Joint committee 202 food retail Belgium: pay 2026

Joint committee (JC) 202 covers white-collar staff at larger food retailers and supermarket chains in Belgium. Since 1 July 2026 the pay scales have been indexed by 1%: a full-time group 1 sales assistant with no seniority earns at least € 2,099.26 gross a month. A food shop with fewer than 20 employees falls under JC 201, not JC 202.

Who falls under joint committee 202?

JC 202 covers white-collar staff at businesses whose main activity is selling food to consumers. But not every food business belongs to it. The headcount, the number of shops and the type of range decide between three committees: JC 201, JC 202.01 and JC 202.

The rules distinguish two kinds of food retail:

• General food retail: a mixed range of food and everyday consumer goods, such as a supermarket or convenience store.
• Specialised food retail: everything that is not general, such as a bakery, butcher, cheese shop or wine merchant.

Work out your committee for white-collar staff like this:

1. General food shop with fewer than 20 employees: JC 201, independent retail.
2. General food shop with 20 employees or more and at most 2 outlets: JC 202.01, medium-sized food businesses.
3. General food retail with 20 employees or more and more than 2 outlets: JC 202, the committee for food businesses with many branches.
4. Specialised food business with 50 employees or more, even if that number is only reached at group level: JC 202.
5. Specialised food business with a head office, at least 2 branches and 25 employees: JC 202.
6. Smaller specialised food business: JC 201.

The headcount is an average over the NSSO returns of 4 consecutive quarters; the NSSO uses the average of the previous calendar year. Blue-collar staff in all these businesses, such as shelf stackers and warehouse workers, usually fall under joint committee 119. For the smallest shops, see our guide to joint committee 201.

The pay scales in joint committee 202 after the July index

JC 202 has three pay scales. Scale A applies to Aldi, Colruyt, Delhaize, Match and Mestdagh, scale C to Carrefour. All other businesses use scale B, shown below. The amounts are gross monthly salaries for a full-time week of 35 hours.

Within scale B, the amount depends on the group:

• Group 1: sales staff in shops with less than 750 m² of sales floor and at most 30 full-time equivalents in sales, not counting the branch manager.
• Group 2: sales staff in larger shops and all administrative staff, including depots and offices.

Group 1, sales staff

Group 2, administrative and sales staff

Seniority counts from the starting age of 21. With each anniversary of joining, the employee moves up a step the following month, unless your company has agreed another fixed date with the unions. Successive fixed-term and replacement contracts with you count. Students on a student employment contract have a separate scale, a percentage of the starting wage: 75% at 16, 87.50% at 18 and 97.50% at 20. Regular employees below the starting age do not get this reduction.

Separately from the scale, a guaranteed average minimum monthly income of € 2,212.50 applies from age 18. It includes pay and all benefits linked to the job, but not double holiday pay or premiums for overtime or late work.

Indexation in joint committee 202 comes in small steps

JC 202 does not index once a year. Pay scales and actual wages rise by 1% each time the index has gone up by 1%. In 2026 that happened three times: on 1 January 2026, 1 April 2026 and 1 July 2026. With the high energy inflation over the summer, another step is possible before the end of the year.

There is no room for pay rises on top: the wage norm for 2025 and 2026 is 0%.

Worked example. A group 1, category II sales assistant with five years' seniority earned € 2,302.65 in June. On 1 July 2026 that rose by 1% to € 2,325.68.

The cents index has also applied in JC 202 since 1 June 2026. The July indexation was the first one after that date, so the first moderation period has started. For an employee with a full-time reference wage above € 4,000, the index is only calculated on € 4,000 until the sum of indexations reaches 2%. In JC 202 that takes two steps of 1%. Pay scales do not reach that threshold, but store managers and senior staff on higher actual pay do.

The year-end bonus and other bonuses in joint committee 202

Year-end bonus. For administrative and sales staff the bonus equals the gross December salary. You pay it before Christmas.

• Condition: the employee is employed on 31 December and has by then worked at least 3 months with the company.
• Pro rata: those who did not work the full year receive a share based on months worked. Career breaks, thematic leave and days treated as worked count.
• Part-time: the bonus follows contract hours. Each partly worked day counts as at least half a day.
• No bonus: after resigning during the year and after a disciplinary sanction under the work rules. On retirement or permanent invalidity the employee does get a share.
• Dismissal by you: on dismissal for a reason other than serious misconduct, the employee receives a share with at least 2 years' seniority. On dismissal for economic or technical reasons they always receive a share, with no seniority condition. On dismissal for serious misconduct the bonus lapses.
• Branch manager: the average of the monthly salaries used for holiday pay, capped at € 1,487.36.

December bonus. In December an annual bonus of € 148.74 gross is added for an employee who worked the full year. Part-timers and those who worked part of the year receive a proportional share.

June bonuses. In June you pay two annual bonuses, covering June of the previous year to May. Indexed under the sector agreements, they come to about € 75.80 and € 333.62 in June 2026 for a full reference period. Many companies have converted these bonuses into meal vouchers or group insurance through a company agreement. So check first what applies in your business.

Pay in JC 202.01: the scales for medium-sized food businesses

For most food SMEs, JC 202.01 matters more than JC 202. Indexation there follows the pivot index, as in JC 201: on 1 May 2026 wages rose by 2%. The amounts are gross monthly salaries.

A category 1 employee automatically moves to category 2 after 6 months with the company. For a 21-year-old on a permanent contract, a guaranteed average minimum of € 2,159.74 applies at the start.

The sector agreement for JC 201 and 202.01 runs from 1 June 2026 to 31 December 2027. Its agreements bring a cycling allowance of € 0.29 per kilometre and 8 free weekends per calendar year on top of the main holiday: in JC 202.01 for every employee, in JC 201 in shops with more than 5 staff. The free weekends do not apply in July, August and December. It contains no pay rise. Build the free weekends into your 2027 rotas now.

Social Fund 202: what can you get back?

The JC 202 Social Fund pays grants to employers and employees. Two matter most to you as an employer:

• Hiring grant. If you hire a young person under 26 from a risk group, such as a low-skilled jobseeker or an IBO trainee, you receive € 750 for a full-time and € 400 for a part-time hire. Conditions: a permanent contract of at least 24 hours a week, and 12 months' seniority when you apply.
• Medical force majeure. If a contract ends because of permanent incapacity, the fund pays the employee an adjustment allowance for 24 months. You submit the file through the fund's portal, with the occupational doctor's certificate and the C4.

Employees also receive a childcare allowance through the fund of € 3 per day, up to € 600 per child per year. Since September 2026 most applications go through the fund's eFunds platform.

Commuting costs in JC 202

You contribute to the cost of commuting between home and work:

The own-transport allowance only applies to employees with gross annual pay of at most € 40,000. Ask them for a signed statement on the distance. An e-bike qualifies for the same cycling allowance.

Opening hours, Sunday work and flexi-jobs

Since 13 August 2026 shops may open from 5:00 to 21:00, with no compulsory weekly closing day. That only says when the door may be open. For your staff, working time rules and your work rules apply. Sunday work in retail is allowed from 8:00 to 12:00. Food shops with fewer than 5 employees may work all Sunday. What to adjust before opening longer is in our piece on shops open until 9 pm.

Flexi-jobs have been allowed in JC 202 since 1 January 2018. The flexi wage is at least the pay scale for the job, at most 150% of it, with 7.67% flexi holiday pay. You pay a 28% special contribution. The food retail unions do oppose flexi-jobs and, when they were introduced, threatened action against shops that use them. That is not a ban, but don't start without internal consultation.

Notice periods in JC 202

JC 202 has no notice periods of its own. You follow the statutory table. For contracts starting from 1 August 2026, employer notice in the first six months is 1 week. For contracts starting from 1 June 2026, notice is capped at 52 weeks. Remember the year-end bonus too: an employee who resigns loses it. If you dismiss, the rights depend on the reason and seniority.

Mistakes we often see in JC 202

1. The wrong committee. A food business grows beyond 20 employees or opens a third shop, but keeps paying under JC 201.
2. Group 1 for everyone. Staff in a shop over 750 m² or doing administrative work belong in group 2, with higher scales.
3. A missed index. JC 202 indexes in steps of 1%, sometimes three times a year. Every missed step is a pay arrear.
4. June bonuses forgotten. Anyone leaving before the June payment is entitled to a proportional share of the June bonuses.
5. Seniority not tracked. The step rises the month after the anniversary of joining, not on 1 January, unless your company agreed another date with the unions.

What Business Centrum does for you

Business Centrum processes payroll for food shops, butchers and wholesalers in East Flanders, for blue-collar and white-collar staff, in a single payroll administration, together with Acerta. We work out with you whether your white-collar staff belong in JC 201, 202.01 or 202, track your headcount per quarter, and apply every index and bonus on time.