Leave entitlement in Belgium

For the leave calculation in Belgium the Leave (accrual) for staff on basis of previous year method is available.

This method ensures that the leave entitlement is calculated based on the preceding year. For the calculation data is used from the timetable, absence entries and leave entries. The result of the calculation of the leave entitlement is a number of leave days that the employee can take using the HR component of Profit.

Leave entitlement for 'Bedienden'

The legislation outlines that the calculation of the leave entitlement for 'Bedienden' must be based on worked months or months deemed equivalent. An employee has a maximum entitlement of 20 leave days per year (in case of a five-day working week). The employee is granted leave days for every complete month. The table below is used to calculate the leave entitlement. The table shows that a number of months of performance and/or months deemed equivalent result in a certain number of leave days.

Leave balance

Using the Leave (accrual) for staff on basis of previous year method, the calculation is based on the number of worked and equivalent hours. The formula for calculating the leave balance is as follows:

Leave entitlement in hours = Basic leave entitlement * (Workable hours / Workable hours in CLA) - hours not deemed equivalent

The following applies to this formula:

• Basic leave entitlement:

  You define the basic leave entitlement in hours in the properties of the term of employment. The basic leave entitlement is the number of hours a full-time employee is entitled to between the start and end date of the leave type. You normally enter 160 hours for the annual holiday.

• Workable hours:

  The workable hours are determined based on the timetable type of the employee and the part-time percentage. In Belgium, these workable hours are often based on the work timetable of the employee (depending on the setting for Determine leave entitlement based on work timetable). The calculation of the workable hours is discussed separately.

• Workable hours in CLA:

  The workable hours in the CLA are the hours an employee should work according to the timetable. The workable hours are calculated on the basis of the below calculation:

  (hours per working week / days per working week) * working days per leave period = Workable hours

  The following applies to this formula:

  • Hours per working week:

    This is the number of hours the employee works per week.

  • Days per working week:

    This is the number of days the employee works per week.

  • Working days per leave period:

    This is the number of days in the leave period (for example, 2014 has 261 working days).

• Hours not deemed equivalent:

  The leave is only accrued on performance (workable hours) and hours deemed equivalent. This means no leave is accrued on hours that are not deemed equivalent.

Examples

Example: 

In this example the employee works 40 hours per week. In the leave year (the preceding year), the employee has not taken any leave and has not been absent. The basic periodical entitlement is 160 hours.

The following calculation is the basis for the leave entitlement of Belgian employees.

52 (weeks in year) * 40 (hours per week) = 2080

160 * (2080 / 2080) = 160 hours of legal leave entitlement

Example: 

In this example the employee works 40 hours per week. The employee has taken leave in the leave year and has absence entries. Of these leave and absence entries, 75 hours are deemed not to be equivalent to performance. The basic periodical entitlement is 160 hours.

The calculation of the leave entitlement looks as follows:

52 * 40 = 2080 hours

(40*52) – 75 = 2005 hours

160 * (2005 / 2080) = 154.23 hours of legal leave entitlement