Types of Leave For Parents
If you are part of the Belgian social security system (either as an employee, self-employed or unemployed) you may be entitled to various kinds of leave following the birth or adoption of your baby. In this section, you can find out more about:
Maternity leave is intended to give new mothers time to recover physically from birth, and to care for and bond with their new baby before returning to work. Belgium offers one of the shortest maternity leave periods in Europe, at 15 weeks for employees – one week above the EU minimum.
Maternity Leave
For employees in the Belgian system
If you are employed on a Belgian contract, and have been registered with a Belgian mutuelle for at least 6 months, you are entitled to paid maternity leave.
How long is maternity leave in Belgium?
After giving birth, you are entitled to 15 weeks maternity leave (17 weeks in the case of a multiple birth, though this may be extended to 19 weeks), which is divided into ‘prenatal’ and ‘postnatal’ leave:
Prenatal leave: One week of maternity leave is considered as ‘mandatory’ prenatal leave, and can only be taken before the birth. You can start your maternity leave a maximum of 6 weeks (8 weeks for multiples) before the expected due date.
Be warned that if your baby is born early, before the planned start of your maternity leave, you essentially ‘lose’ the one mandatory week of leave.
In the period from 6 weeks (8 weeks for multiples) before your due date to the start of your prenatal leave, sick days follow the normal rules and have no impact on your maternity leave.
Postnatal leave: Nine weeks of leave are considered as ‘mandatory’ postnatal leave. If you started your maternity leave before the birth, the nine weeks start on the day of the birth – if not, the mandatory leave starts the next day.
Any remaining weeks (not counting the week of mandatory prenatal leave) can be taken after these nine weeks, meaning your postnatal leave will be a minimum of nine weeks and a maximum of 14 weeks (minimum of 11 and maximum of 16 weeks for a multiple birth).
Do you prefer to ease yourself back into work?
If you have at least two weeks of postnatal leave left after the mandatory nine weeks of postnatal leave, you can convert the last two weeks into ‘post-natal rest’ days off. These days off must be taken within the eight weeks before the end of the post-natal leave.
How do I request my maternity leave payment?
To make sure you receive payment for your maternity leave:
send a medical certificate to your health insurance fund (‘mutuelle’ / ‘ziekenfonds’) that states the expected due date of your baby and start date of your maternity leave.
Check with your health insurance fund when they need to receive this certificate – they may ask you to send it only once you start your maternity leave.
Once you have sent the certificate, they will then send you the relevant paperwork that you need to complete and return to them.within one month of the birth, send a copy of the birth certificate (‘extrait d’acte de naissance’ / ‘geboorteaangifte’) to your health insurance fund so they can calculate the end date of your maternity leave (and to register your baby with your health insurance fund and to receive a birth bonus (‘prime de naissance’ / ‘premie’) or other welcome offers).
within eight days of going back to work, you need to send a completed ‘attestation de reprise de travail’ / ‘bewijs van werkhervatting of van werkloosheid’ (form signalling that you have resumed work, and the date on which you returned) to your health insurance fund. You will have been sent this form during your pregnancy.
Note that you should only send this when you actually, go back to work – if you are taking additional leave such as parental leave do not send it yet.if you are taking another kind of leave directly after your maternity leave, for example, parental leave or a career break, you need to provide you health insurance fund with the official document you have received from the ONEM / RVA (the national employment office) about that leave.
How much am I paid during maternity leave in Belgium, as an employee?
For the first 30 days of your maternity leave, you receive 82% of your gross salary (with no upper limit) from your health insurance fund (‘mutuelle’ / ‘ziekenfonds’).
As of the 31st day, this amount is fixed at 75% of your gross salary, with an upper limit of around €120 per day.
What happens if my baby has to stay in hospital?
If your baby has to stay in hospital beyond the first seven days after the birth, you should be able to extend your maternity leave.
What if I’m an employee and my baby needs to stay in hospital?
For each consecutive day your baby has to stay in hospital beyond the first seven days after the birth (provided the baby was not discharged from hospital during that time), you can extend your maternity leave by the same number of days, e.g. if your baby stays in hospital for 10 days in total, your maternity leave is extended by three days.
This extension of maternity leave cannot exceed 24 weeks.
The additional time is added at the end of your official maternity leave.
How do I claim this extension?
Before the end of your official maternity leave, give your health insurance fund a letter from the hospital stating the length of time your baby was hospitalised for.
Read more on the website of the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (French and Dutch).
GOOD TO KNOW
Office closures or bank holidays during the first 30 days of your absence (i.e. when you are off work through no fault of your own) should be remunerated separately and in full, as explained on the website of the SETCA union (French / Dutch).
Any remaining weeks (not counting the week of mandatory prenatal leave) can be taken after these nine weeks, meaning your postnatal leave will be a minimum of nine weeks and a maximum of 14 weeks (minimum of 11 and maximum of 16 weeks for a multiple birth).
For self-employed mothers in the Belgian system
If you are self-employed in the Belgian system, have been registered with a health insurance fund for at least six months, and have paid social security contributions for at least two trimesters, you are entitled to paid maternity leave.
There are a few more conditions to be eligible for payment:
you need to take minimum three weeks of leave;
during the weeks in which you take ‘full-time’ maternity leave, you suspend all your professional activities;
during the weeks in which you take ‘part-time’ maternity leave, you:
carry out your regular self-employed activities maximum half-time; and
you do not carry out any other professional activities.
Note that you are allowed to have a third party carry on your professional activities during your maternity leave.
How long is maternity leave for self-employed mothers in Belgium?
You are entitled to up to 12 weeks paid maternity leave (maximum 13 weeks in the case of a multiple birth), with a minimum of three weeks. Maternity leave is divided into ‘mandatory prenatal leave’, ‘manatory postnatal leave’ and ‘optional leave’.
Mandatory prenatal leave: One week of maternity leave is considered as mandatory prenatal leave, and can only be taken before the birth. You can start your prenatal leave maximum three weeks before the due date.
If your baby is born early and you had not taken one week of maternity leave prior to the birth, you do not ‘lose’ this week of leave – any ‘unused’ days are added to your obligatory postnatal leave, to ensure that you have three uninterrupted weeks of leaveMandatory postnatal leave: Two weeks of maternity leave are considered as mandatory postnatal leave. If you started your maternity leave before the birth, the two weeks of mandatory postnatal leave start on the day of the birth – if not, the mandatory leave starts the next day
Optional leave: The remaining nine weeks (10 in the case of a multiple birth) can be taken:
before the birth. Because there is one mandatory week of prenatal leave, and prenatal leave cannot start more than three weeks before the due date, you can take maximum two weeks of optional leave before the birth.
after the two weeks of obligatory postnatal leave. These weeks of leave can be taken in periods of seven days (i.e. they do not have to be taken consecutively) until at latest 38 weeks after the birth.
Any weeks of optional leave after the birth can be taken full-time or part time, with one full-time week being equivalent to two part-time weeks, e.g. you can take nine (10) full weeks, or 18 (20) part-time weeks at any time within the 38 weeks following the birth.
How do I apply for maternity leave as a self-employed mother in Belgium?
To receive payment for your maternity leave:
before the birth, provide your health insurance fund with:
a medical certificate that states the expected due date of your baby (and indicates if it is a multiple birth);
the intended start date of your maternity leave (which can be maximum 3 and minimum 1 week before the estimated due date); and
details of the mandatory and optional leave you plan to take. You can still change this, but always need to keep your health insurance fund informed
within one month of the birth, send a copy of the birth certificate (‘extrait d’acte de naissance’ / ‘geboorteaangifte’) to your health insurance fund so they can calculate the end date of your maternity leave (and to register your baby with your health insurance fund and to receive a birth bonus (‘prime de naissance’ / ‘premie’) or other welcome offers).
When you restart your professional activities at the end of your maternity leave, you don’t need to inform your health insurance fund.
How much am I paid during maternity leave in Belgium, as a self-employed mother?
The weekly amount you receive for your maternity leave as a self-employed mother is not dependent on your income.
The amount you’ll receive for weeks taken:
full-time is around €830 gross for the first four weeks (and around €750 thereafter);
part-time is around €415 gross for the first four weeks (and around €380 thereafter).
What if I’m self-employed and my baby needs to stay in hospital?
For each consecutive day your baby has to stay in hospital beyond the first seven days after the birth (provided the baby was not discharged from hospital during that time), you can extend your maternity leave by the same number of days, e.g. if your baby stays in hospital for 10 days in total, your maternity leave is extended by three days.
The additional time is added after the two weeks of mandatory postnatal leave. It is possible to take these extra days ‘part-time’.
How do I claim this extension?
Within two weeks of the birth, inform your health insurance fund of the number of additional days of maternity leave and provide a letter from the hospital stating the length of time your baby was hospitalised for.
If at this time, your baby is still in hospital, your maternity leave can be further extended and you will again need to ask the hospital for a letter stating the length of hospitalisation.
Read more on the website of the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (French and Dutch).
GOOD TO KNOW
If you are self employed you do not have to pay social security for the trimester following the birth of your baby. This benefit is accorded automatically by your social insurance fund.
Birth Leave -Dads and Co-Parents
Good to Know
If you’re an employee in the Belgian system, you’re entitled to 4 months of parental leave per child, which must be used before your child turns 12. Subject to certain conditions, you may also be entitled to take a career break to look after your child.
In Belgium, every father or co-parent can take paid leave within four months after their child is born, whether they work full-time, part-time, as a civil servant, or are self-employed.
Birth leave for employees and self-employed
Eligibility criteria
Fathers
Provided they meet certain administrative criteria, married fathers are automatically entitled to take birth leave.
Unmarried fathers will have to have made a declaration of paternity in order to be entitled.
Co-parents
As the co-parent, you are entitled to birth leave if you:
are married to the biological mother; OR
are officially ‘co-habiting’ with the biological mother (i.e. having the status of ‘cohabitants légaux’ / ‘wettelijk samenwonenden’); OR
have lived with the biological mother at the address where their baby has its principal residence for at least the three consecutive years before the birth.
Note that if the father (or your partner’s husband if she is married) has declared paternity, you as co-parent are not entitled to birth leave.
How much leave can I take and when can I take it?
As co-parent, you are entitled to 20 days of leave which need to be taken within the four months after the birth. This can be taken:
employees: in one go, or as individual days when it suits you. You cannot take half days.
self-employed: in one go, as individual days when it suits you, or as half days.
WORTH KNOWINGIf you (self-employed father / partner) take maximum 9 days of leave (or 18 half days), you are entitled to receive 15 free ‘titres services’ / ‘dienstencheques’ which can be used to pay for domestic services such as cleaning, ironing, grocery shopping. This is worth EUR 135 in total. To benefit from this support, contact your social insurance fund – you need to buy the vouchers yourself, and your social insurance fund will reimburse the amount upon receipt of proof of purchase.
There is no obligation to take this leave, but remember too that any days of leave that you do not use within four months of the birth are lost.
Adoption at birth or later
If you adopt your wife’s / partner’s baby:
at birth, you lose your entitlement to birth leave, but instead have the right to ‘adoption leave‘;
at a later time, and have already taken birth leave, your adoption leave is reduced by:
one week if you have taken up to 5 days of birth leave;
two weeks if you have taken more than 5 days of birth leave.
How do I request birth leave?
Employees
At your employer There is no formal procedure for applying to take birth leave. Simply inform your employer that your wife / partner is pregnant. Your employer may ask to see a copy of the birth certificate (‘attestation de naissance’ / ‘geboortebewijs’).
At your ‘mutuelle’ / ‘ziekenfonds’ Ask your mutuelle for the official form to request paternity / co-parent leave. Complete and return this form to your mutuelle with a copy of the birth certificate. If you are the co-parent, you also need to send proof that you meet one of the criteria mentioned above i.e. marriage certificate; or paper from the commune saying that you are delared ‘cohabitants légaux’ / ‘wettelijk samenwonenden’; or an ‘extrait du registre de la population’ / ‘uittreksel uit het bevolkingsregister’ mentioning the date on which you started living at the main residence of the biological mother. Your mutuelle will then send you some paperwork to complete and return to them.
At the end of your paternity / co-parent leave, you do not need to do anything – simply go back to work!
Self-employed
Submit your request for birth leave to your social insurance fund (‘caisse d’assurances sociales’ / ‘sociaal verzekeringsfonds’) before the end of the quarter following the quarter of the birth. If your child was born during the last month of a quarter (i.e. March, June, September or December), you have an extra month to submit your application.
Your fund will most likely make the form available on their website. On the form, you indicate which days or half-days you have interrupted your professional activity or intend to do so.
Send the completed form via registered post or bring it to a physical office of your fund and ask for a proof of receipt.
How much will I get paid?
Employees
The first 3 days of birth leave are paid by your employer, at 100% of your usual salary.
Your mutuelle/ziekenfonds pays the remaining days, at 82% of your usual salary, with an upper limit.
Note that you will receive your payment from the mutuelle once you have taken all of your birth leave.
Self-employed
Birth leave is paid at around EUR 80 per day or EUR 40 per half day.
What happens if my wife / partner cannot look after our baby?
There are two situations in which the mother’s maternity leave can be ‘transferred’ to the father / co-parent if the mother cannot look after the baby:
if the mother is hospitalised after the birth; or
in the tragic situation where the mother dies.
What happens if the mother has to stay in hospital?
If the mother is hospitalised during her maternity leave (applicable to employees), the remaining maternity leave can be converted to paternity / co-parent leave if the father / partner is also an employee.
This ‘converted’ leave can only begin:
as of the seventh day after the baby’s birth; and
if the baby has left hospital; and
if the mother is hospitalised for more than seven days.
The father / partner needs to inform his/her employer in writing before the leave begins, indicating when he/she will begin this leave and how long he/she is likely to be absent. As soon as possible, he/she should provide his employer with a medical certificate confirming that the mother will be hospitalised for longer than seven days.
He/she also needs to inform his mutuelle of the situation, and provide them with a medical certificate from the hospital stating:
the date on which the mother was hospitalised;
that the mother’s hospitalisation is longer than 7 days; and
that the baby has left hospital.
The mutuelle will then send the father / partner the paperwork that needs to be completed. The leave will be paid by the mutuelle and is fixed at 60% of the father’s / partner’s salary, with an upper limit of around €126 per day.
During this time, the mother continues to receive her maternity leave pay, and is still protected against being made redundant.
What happens if the mother dies?
If the mother dies during her maternity leave (applicable to employees), the remaining maternity leave can be converted to birth leave if the father / partner is also an employee.
The father / partner needs to inform his/her employer in writing within seven days of the mother’s death, indicating when he/she will begin the birth leave and how long they are likely to be absent.
They also needs to inform his mutuelle of the situation, and provide them with a death certificate and a statement from the hospital indicating that the baby has been discharged from hospital.
Adoption Leave
When you adopt a child under the age of 18, you have the right to six weeks adoption leave in total. It is mandatory to take one week of adoption leave, and the six-week period may be extended in certain cases.
If you are unemployed, or are being indemnified after the end of your work contract, you are not entitled to adoption leave.
When can I take adoption leave?
The adoption leave can start:
at the earliest, the day your child is registered at the commune; and
at the latest, two months after your child is registered at the commune.
International adoption
In the case of international adoption, your adoption leave can start before your child is registered at the commune, to allow you to bring your child back from his/her country of origin yourself. Your adoption leave can begin the day after you receive the official confirmation of the adoption.
How long is adoption leave?
When you adopt a child under the age of 18, you have the right to up to six weeks leave. It is mandatory to take one week of adoption leave.
The six weeks of leave are individual, i.e. if both you and your partner are the adoptive parents, you are entitled to six weeks leave each. The leave cannot be transferred between parents.
In certain cases, the six-weeks can be extended:
You’re adopting alone? You can extend your adoption leave by three weeks.
You’re adopting with a partner (i.e. two adoptive parents)? You can extend your adoption leave by three weeks to be divided between the two parents.
You’re adopting a child with a handicap? Each adoptive parent can double their adoption leave if the child suffers from a physical or mental handicap of at least 66%, or has other health problems that may be taken into account. Ask your health insurance fund (‘mutuelle’ / ‘ziekenfonds’) for more details.
You’re adopting more than one child at the same time? Each adoptive parent can extend their adoption leave by two weeks.
Note: It is only possible to take full weeks of leave, i.e. it is not possible take 1.5 weeks leave. Also, you must take all your leave in one go.
How do I apply for adoption leave?
To receive payment for your adoption leave, you need to make a request for adoption leave to your health insurance fund:
at the earliest when you sign the adoption act; and
at the latest, the day the child is registered as domiciled with the adoptive parent(s). Any request made later than this will be refused.
You may be able to download the necessary form from your health insurance fund’s website.
Along with your request, include an attestation of the adoption procedure, and if relevant, an attestation of the child’s handicap. If you are unsure of which documents are needed, check with your health insurance fund in advance.
Your health insurance fund will then send you the relevant paperwork that you need to complete and return to them.
At the end of your adoption leave:
employee: Within 8 days of returning to work, inform your health insurance fund in writing (e.g. via email, post or application from your health insurance fund).
self-employed: Within 2 days of resuming your professional activities, inform your health insurance fund in writing (e.g. via email, post or application from your health insurance fund).
How much am I paid while on adoption leave?
Employee
The first 3 days of adoption leave are paid by your employer, at 100% of your usual salary. Your health insurance fund pays the remaining time, at 82% of your usual salary, with an upper limit.
Your health insurance fund will begin to compensate you within 30 days of receiving your request.
Self-employed
You receive a fixed amount of around €580 per week of adoption leave. This is paid in one go, at the latest one month after the start of your leave.
Sources:
Parents who are employees in the Belgian system are entitled to take a period of paid parental leave per child. This is not paid by the employer, but rather by the mutuelle in the form of an allowance for the days taken. While progress has been made in securing paternity/co-parent leave for self-employed parents, they are are unfortunately not (yet) entitled to take paid parental leave.
Parental Leave In Belgium
How much parental leave can I take and when can I take it?
The length of paid parental leave you are entitled to depends on whether your child was born before or after 8 March 2012. If your child was born:
after 8 March 2012, you can receive a government allowance for up to four months of leave;
before 8 March 2012, you can only receive a government allowance for up to three months of leave.
In this case, you are still entitled to four months of parental leave, but the fourth month is unpaid.
For the mother, parental leave can start any time from the end of the mandatory period of postnatal maternity leave; for the other parent, parental leave can start any time after the child’s birth, though it also makes sense to take the 20 days of paternity/co-parent leave first.
Adoptive parents are entitled to take parental leave as of the moment the child is officially registered at the commune as part of their household.
The leave must start before the child’s 12th birthday (21st birthday in the case of a handicapped child).
Who can take parental leave?
To be able to take parental leave, you must have a parental link with the child. This generally means you are:
the biological mother or father;
in the absence of the biological father, the man who is recognised as the father;
mother’s wife, who becomes the child’s co-mother;
an adoptive parent.
Each parent has the right to take four months of leave each, though the leave is not transferrable – if one parent does not use his/her entitlement to parental leave before the age cut-off of 12 years, it is simply lost.
Generally speaking, you need to have worked for your employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutively) in the 15 months prior to making the request to take parental leave.
Any employee can request to take full-time leave. However, you need to be working full-time to be able to request any kind of part-time parental leave.
Do I have to take parental leave in one go?
You can use your parental leave:
in one go (i.e. a single period of 4 months);
in several periods of minimum one month;
to temporarily reduce your working hours to 80% (1/5 parental leave) or 50% (1/2 parental leave).
If you reduce your working hours to:80%, you can do this for a maximum of 20 months, or several periods of five months (or multiples of five months); or
50%, you can do this for a maximum of 8 months, or several periods of two months (or multiples of two months).
to take one half-day off per week, or one full day off every two weeks (1/10 parental leave).
If you take your parental leave like this, you can do so for a maximum period of 40 months, or several periods of ten months (or multiples of ten months).
How do I request parental leave?
As the procedures for applying for this kind of leave are rather complex, it’s best to check with your Human Resources department.
Typically you should submit your request for parental leave three months (and minimum two months) before you wish to start taking parental leave.
If you take full-time parental leave in one go, you are protected against being made redundant during this time, and any notice period begins after the end of the parental leave. This is not the case for parental leave that is spread out.
Can my employer refuse my request?
This depends on how you wish to take your parental leave.
If you meet the conditions (age of child, and have worked for that employer for at least 12 months in the previous 15 months):
your employer cannot refuse a request to take parental leave either full-time or at 1/2 or 1/5 time.
However, they can ask that you delay it by a maximum of 6 months.
your employer may refuse to accept a request to take a 1/10 parental leave.
How much am I paid?
The government allowance you receive:
is independent of your salary; but
depends on your presence time (e.g. working at 80%, 50% etc.) in the period before taking parental leave.
For example, if you are working full-time, you currently receive about €890 per month net (as at 19 November 2023) for full-time parental leave. If you are working part-time, the amount you will receive is prorated.
Also, as mentioned above, your child’s date of birth (before or after 8 March 2012) will determine whether you can receive a government allowance for three or four months.
Does parental leave impact my paid holiday allowance for the following year?
Unfortunately, yes. Unlike maternity and paternity leave – which are counted as normal working time for the calculation of your holiday allowance – days of parental leave are not taken into account when calculating the number of legal holidays you are entitled to in the following year.
On the website of the ONVA/RJK (National Office for Annual Holidays) you can see how many paid holidays you are entitled to according to the number of days actually worked. Remember that other absences such as sick leave, maternity/paternity leave still count towards your allowance.
If you take a full-time, 1/2 or 1/5 parental leave, you can use the information on the ONVA/RJV site to roughly calculate the reduction in your working days, provided the reduction of your working time was in days.
If you take a 1/10 parental leave, whether or not this impacts your holidays calculation may depend on whether you take one half-day per week (in which case those days may still count towards your holiday allowance), or one full day every two weeks (in which case this is not counted as a working day). Check with your employer for confirmation.
More information
You can read more:
in the document ‘Clés pour devenir parent tout en travaillant‘ (French) or ‘Wegwijs in werk en ouderschap‘ (Dutch)
on the website of the National Employment Office (ONEM – French or RVA – Dutch)
Career Breaks
Belgium offers employees a system of career breaks that can be taken for a specific reason. ‘Looking after young children’ is one of the accepted reasons and you can benefit from up to 48 months of paid leave, subject to certain conditions. While the pay is low, this system can be a way to extend your time off after the birth of your baby, or temporarily stop working or reduce your working hours during your child’s early years.
The option to take a career break to look after your child should not be confused with parental leave, which is a completely separate type of leave. Every parent is entitled to 4 months of parental leave per child, which must be used before your child turns 12.
How long a career break can I take and when can I take it?
Over the course of your career as an employee, you have the possibility to take a total of 51 calendar months of paid leave. Only 48 of these can be used to take care of your children (note that ‘care’ does not have a medical meaning here – there are other forms of career break for caring for sick family members).
To be able to take a:
full-time career break ‘to take care of your child’, you need to make the request before your child turns 5.
half-time or one-fifth career break, you need to make the request before your child turns 8.
Your actual career break may of course extend beyond your child’s 5th/8th birthday; it’s their age at the date of the request that counts.
Who can take this kind of career break?
To be able to take this kind of career break, you must have a parental link with the child in question. This generally means you are:
the biological mother or father;
in the absence of the biological father, the man who is legally recognised as the father;
the mother’s wife, who becomes the child’s co-mother;
an adoptive parent.
You must also have been working for your current employer for at least 36 months. If this isn’t the case, you can still request this kind of career break if:
you (will) have used up all your parental leave for all your children on the date your career break is due to start; and
your career break starts immediately after your parental leave ends.
There are also strict conditions related to your working time in the year before you make your request for a career break in order to be entitled to be paid during your career break – sadly, parents who work less than full-time now have fewer options when it comes to deciding how to take their career break.
How can I choose to take my career break and what conditions do I need to meet?
While some parents prefer to stop working completely for a certain period of time, others prefer to use their available career break to reduce their working hours without a complete loss of income and benefits for that time.
You can decide to take:
a full-time career break, where you stop work completely. You can do this if you have been working full-time for the 12 months prior to the request or part-time for the 24 months prior to the request.
The minimum duration per request (or per extension) is 3 months;a half-time career break, where you reduce your working hours to 50% of your employers’s full-time hours. You can only do this if you have working full-time in the 12 months before the request.
The minimum duration per request (or per extension) is 3 months;a one-fifth career break, where you reduce your working time by 1 full day or 2 half days per week. You can only do this if you have working full-time in the 12 months before the request. Depending on your employer, you may be able to agree to another way to adjust your working hours (e.g. leaving 1.5 hours early every day) for a maximum period of 12 months.
The minimum duration per request (or extension) is 6 months.
In the case of half-time and one-fifth career breaks, you should receive an addendum to your contract, outlining the agreed changes to your working time.
How do I request a career break?
You first need to submit your request to your employer. If their response is positive, you then need to submit an official request to the ONEM / RVA (the national employment office).
Submitting your request to your employer
You need to notify your employer, in writing, of your request to take (or extend) a career break. In principle, you need to inform them:
3 months in advance of your desired start date, if there are more than 20 workers in the company;
6 months in advance, if there are 20 workers or fewer.
There is no set model or form, but you need to make sure it includes:
the type of career break requested (i.e. to look after a child under the age of 8);
the form of interruption requested (full-time, half-time or one-fifth);
your desired start date and duration of the career break;
for a half-time or one-fifth interruption, your proposal for how you want to adjust your working hours.
Send your request to your employer by registered letter or deliver it in person and have them sign a copy to confirm receipt.
How fast should I expect a response?
Generally speaking, your employer should respond to your request no later than the last day of the month following the month in which you made your request.
Do I need to provide any other documents to my employer?
Before the start of the career break, make sure your employer has a copy of the birth certificate of the child in question. If your child is adopted, provide your employer with a certificate proving the child’s adoption and a ‘household composition’ (which you can get from the commune) proving that the child lives with you when the career break starts.
Can my employer refuse my request?
This depends on the number of employees in your company. If your employer has:
more than 10 employees, and you meet all the conditions for the type of career break you want to take, you have the right to take a career break. However, if over 5% of your employer’s workforce is on career break, or if there are pressing reasons why you can’t take a career break when you request it, you may have to postpone the start of your career break by maximum 6 months.
fewer than 10 employees, taking a career break is not a right. If you meet the requirements, you can make your request, but your employer is not obliged to approve your request.
Submitting your request to the ONEM / RVA
Once your employer has approved your request, you need to submit the official request to the ONEM / RVA. This can be done electronically (in this case, it’s your employer that needs to trigger this) or via the relevant form which you can find on the website of the ONEM / RVA:
full-time career break: C61-crédit-temps à temps plein CCT no. 103ter – 06/17
half-time career break:C61-crédit-temps à 1/2 temps CCT no. 103ter – 06/17
one-fifth career break:C61-crédit-temps d’1/5 temps CCT no. 103ter – 06/17
You need to submit your request to the ONEM / RVA with two months of receiving approval from your employer.
How much am I paid when on career break?
The allowances paid for career break are fixed, and do not depend on your salary. For a:
full-time career break, you get €548.25 per month net;
half-time career break, you get €213.51 per month net;
one-fifth career break, you get between €130.56 and €222.55 per month net, depending on your family situation.
The above allowances are based on you having worked full-time in the period before your career break. Ask your employer for details of the percentage of ‘précompte professionnel’ / ‘bedrijfsvoorheffing’ that is taken on these amounts.
Frequently asked questions
Does a career break impact my paid holiday allowance for the following year?
Periods of career break do not count as worked days, so you will have fewer holidays in the year following your career break.
Can I start a side-activity during a career break?
While it can be tempting for some parents to start a new activity when taking a career break or reducing their working hours, you are not allowed to do this. If you have a pre-existing activity, such as being part-time self-employed, you can continue this, but you cannot increase this activity.
If you don’t comply with this rule, you lose the right to your career break, as well as to any allowances you received as from the date your started or extended that activity.
Can I live abroad during a career break?
Yes, you can live abroad while on a career break. However, to be able to receive career break allowances, you must be domiciled either:
in Belgium;
in another country of the European Economic Area (EEA), i.e. in one of the 27 countries of the European Union or Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
in Switzerland.
Sources:
https://www.onem.be/citoyens/interruption-de-carriere-credit-temps-et-conges-thematiques/credit-temps-secteur-prive/le-credit-temps-avec-motif
https://www.onem.be/citoyens/interruption-de-carriere-credit-temps-et-conges-thematiques/credit-temps-secteur-prive/procedure-de-demande-du-credit-temps
Breastfeeding Breaks
You are entitled to breastfeeding leave to either breastfeed your baby or express milk.
Anyone who works 4 hours a day is allowed a 30-minute break. Anyone who works at least 7.5 hours a day is allowed to take a break of 1 hour (or 2 times of 30 minutes). The breaks can be taken up to 9 months after birth.
You may be entitled to benefits for your breastfeeding breaks. You need to check with your mutuelle. This benefit amounts to 82% of your gross salary.
You will need to inform your employer at least two months beforehand of your intention to take breastfeeding breaks and prove that you are breastfeeding. You can get a certificate from the public child welfare service (Kind en Gezin / Office de la Naissance et de l'Enfance) or a medical certificate from your gynaecologist, midwife or GP.
If you use of your right to breastfeeding breaks you are protected against dismissal for reasons directly relating to breastfeeding or expressing milk, from the point where you tell your employer of your intention until the expiry of a one month period after your breastfeeding has ended.
In principle, your employer must provide a room for you use for your breastfeeding breaks. Smaller employers and shopkeepers who, perhaps due to a lack of space, cannot provide a suitable area, must if necessary make their own home available.
You can find more information on breastfeeding breaks at: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Read more about the administration and costs necessary when having a baby in Belgium: