The end-of-year bonus in JC 322 is 8.33% of the gross pay the temporary agency worker earned between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, and the Social Fund for temporary agency workers pays it, not the user company. A temp qualifies with at least 65 days or 494 hours as a temp in that period. The fund sends the bonus document at the start of December.
Who pays the end-of-year bonus for temp workers in 2026?
Temporary agency work involves three parties, each with its own role. The agreement is plain: temps are entitled to an end-of-year bonus "at the expense of the Social Fund". The fund was set up by the agreement of 9 June 2022 (no. 174460/CO/322).
| Party | Its role for the end-of-year bonus |
|---|---|
| User company (your business) | pays the temp no end-of-year bonus |
| Temp agency | pays an overall contribution of 9.27% to the fund every quarter |
| Social Fund for temporary agency workers | calculates the bonus, sends the bonus document and pays |
The temp agency funds the system. The fund's statutes impose an overall contribution of 9.27% on the gross pay of temps placed in Belgium. That contribution covers the end-of-year bonus and the fund's other social benefits. For blue-collar temps, the agency calculates the contribution on gross pay at 108%. What a temp costs and how the agency invoices is in our article on the cost of a temp agency.
How much is the end-of-year bonus JC 322?
The agreement sets a fixed percentage: "the bonus amounts to 8.33% of the gross pay earned during the reference period". There is no fixed amount and no monthly salary as a base. The fund uses the pay subject to social security contributions that the temp agencies report for the reference period in their social security returns for temps.
Three kinds of pay fall outside that sum or count only in part:
- Pay from an agency recognised for construction. The agreement excludes pay reported in the social security returns of agencies recognised to work in the Joint Committee for construction (JC 124).
- Flexi pay. According to the fund, flexi-job days and hours count for the right to the bonus, but flexi pay does not count for the amount.
- Occupational accident. The fund counts only 8.33% of the gross pay of the first 30 days of the occupational accident, based on the annual pay the insurer reports.
Worked example: a temp with six months of assignments
This is an example, not a calculation for your temp's situation. A temp earned € 14,000 gross between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 through one or more agencies. He worked 80 days in a five-day week, so he meets the threshold. His gross bonus is 14,000 x 8.33% = € 1,166.20. The fund deducts 13.07% social security and 23.22% withholding tax. According to the fund, about 66% of the gross bonus remains net. The exact amount is on the bonus document.
Conditions for the end-of-year bonus for temp workers
The right depends on work as a temp during the reference period. The temp must reach one of these thresholds:
| Situation | Threshold in the reference period |
|---|---|
| Five-day week | 65 days |
| Six-day week | 78 days |
| Alternative in hours | 494 hours |
| Permanent hire by the user company, five-day week | 60 days |
| Permanent hire by the user company, six-day week | 72 days |
| Permanent hire, alternative in hours | 456 hours |
The fund uses either the criterion in days or the one in hours. It counts the days and hours that are subject to social security as a temp. Days under a student contract, which only carry solidarity contributions, do not count.
The lower threshold applies to the temp who, during the reference period, is hired permanently by the user company where he worked as a temp immediately before. If you take on a temp, the fund asks him for three documents: a copy of his last contract with the agency, a copy of his last payslip from the agency and a copy of his permanent employment contract. You hold that permanent contract: give it to him. The fund only uses pay earned as a temp. The bonus your new employee then gets from you follows from the rules of your own committee, see calculating the end-of-year bonus.
Which days count for the end-of-year bonus JC 322?
Besides days worked, the fund counts some absences towards the threshold:
| Absence | Counts |
|---|---|
| Economic or technical unemployment as a temp, or crisis unemployment for white-collar staff | at most 5 days, automatically |
| Temporary corona unemployment (code 77 in the DmfA) | yes, if the temp worked at least 45 days in the period |
| Occupational accident during an assignment | yes, including days after the contract, with a certificate from the insurer |
| Flexi-job through a temp agency | days and hours yes, flexi pay no |
After an occupational accident the fund is not informed automatically. The temp asks the insurer for a certificate with the date of the accident, the name of the agency as employer, the duration of the incapacity and the reference pay. For the rest, the fund's board decides which days during a temp contract are treated as worked, as well as compensatory days for working time.
Dismissal and end of an assignment. The agreement has no separate rules for dismissal, serious misconduct or resignation. The right depends only on the threshold and the pay in the reference period. The agreement names no case in which a temp loses the bonus because of how an assignment ends.
Part-time work. There is no separate rule. The bonus is a percentage of pay earned and the threshold can also be reached in hours.
When is the end-of-year bonus for temp workers paid?
The agreement says the bonus is granted "in the course of December", under the rules of the fund's board. For the 2026 bonus the fund published this calendar:
| Moment | What happens |
|---|---|
| 30 June 2026 | end of the reference period |
| before 12 November 2026 | give the fund a new address, otherwise the document goes to the old one |
| start of December | the fund sends the bonus document |
| from 4 January 2027 | the fund pays those without a union who returned the completed original |
A union member hands the original document to his union, which pays in its own way. Someone without a union fills in his account number and sends the signed original to the fund. A copy is not enough. If the document is lost, the fund only issues a duplicate once all unions have handed in their lists of paid bonuses, in the course of March of the following year. A bonus that is not collected lapses after 3 years.
The temp declares the bonus with the income of the year in which it is paid. The fund sends a 281.10 tax form for this.
What does the temp agency do for the end-of-year bonus JC 322?
The agency does not pay the bonus itself, but it must pay the contributions correctly and on time. They are due per quarter and paid no later than the last day of the month after the quarter:
- contributions for the third quarter of 2026 by 31 October 2026;
- contributions for the fourth quarter of 2026 by 31 January 2027.
If the agency pays through a social secretariat, these deadlines are extended by 15 working days. Late payment costs a surcharge of 10% and late-payment interest of 7% a year. The fund checks the amounts paid against the payroll it receives through the Crossroads Bank for Social Security. The social security return for temps is therefore also the base of each temp's bonus: an error in that return is an error in his bonus.
Mistakes we see with the end-of-year bonus for temp workers
- Also paying the permanent staff's bonus to the temp. The fund's bonus fully replaces it.
- Sending the temp to the user company with his question. Questions about the bonus document and payment go to the fund or his union.
- A permanent hire without paperwork. For the lower threshold of 60 days, the fund asks for a copy of the permanent contract. Hand it over.
- Reporting a move too late. After 12 November 2026 the document goes to the old address and a duplicate follows only months later.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum handles, together with Acerta, the payroll of your own employees, with their end-of-year bonus under your committee. If you hire a temp, we arrange the contract and the payroll administration from the first day of permanent employment. That makes it clear which bonus your business pays and which the fund pays. Who falls under which committee and what pay a temp gets with you is in our guide on joint committee 322. The rules of the other committees are in our overview of the end-of-year bonus in 2026 per joint committee.