporary contracts; and apprentices following work-related training.

However, temporary unemployment regimes do not apply to statutory employees from the public sector, students and trainees.  

4. What procedure(s) does an employer have to follow to be able to take advantage of the scheme(s)?

As a result of measures taken by the Council of Ministers, the procedure has been simplified in the event of unemployment due to force majeure. An application for recognition of temporary unemployment in cases of force majeure must be submitted by post or electronically. An e-declaration must be addressed and must contain (i) the date of the force majeure, (ii) a description of the event constituting the force majeure, (iii) the expected duration of the temporary unemployment (in case of extension, a new communication may be sent), (iv) the identity of the workers concerned. 

5. Are there any other important eligibility criteria?

In light of the high number of applications for temporary unemployment linked to the coronavirus (for all reasons: force majeure or unemployment for blue-collar and white-collar workers) and the complexity of determining the appropriate regime in some cases, the Council of Ministers decided on Friday 20 March 2020 to simplify the applications for temporary unemployment linked to the coronavirus (until 30 June 2020). From now on, all applications for temporary unemployment linked to the coronavirus will be recognised as temporary unemployment due to force majeure. There will now only be one uniform and simplified procedure for applying for temporary unemployment as a result of the coronavirus crisis. 

6. Are employees covered by the scheme(s) protected from dismissal?

Temporary unemployment regimes do not protect employees from dismissal. The employer can still proceed to the dismissal of the employees covered by one of the schemes seen above.  

However, it is worth mentioning that the running of the notice period is different in the temporary unemployment regime for force majeure than for economic reasons. In case of notice given during the period of temporary unemployment for economic reasons, the notice period does not begin to run until the worker gets back to work. In contrast, if notice is given during the temporary unemployment regime due to force majeure, the notice period will start running and will not be suspended. Note that the Belgium parliament is currently discussing suspension of the notice period in the temporary unemployment regime due to force majeure.