Belgian public holidays 2021 – deadline for communicating replacement days approaching
25 Nov 2020
In Belgium, public holidays that fall on a Sunday or on a day of usual inactivity in the company must be replaced by another day of normal activity. The determination of the replacement days can be organised at sector level by means of a collective bargaining agreement to be adopted in the relevant joint committee or, in the absence of such a CBA, either at company level or via an individual agreement with the employee. The employer must inform the employees, before 15 December of each year, of the days off that have been set in lieu of these public holidays.
Public holidays to be replaced in 2021
In 2021, three public holidays fall on a Sunday or on a usual days of inactivity (often being a Saturday, yet to be determined on a case-by-case basis in each company), namely:
Labour Day, which falls on Saturday 1 May 2021 (only of this corresponds to a normal day of inactivity in the company);
Assumption Day, which falls on Sunday 15 August 2021;
Christmas, which falls on Saturday 25 December 2021 (only of this corresponds to a normal day of inactivity in the company).
General principles
According to Belgian law, if a public holiday falls on a Sunday or on a day of usual inactivity in the company (i.e. usually a Saturday), the public holiday should be replaced, either before or after, by another day of normal business activity. A normal day of inactivity refers to a day on which, according to the work regulations, no work is performed in the company.
The replacement days will then count as public holidays for the employees concerned.
How to determine replacement days?
The replacement of public holidays can be organised at sector level via the adoption of a sector-specific collective bargaining agreement. In the absence of such a CBA, the days off in lieu of public holidays that fall on a Sunday or on a day of usual inactivity in the company can be determined by the company’s works council.
In the absence of a works council, the employer can come to an arrangement in this respect with the company’s union delegation or – in the absence of a union delegation – with the employees, collectively.
If no decision is taken at one of these levels, the employer can determine the days off in lieu of public holidays via an individual agreement with the employee(s).
What if no replacement days are set at sector or company level?
If no days off in lieu are determined on the basis of the above principles, the public holiday that falls on a normal day of inactivity will be replaced by the company’s first day of business following the public holiday. For instance, if - in a company having Saturdays and Sundays as normal days of inactivity - a public holiday falls on one of those days, it will be replaced by the following Monday.
Obligation of the employer to inform the employees
Before 15 December of each year, the employer must make available, at the company’s premises at an easily accessible place, a dated and signed notice mentioning the following for the year to come:
the days off that have been set in lieu of the public holidays that coincide with a normal day of inactivity in the company; and
the rules applicable regarding compensatory rest if the employees are asked to work on public holidays.
In practice, the employer can send the employees a copy of this notice by email.
The employer should also append a copy of this notice to the company’s work regulations.
Can employees freely choose replacement days?
Alternatively, it is possible to have each employee choose freely his or her preferred days off in lieu of public holidays. The replacement days will then be taken at the workers’ convenience, just like an annual holiday. To ensure a correct reflection in the payroll, the employees need to individually inform the employer of their chosen days.
Conclusion
In view of the above, as an employer, if you wish to determine the days off in lieu of the public holidays in 2021 that fall on a Sunday or on a day of usual inactivity in your company, it is important to:
verify that no collective bargaining agreement has been adopted in this respect in the joint committee that is relevant to your company;
notify the days off in lieu to your employees in due time (i.e. before 15 December 2020);
append a copy of this notice to your work regulations.
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