Bridge days 2027 in Belgium are, in a five-day week, two Fridays: 7 May 2027, after Ascension Day, and 12 November 2027, after Armistice Day. Neither is a day off by law. The law only knows 10 public holidays, and a bridge day is not one of them. If you want to close the company on those days, you set that collectively in advance.
Bridge days 2027 in Belgium: the calendar
A bridge day is a working day that falls between a public holiday and the weekend. In 2027 the calendar gives exactly 2 in a Monday to Friday week:
| Public holiday | Date | Weekday | Bridge day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascension Day | 6 May 2027 | Thursday | Friday 7 May 2027 |
| Armistice Day | 11 November 2027 | Thursday | Friday 12 November 2027 |
| National Day | 21 July 2027 | Wednesday | none: two working days on each side |
The other public holidays fall on a Monday, a Friday or a weekend and leave no bridge. The full calendar with weekdays is in Belgium public holidays 2027.
Legally, a bridge day is therefore a normal working day. If your staff do not work that day, the absence needs a basis: a leave day, a replacement day, a compensatory rest day or a schedule that leaves the day free. That has to be arranged before the day itself.
Four ways to organise bridge days 2027
1. A collective leave day. You close the company and everyone takes a leave day. A full-time employee in a five-day week has 20 statutory leave days, so two bridge days cost them two. The annual leave rules set who chooses the collective dates: first the joint committee, which notifies the minister of its decision by 31 December 2026 at the latest. Then the works council. Without a works council, you decide together with the union delegation or, if there is none, with the employees. If that fails, only an individual agreement remains. The law itself asks that leave days outside the main holiday preferably be taken in quiet periods or around public holidays. A bridge day fits that exactly. When you may refuse a leave request is explained in can an employer refuse leave.
2. A replacement day on the bridge day. In 2027, 1 May, 15 August and Christmas Day fall on a weekend. For each, you set a replacement day on a normal working day, and that may be the bridge day: 7 May for 1 May, 12 November for 15 August or Christmas Day. The bridge then costs your employees no leave day. You post the replacement day notice before 15 December 2026. How that works and who chooses is in our article on the replacement public holiday.
3. A compensatory rest day. If your staff work 40 hours a week while the average working time is 38 hours, they get compensatory rest days, for example 12 a year. The collective agreement or the work rules set how those days are fixed. If they are fixed collectively, you can put one on the bridge day. More in our article on ADV days.
4. Working the hours on other days. With flexible schedules (Article 20bis of the Labour Act), you can replace the normal schedule with an alternative schedule from the work rules: at most 2 hours a day and 5 hours a week above or below the normal schedule, never more than 9 hours a day or 45 hours a week. Over the year, the average working time must add up. You announce the switch at least 7 days ahead with a dated and signed notice. Without such an arrangement in the work rules, you may not have staff work outside the schedules listed there.
One limit always applies: the hours of the public holiday itself may not be worked back. The Public Holidays Act forbids that, except in cases set by the King. It is only about the hours of the bridge day.
What goes in the work rules or a notice?
- Collective leave. The dates of the annual collective leave must be in the work rules. A collective bridge day is part of it. Changing those dates does not require the full procedure for amending the work rules.
- Replacement days. You post the notice before 15 December 2026, with a copy attached to the work rules.
- Flexible schedules. Introducing them is a normal amendment of the work rules: post the draft, keep a register for comments for 15 days, then it takes effect. After that, the notice 7 days ahead is enough for each switch.
How to draw up and amend the work rules is in drawing up work rules. How many leave days your employees have in 2027 is in leave days 2027.
Part-timers and new employees
Part-time with a fixed schedule. If the part-timer never works on Fridays, a collective bridge day does not affect them. If they do work on Fridays, they take a leave day from their own balance, calculated in proportion to their schedule.
Part-time with a variable schedule. You announce their schedule with a notice, at least 7 working days ahead, unless a sector agreement sets another period. Plan the bridge day in good time.
New employees without enough leave days. The National Employment Office (RVA/ONEM) does not discuss bridge days as such. Its rules for a collective closure for annual leave are clear: anyone without enough leave days to cover the closure can be on temporary unemployment for the missing days, with a benefit of 60% of their capped average pay. They must first use up their paid leave, youth leave or senior leave. If you close on the basis of compensatory rest days, it is different: according to the RVA, you must in principle let anyone without enough compensatory rest keep working and pay them, unless the shortfall is due to a recent start.
Bridge days 2027 in construction: already set
In construction (JC 124) both bridge days are already arranged. Friday 7 May 2027 is the replacement day for 1 May, set by the joint committee and made binding by a royal decree of 7 September 2026. Friday 12 November 2027 is one of the six rest days in a royal decree of 4 October 2026. A construction worker therefore does not work on those days, without using a leave day. The full calendar, with the construction holiday and the other rest days, is in construction leave days 2027.
What Business Centrum does for you
We enter the 2027 bridge days in your payroll as a leave day, replacement day or compensatory rest day, with the right codes and the right pay, together with Acerta. We write the notice for the collective closure or the replacement days, update your work rules and follow up the balances of new employees. Day-to-day leave management sits in leave and absences. Want to set the 2027 bridge days before the year starts? Ask us to call you back.