The JC 222 indexation in January 2027 falls on 1 January 2027: the sector minimum gross monthly salaries and the actual gross monthly salaries of white-collar staff in paper and cardboard processing rise with the four-month average of the health index of December 2026 against that of June 2026. The committee indexes twice a year, in January and in July, so each step absorbs half a year of price movement. The percentage is only known once Statbel publishes the December index on 23 December 2026.
The percentage of the JC 222 indexation in January 2027
Until then there is no official percentage. The entry for January 2026 in the JC 222 history was last edited on 20 January 2026.
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 222. The Planning Bureau does not calculate a sector percentage, and neither do we: the percentage only follows from the final figures of Statbel. The next forecasts appear on 3 November 2026.
How does the indexation work in JC 222?
The rule is in articles 5 and 11 of the pay and working conditions agreement of 17 December 2025. Twice a year you compare the four-month average of the health index:
- on 1 January: December of the previous year against June of the previous year;
- on 1 July: June of the current year against December of the previous year.
For January 2027 that is December 2026 against June 2026. The same rule applies to the pay scales and to the salaries you actually pay. Statbel publishes the index every month. The collective agreement sets no rounding of the percentage or of the salaries.
What rises with it? The sector minimum gross monthly salaries and the actual gross monthly salaries. If you pay above the pay scale, that higher salary rises by the same percentage. If an employee is paid partly in commissions, bonuses or percentages, you only index the fixed part of the salary, whatever its amount.
A fall is cushioned. If the calculation at the end of June or December gives a negative result, a separate agreement neutralises that fall up to 1%, in total over the whole term of that agreement. It runs until 30 June 2027.
JC 222 indexation history since 2023
This is how white-collar salaries in paper and cardboard processing rose on 1 January and 1 July in recent years, according to the history in the FPS minimum wage database:
| Indexation on | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 | 2.05% |
| 1 January 2026 | 0.73% |
| 1 July 2025 | 1.49% |
| 1 July 2024 | 2.34% |
| 1 January 2024 | 0.98% |
| 1 July 2023 | 0.15% |
| 1 January 2023 | 5.89% |
For January 2025 the JC 222 history lists no separate entry. Because the committee indexes twice a year, a January percentage here is smaller than in committees that only index in January. Add January and July together for a full year. In 2026 the steps were 0.73% and 2.05%.
What is already fixed for January 2027, and what is not?
What is already fixed:
- The date: 1 January 2027, and the next step on 1 July 2027.
- The formula: the four-month average of the health index of December 2026 against that of June 2026.
- Who gets the rise: the pay scales and the actual salaries, with mixed pay only the fixed part.
- The cents index: in JC 222 the first moderation is already over, see below.
What is not fixed yet:
- The percentage. It follows from the December 2026 index, published on 23 December 2026.
- The new amounts of the pay scales. FPS Employment then publishes them in the minimum wage database.
The cents index in the JC 222 indexation of January 2027
In JC 222 the cents index does not bite for the first time in January. The first indexation after its start on 1 June 2026 was that of 1 July 2026, with 2.05%. That is more than the 2% that a full-time reference wage above € 4,000 a month only receives on € 4,000. The moderation of the first period was therefore complete in July. Under the cents index rule, the index then applies to the full wage again. In January 2027 you therefore index the whole salary in JC 222, also above € 4,000.
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 July 2026 index worked
An employee earned € 3,200 gross a month in June 2026. On 1 July 2026 that rose by 2.05%: 3,200 x 1.0205 = € 3,265.60. If a sales representative receives € 2,500 fixed plus commissions, you only index that € 2,500: 2,500 x 1.0205 = € 2,551.25. 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 entry for January 2026 was last edited on 20 January 2026.
- The collective agreement database of FPS Employment holds the committee's pay agreement, with the categories and the indexation rule.
You then also see the new pay scales on our page with the JC 222 pay scale. Blue-collar workers of the same companies fall under JC 136, with the same formula: see the JC 136 indexation in January 2027. Other white-collar committees index once a year, such as JC 200 in January 2027. 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. Not sure which committee applies to your staff? Read our explanation of the right joint committee.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum applies the January 2027 indexation in JC 222 in your payroll administration, together with Acerta, with the percentage that follows from the collective agreement. We apply the percentage to the pay scale and to the actual salary of each employee, in January and in July, keep the fixed part separate for mixed pay and follow the cents index per employee. All committees that index in January, with their formula, are in our overview of salary indexation in Belgium 2027.