The end-of-year bonus in JC 140 for the workers of subcommittee 140.03 is 5% of their gross pay declared to the NSSO, and it is not you but the Social Fund for Transport and Logistics (SFTL) that pays it, from 20 December 2026. The 2026 bonus is based on the wages from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. This page covers 140.03, road transport and logistics for third parties. For 140.01 and 140.02 a different scheme, or no demonstrable scheme, applies.
Who gets the end-of-year bonus in JC 140.03?
The collective agreement applies to the blue-collar workers of employers in road haulage for third parties and in goods handling and logistics for third parties, outside port areas. It concerns workers who mainly do manual work, such as drivers, warehouse staff and garage staff. You can recognise a company in the sector by NSSO employer category 083. What else the sector regulates, from pay scales to subsistence allowances, is in our guide to joint committee 140.
White-collar staff at the same transport companies are not covered by the SFTL. They belong to JC 226 and receive from their employer an annual bonus equal to one month's salary, as explained on our page about the end-of-year bonus JC 226.
The SFTL grants the bonus when two conditions are met:
- A blue-collar worker in the sector during the reference period. The employee was registered as a worker in the staff register of a 140.03 company. Several employers in the sector add up.
- At least € 2,500 of gross pay declared in the reference period. To reach that threshold, the fund also counts notional pay for days treated as worked. For the amount itself, that notional pay does not count.
The collective agreement sets no length-of-service condition and does not require the worker to still be employed on a particular date.
What about JC 140.01 and 140.02?
For buses and coaches (140.01) there are five separate collective agreements: for driving staff in occasional services, in specialised regular services, for the operators working for De Lijn and for TEC, and for garage staff. There the employer pays the bonus, with an advance from the Bus-Coach Social Fund, and the amounts change every year with indexation or the hourly wage. We did not find the 2026 amounts in an official source, so that scheme is not on this page. For taxis (140.02) we found no sector end-of-year bonus in the collective agreements database.
How much is the end-of-year bonus in JC 140?
The gross end-of-year bonus equals 5% of the gross wages fully subject to NSSO contributions that the worker earned in the reference period with one or more employers in the sector. The fund calculates only on wages actually declared to the NSSO. There is no fixed amount and no monthly salary as a yardstick: someone with more hours or overtime declared receives a higher bonus. The minimum hourly wages of subcommittee 140.03 are in the JC 140.03 pay scale.
The collective agreement says nothing specific about part-time workers. It does not need to: the percentage applies to what was declared, so a part-time worker automatically receives a bonus on his part-time pay.
Worked example: a full year and a start in March
This is an example, not a calculation for your situation. A driver had a total of € 36,000 gross pay declared from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. His gross end-of-year bonus is 36,000 x 5% = € 1,800 gross.
A warehouse worker who started on 1 March 2026 had € 10,400 declared up to 30 June 2026. That is more than € 2,500, so he receives 10,400 x 5% = € 520 gross. His wages after 30 June 2026 only count for next year's bonus.
From the gross bonus, the SFTL withholds the personal social security contribution of 13.07% and withholding tax at a flat rate of 23.22%, with no reduction for dependants. The worker receives a separate 281.10 tax form from the fund. That withholding tax is settled in his tax return. How withholding tax works on an ordinary end-of-year bonus is explained on our page about calculating the end-of-year bonus.
When does the SFTL pay the end-of-year bonus JC 140 in 2026?
The fund follows the same calendar every year. For the 2026 bonus:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 30 August 2026 | deadline for French cross-border workers to submit form 276 Frontier |
| from 5 November 2026 | the SFTL sends each beneficiary a letter with the net amount; the worker can also check it online |
| 30 November 2026 | deadline to give a new or missing account number, with a copy of the front of the identity card |
| from 20 December 2026 | the SFTL pays the bonus into the accounts given in time |
| 31 March 2027 | deadline for a written complaint about the 2026 bonus |
If the account number arrives after 30 November 2026, the fund pays later. Early payment is not possible. Where wages are garnished, the SFTL pays the bonus to the garnishing creditor.
What do you do as the employer for the end-of-year bonus JC 140.03?
You do not pay the sector bonus yourself. Your role is limited, but mistakes are costly:
- Do not declare it. The SFTL bonus does not belong in your DmfA or on the 281.10 form you issue. The fund declares it to the NSSO and issues the form.
- Declare wages correctly. The bonus is based entirely on what you declared to the NSSO during the reference period, under the right employer category. An error in that declaration becomes an error in your worker's bonus.
- Your contribution to the fund. The SFTL is financed by an employer contribution. Since 1 July 2026 it has been 7.70% of wages declared at 108%, under collective agreement 197847/CO/140. That contribution covers all of the fund's benefits, not just the end-of-year bonus.
- Information in November. In early November each employer receives an overview of the bonuses for the workers for whom it was the last employer in the sector during the reference period.
Sick leave, temporary unemployment and the SFTL minimum threshold
The bonus follows declared pay. For the period in which the health insurance fund pays benefits, no pay is declared and so there is no bonus. The SFTL itself lists the reasons why a bonus can be lower than the year before: sickness, parental leave, full-time career break, (economic) unemployment, or work as an agency worker or in another sector.
For the minimum threshold of € 2,500, the SFTL does count notional pay for days treated as worked, for example during incapacity for work. The fund works as follows:
- the pay for the reference period is divided by the number of days for which it was paid;
- that average daily pay is multiplied by the number of days treated as worked;
- the result is added to the pay earned. If that total reaches the threshold, the worker receives the bonus.
The bonus itself remains 5% of the pay actually declared. The collective agreement does not list which days are treated as worked.
End-of-year bonus JC 140 on dismissal or leaving
The collective agreement does not deal separately with dismissal, resignation, the end of a fixed-term contract or retirement, and it does not require the worker to be employed on a particular date. It calculates the bonus on the wages declared in the sector during the reference period, with the threshold of € 2,500. The SFTL points out that someone who was dismissed, on long-term sick leave or unemployed only receives a bonus on his employment as a worker in the sector. The bonus comes from the fund, not from you: it does not belong in your final settlement.
If someone worked for you as an agency worker, that period falls under the Social Fund for Temporary Workers, not the SFTL.
Mistakes we see with the end-of-year bonus in JC 140
- Declaring the SFTL bonus in the DmfA or on your 281.10 form. The fund declares it itself and issues its own form.
- Paying the bonus yourself. The fund pays; your own payment on top is an extra benefit, with full social security and withholding tax.
- Not deducting the SFTL bonus from your own extra bonus. You then pay more than needed.
- Promising a new worker his bonus in December. Someone who started after 30 June 2026 receives nothing from the SFTL in December of that year.
- Sending white-collar staff to the SFTL. Your white-collar staff fall under JC 226 and receive their bonus from you.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum runs the payroll of transport and logistics companies together with Acerta. We declare the wages of your drivers and warehouse staff under the right category, keep the SFTL bonus out of your declaration and, if you pay an extra bonus, calculate the balance. The rules of the other committees are in our overview of the end-of-year bonus in 2026 by joint committee.