Holiday pay in Belgium for 2027 is the holiday pay your employees receive in 2027, calculated on what they worked or had assimilated in 2026. A white-collar employee receives it from you: his normal salary during the holiday plus 92% of his gross monthly pay as double holiday pay. A blue-collar worker receives 15.38% of his 2026 pay at 108%, from the RJV or his holiday fund, between 2 May 2027 and 30 June 2027. What you correct now in the 2026 returns therefore decides what is paid in 2027.
What was paid in 2026 is covered in our guide to this year's holiday pay. This page is about 2027: what is paid, what changes and what you arrange at the end of 2026 and the start of 2027.
Holiday pay Belgium 2027 at a glance: who pays what and when
| White-collar | Blue-collar | |
|---|---|---|
| Built up in | 2026 | 2026 |
| Who pays | you, the employer | the RJV or the sector's holiday fund |
| Single holiday pay | normal salary continues during the holiday days | 8% of 2026 pay at 108% |
| Double holiday pay | 92% of gross monthly pay, per twelfth | 7.38% of 2026 pay at 108% |
| When | double at the main holiday in 2027, single on the normal payday | between 2 May 2027 and 30 June 2027, on a date that depends on the fund |
| Your cost | the amount itself, with no employer contributions on the double part | the holiday contribution you paid on 2026 pay, with the debit notice payable by 30 April 2027 |
Someone who worked the whole of 2026 is entitled in 2027 to 20 holiday days in a five-day week. Those days must be taken by 31 December 2027. The number of days per working pattern and youth and senior holiday are covered in our article on annual leave in Belgium 2027.
Holiday pay Belgium 2027: the calculation for a white-collar employee
For a white-collar employee, you do the calculation. Single holiday pay is the normal salary that continues on the holiday days. Double holiday pay is calculated as follows:
- Count the months of 2026. Each month worked with you or assimilated counts for one twelfth. The full amount takes 12 months.
- Take the 2027 monthly salary: the gross salary of the month in which the holiday starts.
- Calculate 92% of that monthly salary, times the number of twelfths.
- Deduct the special contribution: 13.07%, on 85% of the monthly salary rather than on the full double holiday pay.
- Withhold tax under the 2027 scale for holiday pay, see below.
The entitlement comes from 2026, the amount from 2027 pay. If pay rises in January 2027 through indexation, double holiday pay rises with it. Which joint committees index, and by how much, is in our overview of indexation in January 2027.
Worked example: holiday pay 2027 for a white-collar employee
A white-collar employee worked full time for you throughout 2026. He takes his main holiday in July 2027 and then earns a hypothetical € 3,400 gross a month, after indexation. His normal annual pay is 3,400 x 12 = € 40,800, still in the band from € 34,640 to € 45,860 after personal social security.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Double holiday pay: 3,400 x 92% | € 3,128.00 |
| Special contribution: 3,400 x 85% x 13.07% | - € 377.72 |
| Taxable | € 2,750.28 |
| Withholding tax under the 2026 scale: 42.39% | - € 1,165.84 |
| Net, with the 2026 scale | € 1,584.44 |
The withholding tax is a point of comparison: holiday pay paid in July 2027 falls under the 2027 scale. If the same employee had only joined on 1 April 2026, he counts nine months with you: 3,128 x 9/12 = € 2,346 gross. For January to March he received leaving holiday pay from his previous employer.
You pay no employer contributions on double holiday pay. The full calculation with variable pay, part-time work and a change of working pattern is in our guide to double holiday pay calculation. A quick estimate per employee is possible with the holiday pay calculator.
A new white-collar employee. If someone joined you in 2026 from another employer, he already received leaving holiday pay there. If he takes holiday in 2027, you pay an advance of 10% of his gross pay for those days and settle in December. Ask now for the holiday certificate from his previous employer.
Holiday pay Belgium 2027 for blue-collar workers: RJV or holiday fund
A blue-collar worker does not receive holiday pay from you. The RJV (National Annual Holiday Office) or your sector's holiday fund calculates it on the pay and days his employers reported in the 2026 DmfA returns. Gross holiday pay is 15.38% of pay at 108%: 8% single and 7.38% double holiday pay. For assimilated days, such as sickness, the fund adds notional pay.
When. The fund pays between 2 May 2027 and 30 June 2027. Which day your workers' fund chooses is visible to you as an employer from April in the RJV's Vakantiebestand (holiday file). Your worker sees his amount and payment date himself in the online service Mijn vakantierekening. Net holiday pay below € 10 per fund is not paid out.
Your cost. You paid the holiday pay in advance, through a holiday contribution of 15.84% on pay at 108%. The 5.57% part went with the DmfA every quarter. The 10.27% part on 2026 pay comes on an NSSO debit notice, due on 31 March 2027 and payable by 30 April 2027. How the other employer contributions work is explained in our article on employer social security contributions.
Worked example: holiday pay 2027 for a blue-collar worker
A blue-collar worker earned a hypothetical € 31,500 gross at 100% in 2026, with no assimilated days.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Pay at 108% | € 34,020.00 |
| Gross holiday pay 2027: 15.38% | € 5,232.28 |
| of which single (8%) | € 2,721.60 |
| of which double (7.38%) | € 2,510.68 |
| Deduction of 13.07% on 6.80% of pay | - € 302.36 |
| Solidarity deduction at the 2026 rate, 1% | - € 52.32 |
| Withholding tax at the 2026 rate, 23.22% | - € 1,132.58 |
| Net, with the 2026 rates | € 3,745.02 |
| Your debit notice: 10.27% on € 34,020 | € 3,493.85 |
The gross amount is fixed. The 2027 solidarity deduction and withholding tax are not yet final, see below. The RJV itself says net holiday pay is about 12% of the pay base; here it is 11%.
What was assimilated in 2026, and what you check now
Holiday pay for 2027 follows the days worked and assimilated in 2026. For a blue-collar worker the fund reads them from your DmfA; for a white-collar employee you calculate them yourself.
| Absence in 2026 | Counts for holiday pay 2027? | What you check |
|---|---|---|
| Sickness or non-work accident | yes, up to the first 12 months | whether the absence has already lasted more than a year; a return to work of fewer than 14 days counts as continuation |
| Work accident or occupational disease | yes, under conditions | recognition by the insurer or Fedris |
| Maternity leave, birth, adoption or foster care leave | yes | recognition by the health insurance fund, correct absence code |
| Temporary unemployment for economic reasons | yes, under conditions | correct code in the DmfA; for white-collar staff see also economic unemployment for white-collar staff |
| Recognised strike, civic duty, trade union assignment | yes | keep the supporting documents |
| Parental leave, time credit, unpaid leave | no | no notional pay; holiday pay 2027 is lower |
Two rules employers often miss:
- The contract must already be running. The RJV only assimilates an absence if the employee was already bound by an employment contract on the normal working day before the absence. Someone who falls sick on the first day of his contract builds up no holiday pay for that sickness.
- Certificates for an uninsured risk. Usually the health insurance fund or insurer sends the certificates electronically to the holiday fund. If the employee was not insured, or you did not take out the insurance, you provide the certificates for maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, work accident or sickness yourself. Supporting documents for civic duties, trade union assignments or lock-out relating to the 2027 holiday must be kept until 31 December 2031.
The fourth-quarter DmfA. It must reach the NSSO by 31 January 2027. Check three things in it: each blue-collar worker's gross pay at 100% (the fund itself calculates at 108%), the absence codes for the whole year, and the start date of the holiday in the employer declaration zone. The RJV only asks for that date in the fourth-quarter return. What the DmfA is and how to correct an error is explained in what is DmfA.
Withholding tax on holiday pay in Belgium for 2027
Holiday pay falls under the withholding tax rules of the year in which it is paid: holiday pay for 2027 falls under the 2027 rules.
As a point of comparison, the 2026 scale for holiday pay you pay yourself. The percentage follows normal annual pay and applies to the whole taxable amount.
| Employee's normal annual pay | Withholding tax on holiday pay in 2026 |
|---|---|
| up to € 10,675 | none |
| over € 10,675 to € 13,660 | 19.17% |
| over € 13,660 to € 17,375 | 21.20% |
| over € 17,375 to € 20,840 | 26.25% |
| over € 20,840 to € 23,580 | 31.30% |
| over € 23,580 to € 26,340 | 34.33% |
| over € 26,340 to € 31,830 | 36.34% |
| over € 31,830 to € 34,640 | 39.37% |
| over € 34,640 to € 45,860 | 42.39% |
| over € 45,860 to € 59,900 | 47.44% |
| over € 59,900 | 53.50% |
For holiday pay the percentages are lower than for a year-end bonus in the same band. Dependent children give an exemption or reduction on both; those rules and the scale for bonuses are in year-end bonus net calculation.
For blue-collar workers the fund withholds the tax itself, without reduction. In 2026 that was 17.16% on taxable holiday pay up to € 1,740, and 23.22% on the whole amount above that. The 2027 rates go, with the rest of withholding tax, into our guide to withholding tax in 2027. What withholding tax is, you can read in what is withholding tax. Holiday pay and the tax withheld appear on the 281.10 tax form for 2027.
What changes for holiday pay in Belgium in 2027?
| Holiday pay 2026 | Holiday pay 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Built up in | 2025 | 2026 |
| Double holiday pay, white-collar | 92% | 92% |
| Gross holiday pay, blue-collar | 15.38% | 15.38% |
| Special contribution | 13.07% | 13.07% |
| Solidarity deduction, blue-collar | 1% | 1.16% announced, not yet published |
| Withholding tax, white-collar | 2026 scale, up to 53.50% | not yet published |
| Withholding tax, holiday fund | 17.16% or 23.22% | not yet published |
| Payment day per fund | per fund, in the Vakantiebestand | between 2 May 2027 and 30 June 2027, day per fund not yet published |
The calculation itself does not change; pay after indexation and the deductions do. All other changes for employers in 2027 are brought together in what changes in 2027.
Supplementary holiday: who started in 2026
An employee who started work for the first time in 2026, or returned after a long absence, has no full holiday entitlement for 2027. He can take supplementary holiday, also called European holiday, once he has worked at least 3 months in the same calendar year. The start runs until the end of the following year: someone who started in 2026 can still take supplementary holiday in 2027.
- White-collar. You pay supplementary holiday pay for those days. It is an advance on double holiday pay: you deduct the gross amount from the following year's double holiday pay, or from leaving holiday pay if he leaves earlier. A white-collar employee who received supplementary holiday pay in 2026 therefore has it deducted from his 2027 double holiday pay.
- Blue-collar. He applies for supplementary holiday pay to his holiday fund. It amounts to 7.69% of pay in the start-up period and is deducted from his holiday pay of the following year.
In the DmfA you report supplementary holiday days with work code 14. Other kinds of leave are covered in our overview of types of leave.
Leaving holiday pay when someone leaves in 2027
If a white-collar employee leaves in 2027, whoever ends the contract, you pay on departure:
- 15.34% of the gross pay he earned with you in 2027, of which 7.67% single and 7.67% double;
- and 15.34% of his gross pay for 2026, if he has not yet taken his 2027 holiday.
If he leaves in March, before his main holiday, you pay both parts. On double leaving holiday pay you deduct the special contribution, on 6.80% of gross pay. You hand over the holiday certificate, and the new employer settles in December. The other documents on departure are in our article on social documents on dismissal.
A blue-collar worker receives no holiday pay from you when he leaves. The fund pays him the following year, on the pay you reported.
What you arrange for holiday pay 2027, from now until June
- November and December 2026. Check per white-collar employee how many months of 2026 count, including assimilated absences. Ask new staff for their holiday certificates.
- Mid-December. As soon as the 2027 rules are published, put the new holiday pay scale into your payroll.
- By 31 January 2027. File the DmfA for the fourth quarter of 2026 with the correct pay, absence codes and holiday start date.
- January 2027. Adjust pay after indexation: your white-collar staff's double holiday pay follows the new monthly salary.
- March and April 2027. Set aside money for the holiday contribution debit notice and pay it by 30 April 2027.
- May and June 2027. Pay your white-collar staff's double holiday pay at their main holiday. Your blue-collar workers receive theirs from the fund.
How we track leave, balances and certificates is described in our leave and absence service.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum calculates the single and double holiday pay of your white-collar staff for 2027, supplementary holiday pay and leaving holiday pay, and processes the holiday certificate of new staff. For your blue-collar workers we check 2026 pay and absence codes for the fourth-quarter DmfA, so the fund calculates on the right basis, and we give you an estimate of the debit notice in advance. We do this together with Acerta, as part of your payroll administration. Would you like the 2027 holiday pay of your staff checked in advance? Request a call back.