The end-of-year bonus in JC 319.01 equals one full gross monthly salary for October, and you as the employer pay it yourself, in December. The bonus runs over a reference period of 12 months, from October of the previous year to September inclusive. Someone who did not work the whole period gets one twelfth for each month worked or treated as worked.
Who gets the end-of-year bonus in JC 319.01?
The collective agreement applies to all employers and employees that fall under the Joint Subcommittee for the educational and housing institutions and services of the Flemish Community. These include organisations in childcare and family support, care for people with disabilities, youth care, general welfare work and care for the homeless, social rental agencies and the tenants' union. The agreement applies to blue-collar and white-collar workers, without distinction.
The scheme stems from the Flemish Intersectoral Agreement for the social profit sector of 2018. Since 1 January 2020, the agreement of 22 October 2020 has replaced the old end-of-year allowance, which consisted of a fixed amount and a percentage. Since then, staff get a full monthly salary. The agreement was amended on 18 March 2026, only to make conversion into bike leasing possible.
There is no minimum length of service and no condition to be employed on a specific date. There is no social fund either: you pay the bonus yourself through the payroll.
How much is the end-of-year bonus JC 319.01?
The bonus equals 100% of the indexed gross monthly salary you owe the employee for October of the current year. What counts and what does not:
| Component | Counts for the bonus |
|---|---|
| Indexed gross monthly salary for October | yes |
| Household or residence allowance | yes |
| Other bonuses, supplements, salary supplements or allowances | no |
If the employee did not receive his normal salary in October, for example due to sickness or an unpaid absence, you calculate with a notional salary: the normal salary he would have had for that month. A lower amount in October therefore does not reduce the bonus.
A full reference period gives a full bonus. Each full month of actual work or equivalent period gives a right to one twelfth.
Worked example: a support worker who started in March
This is an example, not a calculation for your situation. A support worker in a facility for people with disabilities earns € 2,900 gross in October 2026 and started on 10 March 2026. The employment contract started before day 15 of the month, so March counts as a full month. From March to September inclusive that is seven months: 2,900 x 7/12 = € 1,691.67 gross, paid in December.
If the same support worker works four fifths, you calculate in proportion to the contractual working time: 1,691.67 x 4/5 = € 1,353.33 gross.
Reference period of the end-of-year bonus in JC 319.01
The reference period runs from 1 October of the previous calendar year to 30 September inclusive of the year for which the bonus applies. For the December 2026 bonus, that is 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026 inclusive.
A fixed rule applies to the first and last month:
- A month in which the employment contract starts no later than day 15 of the month counts as a full month.
- A month in which the employment contract ends no earlier than day 15 of the month also counts as a full month.
Someone who starts on the twentieth therefore does not get that first month included. Someone who leaves on the twentieth does get the last month included.
Part-time employees and absences in JC 319.01
For part-time employees, you first calculate what the employee would get if he had worked full time in the reference period. You bring that amount in proportion to the contractual working time, the actual work and the periods treated as worked in the reference period. If someone switched working schedule during the period, the bonus follows that switch.
The periods of work interruption that the annual holiday rules treat as equivalent count as worked. The agreement refers to the royal decree on annual holidays and gives no list of its own, no limits of its own and no different rule for time credit or thematic leave. Whether a given absence counts, and for how long, therefore follows from those holiday rules.
End-of-year bonus JC 319.01 on dismissal or leaving
The agreement is broad here. On every termination of the individual employment contract, you pay out the bonus with the final settlement, pro rata to the months in the reference period.
| Situation | Right to a pro rata bonus |
|---|---|
| Dismissal by the employer | yes |
| Resignation or end by mutual agreement | yes |
| End of a fixed-term contract | yes |
| Retirement | yes |
| Dismissal for serious misconduct | the agreement does not exclude it |
When someone leaves during the reference period, you do not take the October salary as the basis, but the gross monthly salary of the last full month of employment. The agreement makes no distinction based on who ends the contract or why.
Example. An educator earns € 3,100 gross a month and leaves on 20 June 2026. From October 2025 to June 2026 inclusive that is nine months, because June ends after the fifteenth. The last full month of employment is May. The bonus is 3,100 x 9/12 = € 2,325 gross, in the final settlement. Include it on the social documents at dismissal.
When do you pay the end-of-year bonus in JC 319.01?
You pay the bonus in December of the calendar year for which it applies. For someone who leaves earlier, you pay it with the final settlement. The bonus goes through the normal payroll, with 13.07% employee social security and withholding tax under the scale for exceptional payments. On top of that, you pay the employer contribution, with a base of 25%. You can work out gross to net and the total cost with our guide to end-of-year bonus calculation.
Bike leasing and your own schemes
More favourable schemes that exist in your organisation keep applying in full. The sector agreement is a minimum.
Since 1 January 2026, the bonus can be converted into one single alternative benefit: bike leasing at the level of the organisation. Only the conversion of the gross bonus including the employer's social security contribution is possible, under the sector agreement supporting bicycle mobility, which also sets the terms of the leasing.
The part of the annual bonus you may convert is capped. The cap is the amount needed for a total lease cost of at most € 12,688.15 over a lease period of 3 years. For a shorter period a proportional part applies, and the cap is indexed every year with the October index. Other alternative schemes can only be agreed through a sector bike agreement.
Mistakes we see with the end-of-year bonus in JC 319.01
- Starting the reference period in January. In JC 319.01 it starts on 1 October of the previous year.
- Using a lower October salary. If the employee was absent in October, you calculate with the notional normal salary.
- Counting supplements. Only the scale monthly salary and the household or residence allowance count.
- Taking the October salary when someone leaves. When an employee leaves, the salary of the last full month applies.
- Forgetting the fifteenth rule. A contract that starts on the fifteenth still gives that month in full.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum calculates the end-of-year bonus of your staff under this agreement, together with Acerta, as part of your payroll administration. We track the months in the reference period, apply the rule for the first and last month 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.