Working Time Rules: Belgium
Belgium: working hours, holiday calendars and annual leave rules for practical workforce planning.
This is a general overview, not legal advice. Limits, reference periods, exceptions, and record-keeping duties vary by sector and contract and change over time. Confirm the current rules with the official source and a qualified adviser.
Working week used in calculations40 hours per week8 hours a day over 5 days
Minimum annual leave20 daysFull-time employees normally receive four weeks of annual leave, equivalent to twenty days on a five-day schedule. Holiday entitlement and holiday pay calculations differ between workers, salaried employees and other categories. Confirm accrued rights and the applicable regime rather than subtracting twenty days from every employee’s capacity.Source
Statutory working time
Belgian working-time rules generally set eight hours a day and forty a week, with weekly time reduced to 38 hours on an annual basis. A 40-hour workplace may use compensating rest to reach that average. The editable eight-hour planning scenario does not include those rest days or determine legal compliance.
What to check before you rely on this
- The current statutory limits, reference periods, and any opt-outs.
- Sector or collective-agreement rules that may override the defaults.
- How overtime is authorised, recorded, and compensated.
- What working-time records you must keep and for how long.