The end-of-year bonus JC 111 is paid by you as the employer yourself, and how much it is depends on the province where your company is established. In East Flanders, a worker with at least 60 days actually worked gets a number of hours of pay equal to his weekly working time x 52 weeks / 12 months. You pay it at the latest on the last working day before 25 December 2026.
End-of-year bonus JC 111: one scheme per province
JC 111 has no national collective agreement that sets the amount of the end-of-year bonus for all workers. Each province or region has its own agreement. Above those sit two national agreements:
- the agreement of 6 July 2015 (128635/CO/111), which for all companies except the fitters guarantees a pro rata bonus when the worker gives notice since 1 July 2015 and on permanent medical force majeure;
- a separate agreement (186121/CO/111) for the companies that erect bridges and steel structures, with a percentage of annual pay.
This page covers the East Flanders scheme in full, and in addition the core of West Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg and the fitters. Not covered are Brabant (Brussels, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant), the Walloon provinces and the national scheme for artisanal metalworking: we could not check their agreements in their complete, official text. If you work there, check your own provincial agreement.
The white-collar employees of a metal company fall under JC 209 and have a different scheme. Which workers fall under JC 111 and which wages apply is explained in our guide on joint committee 111.
End-of-year bonus JC 111 in East Flanders: who is entitled?
The agreement of 16 October 2017 applies to the employers and workers of JC 111 established in the province of East Flanders. It does not apply to the fitters of bridges and steel structures, nor to Philips, Bekaert, Volvo Cars Gent and Volvo Europa Truck, which have their own scheme.
The worker must reach a minimum of actual work in the reference period:
| Working regime | What the worker must work |
|---|---|
| Full-time, five-day week | 60 working days |
| Full-time, other regime | 60 x number of working days per week / 5, for example 24 days for a two-day weekend shift |
| Part-time | the same ratio in hours, for example 240 hours for 20 hours a week against a full-timer on 38 hours |
Working time reduction days and days of absence to recover overtime count as days actually worked. For retirement, SWT and death, the threshold does not apply.
A special rule helps workers with a short contract around the turn of the year. If the contract started and ended with the same employer between 1 September 2025 and 28 February 2026, and the worker reached enough days over those two reference periods together, he still gets a pro rata bonus. That only applies if the contract ended through dismissal by the employer (not for serious cause), or through the end of a fixed-term contract or a contract for a specific job.
Calculation of the end-of-year bonus JC 111 in East Flanders
The agreement calculates in hours. The number of hours is:
weekly working time x 52 weeks / 12 months
The weekly working time is the worker's actual working time. If your company grants unpaid working time reduction days, you take the average weekly working time on an annual basis. With a variable schedule, the average over a work cycle counts. If the worker changed regime during the year, for example from full-time to part-time, the bonus follows the regimes he actually had.
You pay those hours at the individual basic hourly wage, increased by any individual or collective production bonus. The wage that counts is the one on 30 November of the reference year. If the worker leaves, the wage of the first day of the month in which he leaves counts. The reference period for the 2026 bonus runs from 1 December 2025 up to and including 30 November 2026.
Worked example: a full-time worker in the 38-hour week
This is an example, not a calculation for your situation. A worker works full-time all year, 38 hours a week, and on 30 November earns € 18.00 an hour, production bonus included. Under the formula in the agreement, his bonus is 38 x 52 / 12 = 164.67 hours (rounded). That gives 164.67 x € 18.00 = € 2,964.06 gross. The agreement itself names no fixed number of hours; for another regime you use the worker's own weekly working time.
If the worker was absent without a lawful reason, you deduct 8 hours per day in a full-time regime of 40 hours a week. In another full-time regime, the deduction is the weekly working time x 8 / 40, and for part-timers it is in proportion to their work. The bonus goes through the normal payroll, with 13.07% employee social security and withholding tax under the scale for exceptional payments. What that gives net is explained in end-of-year bonus calculation.
Which absences count in East Flanders?
| Absence | Counts as worked |
|---|---|
| Workplace accident and occupational disease | up to 365 calendar days per case, even without the 60-day threshold |
| Sickness and non-work accident | the first two periods with guaranteed pay, together with any hospitalisation after them, maximum 6 months |
| Pregnancy | the statutory period |
| Short leave, annual holidays, paid public holidays | in full |
| Temporary unemployment | in full, except unemployment due to a strike in the company |
| Educational leave, social advancement, trade union training, family leave | in full, for the duration set by law or collective agreement |
| Other paid statutory or contractual absences, recall to military service | in full |
| Strike, lockout | no |
A company in serious economic or financial difficulty can get an exception for temporary unemployment, but only through the conciliation procedure.
End-of-year bonus JC 111 on dismissal or leaving in East Flanders
If a worker leaves during the reference period, he gets 1/12 of the set number of hours per month worked. The agreement lists these cases:
| Situation | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Dismissal by the employer, except for serious reasons | 1/12 per month worked |
| Dismissal for economic or technical reasons, followed by counter-notice from the worker | 1/12 per month, until the end of the counter-notice |
| Resignation | 1/12 per month worked |
| Fixed-term contract or clearly defined job | 1/12 per month worked |
| Permanent medical force majeure | 1/12 per month worked |
| Retirement or SWT | 1/12 per month, paid on leaving |
| Death | 1/12 per month, paid by the employer |
| Full-time career break | 1/12 per month worked |
| Any other termination | 1/12 per month worked |
| Dismissal for serious cause | no bonus |
A simple rule applies to counting the months. Someone who starts between the 1st and the 15th of the month gets that month in full. Someone who leaves from the 16th also gets that month in full. When a worker leaves, you pay the bonus with the final pay slip, at the hourly wage of the first day of the month of leaving. It therefore also belongs on the social documents at dismissal.
End-of-year bonus JC 111 in West Flanders, Antwerp and Limburg
The three other Flemish provinces each have an agreement of 16 October 2017, supplemented in 2023 with the conversion into other benefits: West Flanders 145690/CO/111, Antwerp 143026/CO/111 and Limburg 142845/CO/111. The main lines:
| West Flanders | Antwerp | Limburg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of hours | weekly hours x 52 / 12 | minimum 165 hours in the 38-hour week, otherwise weekly hours x 52 / 12 | same as Antwerp |
| Hourly wage | basic hourly wage with production bonus on 1 July 2026 | basic hourly wage of December, with production bonuses | same as Antwerp |
| Threshold | 60 working days | no day threshold; 1/260 per day worked | same as Antwerp |
| Employed on | 30 November | 1 December 2026 | 30 November 2026 |
| Payment of the 2026 bonus | at the latest on 31 January 2027 | with the last pay run before 25 December 2026 | same as Antwerp |
| Sickness counts | first two periods, max 6 months | max 90 days per reference period | same as Antwerp |
In West Flanders, the bonus drops by 1/261 per non-assimilated day in the five-day week. Prophylactic leave and breastfeeding leave count up to 2 months per leave. When a worker leaves with a right to a pro rata bonus, you pay at the latest on the last day of the month after the departure. Existing rules in your company on granting and payment keep applying, even if they are less favourable; for the number of hours, only a more favourable rule keeps applying.
In Antwerp and Limburg, the following count, among others: economic unemployment up to 120 days, authorised absence up to 5 days, layoff due to technical failure, bad weather or force majeure up to 10 days per case, and pregnancy and maternity leave up to 15 weeks. For each unjustified absence, 5 hours are deducted for the first and the second day, and 10 hours for each further day.
On seniority, the Antwerp and Limburg agreements are not consistent: article 2 asks for "one year of service", article 4 for "at least three months of seniority" on the same date. We do not fill in a term here. Assess this case by case.
For the fitters of bridges and steel structures, a national agreement of 19 December 2023 applies: 8.33% of annual gross pay, including the normal pay for the first 14 calendar days of sickness. The bonus is due to the workers listed in the staff register on 30 November, and you pay it in December. On resignation there is a pro rata bonus from 1 year of seniority, but not on dismissal for serious cause.
Converting the end-of-year bonus into days off or a bike lease
Since the 2023 amendment, part of the bonus may go into days off or a bike lease. The national agreement 2023-2024 set that framework for Antwerp, Limburg, East Flanders, West Flanders and Flemish Brabant. The East Flanders agreement says:
- at most 50% of the end-of-year bonus;
- only with a company collective agreement, which sets the calculation of the budget, the cost and the group of workers (not required for a company collective agreement from before 19 December 2023);
- voluntary, with an individual agreement of the worker;
- cost-neutral: you include all employer costs of the bonus, such as social security, holiday pay, contributions to the subsistence security fund and the sector pension;
- with prior information to the workers about the consequences.
The national agreement 2023-2024 states that the sector will change nothing more about this option in 2025 and 2026.
Mistakes we see with the end-of-year bonus JC 111
- Taking the wrong hourly wage. In East Flanders, the hourly wage on 30 November counts, with production bonus. In West Flanders, it is the hourly wage on 1 July 2026.
- Applying a fixed 165 hours in East Flanders. That minimum rule applies in Antwerp and Limburg. In East Flanders, you calculate with the formula based on the actual weekly hours.
- Paying nothing on resignation. In East Flanders, the worker gets 1/12 per month worked.
- Deducting sickness in full. The first two periods of sickness with guaranteed pay count, up to 6 months.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum handles the payroll administration of metal companies together with Acerta, with the end-of-year bonus under the agreement of your province: we track the days treated as worked and include the bonus in the final settlement when someone leaves. How the bonus is arranged in the other committees is explained in our overview of the end-of-year bonus in 2026 per joint committee.