The end-of-year bonus in JC 112 is the hourly wage of 1 December times the weekly working hours times 52, divided by 12, and you as the employer pay it yourself, by 20 December 2026 at the latest. There is no minimum seniority for a worker who stays in service. If a worker leaves during the year, his right depends on how he leaves.
Who gets the end-of-year bonus in JC 112?
The collective agreement applies to employers and blue-collar workers of companies under the Joint Committee for garages. It covers blue-collar workers only. Your office staff fall under another committee with their own rules. Whether your company falls under JC 112 and which pay scales apply is explained in our guide to joint committee 112.
Since 1 January 2024, student workers are excluded. A more favourable arrangement in your company still applies: the agreement applies "without prejudice to more favourable situations existing in the companies".
The agreement sets no minimum seniority for a worker still in service when the bonus is paid. It does not expressly say how to calculate the bonus for a worker who joined during the reference period. The pro rata per month only appears in the agreement for the cases of leaving.
Calculating the end-of-year bonus in JC 112
The agreement gives a fixed formula:
hourly wage on 1 December x weekly working hours under the pay scheme x 52 / 12
For the 2026 bonus, the hourly wage in force on 1 December 2026 counts. An indexation or promotion during the year is therefore fully reflected in the bonus. If a worker switches to another working-time scheme during the reference period, you calculate on the average annual working time. The minimum hourly wage per category is in the JC 112 pay scale.
For part-time workers the agreement has no separate rule. The formula uses the weekly working hours of the worker's pay scheme.
Worked example: a full-time mechanic
This is an example, not a calculation for your situation. A mechanic works 38 hours a week and earns € 20.00 gross per hour on 1 December. He worked or was absent with an absence treated as worked during the whole reference period.
20.00 x 38 x 52 / 12 = € 3,293.33 gross
If he was absent for part of the year without such treatment, the bonus is reduced by 1/260 per day not treated as worked.
When do you pay the end-of-year bonus in JC 112?
The reference period runs from 1 December of the previous year up to and including 30 November. For the 2026 bonus, that is from 1 December 2025 up to and including 30 November 2026. You pay the bonus by 20 December 2026 at the latest. When a worker leaves in one of the cases listed in the agreement, you pay the bonus when he leaves the company.
The bonus is pay. It goes through the normal payroll calculation, with 13.07% personal social security on the gross wage at 108% and withholding tax under the scale for exceptional payments. What the worker keeps net and what the bonus costs you on top of the basic contribution of 25% can be worked out with our explanation on calculating the end-of-year bonus.
Which absences count for the end-of-year bonus in JC 112?
The agreement starts from a broad rule: every suspension of the employment contract counts as worked, except the cases with a limit.
| Absence | Counts for the bonus |
|---|---|
| Pregnancy leave, maternity rest, birth leave | fully |
| Prophylactic leave, adoption leave, foster care leave, palliative leave | fully |
| Medical assistance leave | up to 3 months per reference period |
| Ordinary sickness or accident | up to 100 calendar days per reference period |
| Temporary unemployment (article 51 of the Employment Contracts Act) | up to 150 days per reference period |
| Work accident or occupational disease | the first 12 months of uninterrupted incapacity |
| Military service | bonus in proportion to the time actually worked |
| Other suspensions | fully |
For each day of suspension not treated as worked, the bonus is reduced by 1/260. The agreement does not say how to convert the sickness limit in calendar days into days for that reduction. Choose a method, apply it equally to all your workers and record it.
End-of-year bonus JC 112 on dismissal or leaving
If a worker leaves during the reference period, he gets a pro rata bonus in the cases listed in the agreement. That pro rata is 1/12 per month of work in the reference period, and each started month counts as a full month. You calculate on the hourly wage normally paid at the time of leaving.
| Situation | Right to a pro rata bonus |
|---|---|
| Dismissal by the employer, even if the worker gives counter-notice | yes, including the period covered by compensation in lieu of notice |
| Dismissal for serious misconduct | no, excluded in the agreement |
| Retirement or early retirement | yes |
| Death | yes, for the heirs |
| End due to force majeure | yes |
| End by mutual agreement | yes |
| Fixed-term contract, clearly defined work or replacement contract | yes, based on the contract's own period |
| Resignation during temporary unemployment (article 51) | yes |
| Part-time worker with retained rights who resigns for a job with more hours | yes |
| Resignation with 2 years' seniority or more | yes |
| Other resignation | no, if the notice ends before 30 November |
For a fixed-term contract the normal reference period does not apply. If the contract lasts more than a year, you pay a bonus per year based on that year's work, with a final settlement on leaving.
On resignation with less than 2 years' seniority, the worker loses his bonus if his notice period ends before 30 November. For the 2026 bonus, that is 30 November 2026.
Worked example: dismissal in September
This is an example, not a calculation for your situation. You dismiss the mechanic above and he leaves on 15 September 2026. His hourly wage on leaving is € 20.00. From December 2025 to September 2026 he has ten started months:
20.00 x 38 x 52 / 12 x 10 / 12 = € 2,744.44 gross
The amount belongs in the final settlement and on the social documents on dismissal.
What may your company arrange itself?
The agreement sets a minimum. A more favourable arrangement in your company still applies, such as a higher bonus or broader treatment of absences. The agreement says nothing about converting the bonus into other benefits. A less favourable company arrangement does not replace the sector agreement.
Mistakes we see with the end-of-year bonus in JC 112
- Using the average hourly wage of the year. The formula uses the hourly wage of 1 December.
- Deducting every day of sickness. Sickness or accident counts up to 100 calendar days per reference period.
- Using the calendar year as reference period. In JC 112 it runs from 1 December up to and including 30 November.
- Settling a resignation without bonus by default. With 2 years' seniority the worker gets a pro rata bonus, as he does when leaving during temporary unemployment.
- Including student workers. They fall outside the sector arrangement.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum calculates the end-of-year bonus of your garage workers under this agreement, together with Acerta, as part of your payroll. We track the days treated as worked per reference period and include the bonus in the final settlement when a worker leaves. The rules of the other committees are in our overview of the end-of-year bonus in 2026 per joint committee.