A replacement contract is an employment contract to replace an employee whose contract is suspended, for example through illness or maternity leave. Article 11ter of the Employment Contracts Act requires a written contract with 3 entries, at the latest at the start. It lasts at most 2 years and may end without notice when the replaced employee comes back.
An employee drops out for months and the work has to go on. If you hire a replacement, you have three options: a fixed-term contract, a temp worker or a replacement contract. This guide covers the last one, as the rules stand on 1 November 2026. It describes the law and the explanation from FPS Employment. For a specific contract or a dispute, personal advice remains necessary.
What is a replacement contract?
The law gives no definition of its own, but describes what is allowed. The Employment Contracts Act of 3 July 1978, article 11ter, §1 says: "A person who replaces an employee whose employment contract is suspended for a reason other than lack of work for economic reasons, bad weather, a strike or a lock-out may be hired on terms that depart from this Act as regards the duration of the contract and the notice period."
So there are two departures. The first concerns the duration: the contract does not need a fixed end date and runs as long as the absence lasts. The second concerns notice: you may agree that it ends with shorter notice, or without notice, at the moment the replaced employee resumes work. In every other respect the replacement is an ordinary employee, with the same pay rules, the same Dimona declaration and the same pay scale of your joint committee.
According to the FPS, a replacement contract is "in principle concluded for an indefinite period". That sounds odd for a temporary replacement, but it is the core of it: an open-ended contract with an end that depends on someone else's return.
The replacement does not have to do the same work as the absent employee. The FPS writes that he "does not necessarily hold the post of the employee he replaces". So you may redistribute the work: a colleague takes over the tasks of the sick employee, and the replacement takes over the tasks of that colleague.
When may you conclude a replacement contract?
The replaced employee must still be on the payroll and his contract must be suspended. What a suspension is and which reasons exist, you can read in suspension of the employment contract. Not every suspension counts.
| Situation of the absent employee | Replacement contract possible? |
|---|---|
| Illness or accident, including long-term | Yes |
| Maternity leave, maternity protection | Yes |
| Parental leave or other thematic leave | Yes, also part-time if it has a fixed duration |
| Time credit for a fixed period | Yes, also part-time |
| Annual holiday | Yes |
| Progressive return to work after illness | Yes, for the hours that fall away |
| Adapted work after incapacity for work (article 31/1) | Yes, since 15 February 2018, for the hours that fall away |
| Temporary unemployment for economic reasons or bad weather | No |
| Strike or lock-out | No |
| Employee on retirement or on unemployment with company supplement | No, he is no longer part of the staff |
| Part-time reduction for an indefinite period | No |
The rule is a full suspension: the replaced employee does no work at all. The FPS makes an exception for career breaks and time credit, provided the reduction has a fixed duration. Two examples the FPS gives itself: an employee who takes 1 year of half-time time credit to follow a training course, and an employee who takes 20 months of a 1/5 career break as parental leave. In both cases a replacement may take up the hours that become free. How to handle a request for parental leave is set out in refusing parental leave as an employer.
Paragraph 2 of article 11ter also allows the replacement of a person whose status is set unilaterally by the government and who does not perform his duties, or only part-time. That mainly concerns employers in education and the public sector.
The three mandatory entries in a replacement contract
A replacement contract only exists on paper. Article 11ter: "The reason, the identity of the replaced employee(s) and the terms of that hiring must be recorded in writing for each employee separately, at the latest at the time this employee starts work." Paper or electronic form is enough, as with any written employment contract.
| Entry | Example | If it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| The reason for the replacement | "to replace an employee on maternity leave" | According to the FPS, most labour courts rule that it is an open-ended contract |
| The identity of the replaced employee | Surname and first name, possibly the job | Same |
| The terms of the hiring | At least the duration and how the contract ends, for example "ends without notice on the day the replaced employee resumes work" | Same; without an end clause the ordinary notice rules apply |
| No written contract at the start | The law itself: the same terms as an open-ended contract |
If one replacement covers two absent employees one after the other, each replacement needs its own written contract, with the right name and reason. A phrase like "to replace absent staff" is not enough: the identity has to be in it.
Besides those three entries, the ordinary duty to inform applies to any new employment relationship: job, place, pay, working hours. They belong in the contract or in an annex. If you want to change something later, such as the work schedule, you use an addendum to the employment contract.
How long may a replacement contract last?
The duration follows the absence, but with a ceiling. Article 11ter: the replacement contract "may not exceed two years". The same limit of 2 years applies to successive replacement contracts without a break attributable to the employee. According to the FPS, it makes no difference whether it is the same reason or the same replaced person.
If the limit is exceeded, the law says: "that contract is subject to the same terms as a contract for an indefinite period." The agreement about ending without notice then falls away.
The FPS names two exceptions to the two years:
- A break attributable to the employee. If the replacement himself turned down a new contract because he found work elsewhere, or took leave for personal reasons, a new two-year period starts after that break.
- Replacement during a career break or time credit. In that case the maximum duration may be departed from. Besides article 11ter, the FPS cites article 104 of the Recovery Act of 22 January 1985 for this.
The mixed series: fixed-term and replacement together
Since 8 May 2023, article 11quater applies as well. A series that mixes fixed-term contracts and replacement contracts may not, without a break attributable to the employee, last longer than 2 years in total. One replacement contract does not count, once: when it follows a series of fixed-term contracts justified by the nature of the work or another legitimate reason. The whole may then not exceed 3 years.
If you first gave three contracts of six months and then want to conclude a replacement contract, you count the whole series together. How the series of fixed-term contracts itself works is explained in successive fixed-term contracts.
Replacement contract or fixed-term contract: the decision guide
A replacement can also be arranged with an ordinary fixed-term contract. The choice depends on what you know about the absence.
| You know... | Best choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Not when the employee will return, for example during illness | Replacement contract | It runs until the return and may then end without notice |
| The fixed end date, for example time credit until a set day | Both work; fixed-term is simpler | The contract ends by itself on the end date |
| That the absence may last longer than two years | Replacement contract with an eye on the ceiling, or a permanent hire | After 2 years it becomes an ordinary open-ended contract |
| That you may want to let the replacement go earlier | Replacement contract | Ending a fixed-term contract early usually costs compensation |
| That you only need the work for a few weeks | Fixed-term contract or temp work | Little paperwork; see the cost of a temp agency |
The big difference lies in the end. The FPS writes that if you use a fixed-term contract to replace an absent employee, that contract ends on the agreed end date, and you may "not depart from these ordinary rules" when the replaced person returns to work. If the sick employee comes back two months early, the fixed-term contract simply runs on. How you can still end such a contract early is set out in terminating a fixed-term contract and in the template for notice of a fixed-term contract.
A second difference concerns illness of the replacement himself. A white-collar employee on an open-ended contract, or on a fixed-term contract of at least three months, receives under article 70 the first 30 days of guaranteed salary. A white-collar employee on a fixed-term contract shorter than 3 months receives under article 71 his full pay for 7 days, and otherwise follows the rules for blue-collar workers.
Ending the replacement contract on the employee's return
When the replaced employee returns, you follow what the contract says. The FPS: "The parties may in fact agree that the replacement contract will be ended with a shortened notice period, or even without any notice at all, at the moment the replaced employee resumes his duties."
Three possible agreements:
- End without notice. The contract ends on the day the replaced employee resumes work. This is the most common formula.
- End with shorter notice. For example one week after the day the replaced employee resumes work. That gives the replacement time and gives you a handover.
- No agreement. Then the ordinary notice rules apply, as if it were an ordinary open-ended contract.
Tell the replacement when the absent employee is coming back as soon as you know yourself. The law does not require it, but it avoids discussion about the last working day. Even with an end without notice, you draw up the social documents at the end, with the C4 form and a Dimona out.
Does the replacement contract end for another reason?
Then the ordinary notice period applies. The FPS: if the replacement contract ends "for a reason other than the return of the replaced employee (or the termination of that employee's contract), the ordinary notice rules must be applied."
That happens more often than you would expect:
- the replacement resigns himself;
- you want to let the replacement go while the absent employee is not yet back;
- the contract of the replaced employee ends, for example through medical force majeure, and you do not want to keep the replacement.
For contracts whose performance starts from 1 August 2026, notice by the employer in the first 6 months is 1 week. After that the ordinary table applies. The full table is in notice period 2026 and the background in the new notice periods of 2026. If you choose to break the contract instead of giving notice, you calculate compensation in lieu of notice.
Dismissing the replacement remains an ordinary dismissal, with the same steps as for any employee: see dismissing an employee. If the replacement is pregnant, the protection against dismissal applies as for any employee. What an employee can ask after six months of service about the reason for his dismissal is set out in reasons for dismissal.
Worked example: a replacement for a sick accountant
Worked example
A wholesaler in Ghent has an accountant, Pieter, who has been ill since early January 2027. Nobody knows for how long. The employer hires Sofie from Monday 11 January 2027, as a white-collar employee.
- The contract. On Friday 8 January they sign a replacement contract with the 3 entries: reason "illness", replaced employee "Pieter, accountant", and the terms: indefinite duration, ending without notice on the day Pieter resumes work. The Dimona is filed at the latest at the start on Monday.
- Pieter returns on Monday 6 September 2027. Sofie's contract ends that day without notice. The employer draws up the C4 form and the Dimona out.
- A different turn: the employer wants to let Sofie go on Monday 5 April 2027, while Pieter is still ill. That is a reason other than the return, so the ordinary rules apply. The contract started after 1 August 2026 and Sofie has less than 6 months of service: the notice is 1 week.
- Another turn: Pieter returns in June, and Sofie immediately replaces Lotte, who goes on maternity leave. For that they sign a new replacement contract with Lotte's name and reason. Both contracts count together. Two years from 11 January 2027 means the replacement ends at the latest on Wednesday 10 January 2029. If it runs longer, Sofie has an ordinary open-ended contract.
- Sofie falls ill herself. She has an open-ended contract, so as a white-collar employee she receives the first 30 days of guaranteed salary.
Replacement contract for part-time absence
Replacing hours is the least known side of article 11ter. Three situations:
Career break and time credit for a fixed period. An employee who takes 20 months of 1/5 parental leave works one day a week less. A replacement may take up that day with a part-time replacement contract. That contract also follows the rules for part-time work: a written contract with the work arrangement and the part-time work schedule.
Progressive return to work. According to the FPS, you may conclude a replacement contract for an employee "who partially resumes work as part of a progressive return to work after a period of incapacity for work". How that return works is explained in progressive return to work.
Adapted work. Since 15 February 2018, article 11ter, §3 also allows the replacement of an employee unfit for work who, with your agreement, temporarily does adapted or other work, "for the working hours of his normal work schedule during which that employee unfit for work performs no work". That fits a reintegration process.
A reduction without an end date does not count. If an employee moves to four fifths for good, there is no longer a suspension to replace, and an ordinary hire is the way to go.
Common mistakes with a replacement contract
- Signing too late. The written contract must exist at the latest on the day the employment starts.
- No name of the replaced employee. "To replace a sick colleague" without a name lacks a mandatory entry.
- No end clause. Without an agreement about the end, the ordinary notice rules apply on the return.
- A fixed-term contract with a return clause. If you set a fixed end date, you cannot let the contract end on an earlier return.
- Forgetting the two years. Successive replacements count together, also for different colleagues.
- Replacing during economic unemployment. The law rules that out.
- Replacing a retired employee. A retired employee is no longer part of the staff. That becomes an ordinary hire.
Want to hire a new employee without a replacement? Read hiring your first employee first.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum is a social bureau in Ghent, founded in 2013, and a recognised partner of Acerta. For a replacement, Business Centrum helps with the replacement contract and the mandatory entries, the Dimona at the start and the end, the payroll for the replacement and the replaced employee, and the social documents when the contract ends. The returns go through Acerta, the recognised secretariat with number 250, which files them. More about drafting contracts is on employment contracts and about processing on payroll administration. How the work is divided between Business Centrum and Acerta is set out in Business Centrum and Acerta.
Need to hire a replacement soon, or want to know whether a running replacement goes past the two years? Request a call back and Business Centrum goes through it with you. For a dispute about the end of a replacement contract, we refer you to a lawyer or your sector federation.