The end-of-year bonus in JC 207 is at least equal to the December base salary, and you pay it yourself as the employer, before 25 December 2026. On 31 December 2026 the employee has at least 6 months of service in the company. An employee who started or left during the year receives one twelfth per month actually worked.
Who gets the end-of-year bonus in JC 207?
The agreement applies to the employers of companies under the Joint Committee for white-collar employees in the chemical industry, and to their employees whose job appears in that committee's job classification. Blue-collar workers in the chemical industry have their own scheme in JC 116. Sales representatives have a separate agreement, further down this page.
An employee is entitled to the bonus if two conditions are met:
- At least 6 months of service in the company on 31 December 2026. Service counts at the end of the year, not at the time of payment.
- Employed at the time of payment. The employee is then still bound to the company by a white-collar employment contract. A separate rule applies to anyone who leaves earlier, further down this page.
If the employee first worked for you as a temp, that period does not help for the bonus. The sector counts service as a temp for other benefits in the company, but the agreement on temporary agency work expressly says this does not apply to the end-of-year bonus.
How much is the end-of-year bonus in JC 207?
The agreement calls it the minimum end-of-year bonus: 100% of the base salary of December. An employee who worked the whole year and meets the conditions therefore receives at least their December base salary. The agreement only speaks of the base salary; it says nothing specific about part-timers or a working pattern that changes during the year. The minimum monthly salary per category is in the national JC 207 pay scale.
The service year you calculate over runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026. An employee who did not work the whole year receives the bonus pro rata: 1/12 of the amount per month actually worked. Two rules decide whether an incomplete month counts:
- starting before the 16th of the month counts as a full month worked;
- the month in which the contract ends counts as full if the contract ends after the 15th of the month.
Worked example: an employee who started in March
This is an example, not a calculation for your situation. An employee starts on 10 March 2026 and earns € 3,500 gross base salary a month in December. They were not absent during the year. March counts, because they started before the 16th. On 31 December 2026 they have more than 6 months of service. They worked ten months: 3,500 x 10/12 = € 2,916.67 gross.
Had they only started on 20 July 2026, they would not have 6 months of service on 31 December 2026, and the sector agreement would give them no bonus for 2026.
When do you pay the end-of-year bonus in JC 207?
You pay the bonus before 25 December 2026. A more favourable scheme in your company still applies. Anyone who leaves before the payment falls under the leaving rules below.
The bonus goes through the normal payroll calculation, with 13.07% personal social security and withholding tax under the scale for exceptional payments. What your employee keeps net and what the bonus costs you above the basic contribution of 25%, you can check with our explanation on calculating the end-of-year bonus.
Which absences count for the end-of-year bonus in JC 207?
The bonus is calculated per month actually worked. A long list of absences is treated as actual work:
| Absence | Counts for the bonus |
|---|---|
| Occupational disease, work accident or commuting accident, recognised by the insurer | up to 12 months |
| Illness with a medical certificate, recognised by the insurer | up to 6 months |
| Maternity leave with a medical certificate, recognised by the insurer | in full |
| Statutory holidays, public holidays, short leave, educational leave, social promotion, union leave, part-time political office | in full |
| Days without work due to lack of work (article 77/4 of the Employment Contracts Act) | up to 65 days |
| Seniority and age leave under the sector agreement | in full |
| Birth leave and adoption leave | in full |
| Period covered by the sector income guarantee for compulsory removal from work during pregnancy and for breastfeeding leave | in full |
For seniority and age leave the agreement refers to two texts: until 30 June 2026 to the agreement of 29 June 2023, from 1 July 2026 to the new agreement of 13 February 2026 on that leave. For the employee nothing changes: in both cases the leave counts.
Article 77/4 governs the suspension of white-collar employment contracts for lack of work for economic reasons. Since 2026, 65 days count. For the scheme itself, see our guide on temporary unemployment.
Anything not on the list does not count as actual work. The agreement does calculate in months, and does not say how to count a month in which the employee was partly absent for a non-assimilated reason. Choose a method, apply it equally to everyone and record it.
End-of-year bonus JC 207 on dismissal
If the contract ends during the year, the employee receives a bonus in proportion to the months actually worked, if they have 6 months of service when notice is served. Two groups are excluded.
| Situation | Right to a pro rata bonus |
|---|---|
| Dismissal by the employer | yes, with 6 months of service when notice is served |
| Dismissal for serious cause | no |
| Resignation | yes, with at least 1 year of service at the end of the contract |
| Retirement | yes, under the same conditions |
| Death | yes, for the beneficiaries, under the same conditions |
| Termination by mutual agreement, end of a fixed-term contract, unemployment with company top-up | not covered separately |
The agreement speaks in general terms of an employment contract that ends during the service year, and fixes the service requirement at the moment notice is served. It does not mention termination by mutual agreement or the end of a fixed-term contract separately. In such a case, read the agreement itself rather than applying a fixed rule.
The beneficiaries are the surviving spouse, failing that the minor children who lived with the deceased, and failing those the parents the deceased supported. The amount belongs in the final settlement and on the social documents on dismissal.
Plastics processing in West Flanders: three months are enough
For white-collar staff in plastics processing in West Flanders, provincial agreement 197651/CO/207 of 20 January 2026 applies on top of the sector agreement. It runs until 31 March 2027 and contains three rules for the end-of-year bonus:
- Service. For employees eligible for the pay scale, 3 months of service are enough instead of 6.
- Partial unemployment. All days of partial unemployment count for the calculation of the bonus, not just the first 65.
- Temps. Service as a temp is not carried over on hiring for the end-of-year bonus.
Sales representatives have their own end-of-year bonus in JC 207
For employees with sales representative status, agreement 169190/CO/207 of 23 November 2021 applies. The bonus is 100% of the gross monthly salary, fixed salary plus any average commission, with a ceiling the agreement sets as an amount. We do not state that amount here: the agreement links it to the salary of December 2021, and we cannot conclusively show that it applies unchanged in 2026. If the pay consists wholly or partly of commission, you calculate on the monthly average of the last twelve months.
You may grant the bonus as an advance on, or after offsetting, other cash benefits you already give under your company's own rules, whatever they are called. The conditions and leaving rules are the same as for other employees. The list of assimilated absences is shorter: among other things it does not include days of suspension for lack of work.
Can your company keep its own scheme?
Yes, if it is more favourable. The agreement leaves more favourable schemes that already exist in companies untouched. A less favourable scheme does not replace the sector agreement: the agreement sets a minimum. If in doubt, compare the two schemes on amount, conditions and leaving.
Mistakes we see with the end-of-year bonus in JC 207
- Measuring service at the wrong moment. The 6 months count on 31 December 2026. On dismissal, service counts at the moment notice is served.
- Treating resignation like dismissal by the employer. An employee who leaves of their own accord needs at least 1 year of service for a pro rata bonus.
- Deducting every day of economic unemployment. Since 2026, 65 days count, and in plastics processing in West Flanders all days of partial unemployment.
- Counting the temp period. For the end-of-year bonus, service as a temp does not count.
- Putting sales representatives under the ordinary scheme. They have their own agreement, with a ceiling and a different salary base.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum calculates the end-of-year bonus of your employees under this agreement, together with Acerta, as part of your payroll administration. We track the assimilated absences and include the bonus in the final settlement when someone leaves. The rules of the other committees are in our overview of the end-of-year bonus in 2026 per joint committee.