Newsflash
Working hours and time off

As from 1 January 2017, the maximum period in which students can be employed as contingent workers at the beneficial solidarity contribution will amount to 475 hours instead of 50 days per calendar year.

Already now, employers can file Dimona employment registrations expressed in hours, but only for performances as from 2017.

By Royal Decree of 13 December 2016, published in the Belgian State Journal on 19 December 2016, the legislator has changed the limit from 50 days into 475 hours.

As from 1 January 2017, no social security contributions will be due on the wages paid in the framework of student work, except for a solidarity contribution of 8.13% (of which 5.42% is to be borne by the employer) in so far as the student works:

  • on the basis of a student contract which fulfils all the requirements of the Employment Contracts Act;
  • for maximum 475 hours, to be spread freely throughout the calendar year;
  • outside the periods during which the student is deemed to be attending courses or activities at the educational institution.

The new limit of 475 hours offers students and employers more flexibility, particularly in industries working with incomplete day performances. Performances of only a couple of hours per day will no longer lead to the loss of a full day.

Following an earlier legislative amendment, the filing of a Dimona employment registration for students has already been possible since 1 December 2016, in so far as it concerns performances as from 1 January 2017. The National Social Security Institution has provided further clarifications with respect to the student registration in hours in an intermediary instruction of 5 December 2016 (see Dutch link / see French link ).

Students can check how many hours they have already worked through the application on the website www.studentatwork.be , just as before.

Action point: Apply the 475-hour limit

Remember that the limit for student work will no longer amount to 50 days, but 475 hours as from 1 January 2017. You might want to ask students to sign a document in which they declare (i) which performances they have already executed in that calendar year or which they will still execute at other employers and (ii) that they will provide the access code of the application at www.studentatwork.be . In this way, you can ensure that you do not have to pay regular social security contributions. And of course, our team can assist you with this.