The JC 119 indexation in January 2027 falls on 1 January 2027: the actual hourly wages and the minimum hourly wages of blue-collar workers in the food trade rise in line with the reference index figure of December 2026 against December 2025. The percentage is only known once Statbel publishes the December index on 23 December 2026. Below you read how the collective agreement calculates the reference index figure, how you round and how much wages have risen since 2021.
The percentage of the JC 119 indexation in January 2027
Until then there is no official percentage. The JC 119 page in the minimum wage database received its last edit after the January 2026 index on 19 January 2026. We found no sector fund that announces the percentage itself.
Federal Planning Bureau forecast. In its inflation forecasts of 6 October 2026 the Planning Bureau estimates the smoothed health index at 102.35 points in November 2026 and 102.92 points in December 2026. That is an estimate of the index, not a percentage for JC 119. The Planning Bureau does not calculate a sector percentage, and neither do we: the percentage only follows from Statbel's final figures. The next forecasts are published on 3 November 2026.
How does the indexation work in JC 119?
The rule is in the collective agreement of 27 March 2019 on wage indexation. The pay agreement of 5 March 2026 refers to it again, so the mechanism continues to apply. The calculation has two steps.
Step 1: the reference index figure. For a given month, that is the arithmetic average of the health index, as a four-month average, of the last two months. For the December reference index figure it therefore concerns November and December. That average is not rounded.
Step 2: the percentage. You divide the reference index figure of December of the past year by that of December a year earlier. For January 2027 that is December 2026 against December 2025.
Rounding the hourly wages. You round an indexed hourly wage to 2 decimals, based on the third decimal: 5 or more goes up, less than 5 goes down.
What rises with it? The actual hourly wages and the sector minimum hourly wages of all blue-collar workers in the committee. If you pay above the pay scale, that higher hourly wage rises by the same percentage. If a negotiated pay rise falls at the same moment, you apply the indexation first.
A percentage of its own. Because JC 119 works with December and not with November, its percentage differs from that of JC 118 and JC 220. In January 2026 it was 2.21% in JC 119, a different percentage than in the food industry.
JC 119 indexation history since 2021
This is how JC 119 wages rose on 1 January in recent years, according to the history in the FPS minimum wage database:
| Indexation on | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2026 | 2.21% |
| 1 January 2025 | 3.58% |
| 1 January 2024 | 1.48% |
| 1 January 2023 | 11.08% |
| 1 January 2022 | 3.22% |
| 1 January 2021 | 0.95% |
In January 2023 hourly wages rose by 11.08%: the index follows the prices of the past year, and those rose sharply in 2022. In January 2026 it was 2.21%. A past percentage predicts nothing: it only depends on prices up to and including December 2026.
What is already fixed for January 2027, and what is not?
What is already fixed:
- The date: 1 January 2027.
- The formula: the reference index figure of December 2026 divided by that of December 2025.
- Who gets the rise: the actual hourly wages and the minimum hourly wages of all JC 119 blue-collar workers.
- The cents index: January 2027 is the first indexation in JC 119 since 1 June 2026.
What is not fixed yet:
- The percentage. It follows from the December 2026 index, published on 23 December 2026.
- The new minimum hourly wages per category and company size.
The cents index in the JC 119 indexation of January 2027
January 2027 is the first indexation in JC 119 since the cents index started on 1 June 2026. For an hourly wage, you first work out the full-time monthly wage. For a full-time reference wage above € 4,000 gross a month, the first 2% of indexation only counts on € 4,000. Anyone earning € 4,000 or less gets the full index.
- If the percentage is 2% or more, someone with a reference wage of € 4,500 gets € 80 (4,000 x 2%) on that first 2% instead of € 90. The part of the index above 2% applies to the full wage again.
- If the percentage is below 2%, the whole January index only applies to € 4,000, and the moderation continues until the indexations together reach 2%.
Meanwhile you pay a special wage moderation contribution to the NSSO. How to calculate it, with a full example, is in our piece on the cents index.
Worked example: how the January 2026 index worked
A warehouse worker earned € 16.25 an hour at the end of 2025. On 1 January 2026 that rose by 2.21%: 16.25 x 1.0221 = 16.609125. The third decimal is 9, so you round up: € 16.61 an hour. In January 2027 you calculate the same way with the new percentage.
Where do you find the percentage for January 2027?
You find the percentage and the new amounts in these places:
- Statbel publishes the December 2026 index figure on 23 December 2026. With it, the formula of the collective agreement can be filled in completely.
- FPS Employment puts the percentage and the new amounts in the minimum wage database. The JC 119 page was last edited after the 2026 index on 19 January 2026.
You then also see the new pay scales on our page with the JC 119 pay scale. The committee's standing rules, the pay scales and the bonuses are in our guide to joint committee 119. What a pay rise yields net for your employee is in our guide gross to net. How the 2026 index turned out per sector is in our news on wage indexation in 2026.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum applies the January 2027 indexation in JC 119 in your payroll administration, together with Acerta, with the percentage that follows from the collective agreement. We apply the percentage to the hourly wage of each blue-collar worker, round as the collective agreement requires and calculate the cents index per employee. All committees that index in January, with their formula, are in our overview of the January 2027 indexation.