Can my shop now open every Sunday?

The shop can: the mandatory weekly closing day is gone. Your staff, however, can only work on Sunday within the exceptions to Sunday rest, such as Sunday morning until 12 noon or three Sundays of your choice per year.

Is working until 9 pm night work?

Work between 8 pm and 6 am falls under the legal definition of night work. Since 1 June 2026 it is no longer prohibited in principle, but the rules on working time, rest periods and work rules still apply. A sector premium may be due.

How long does it take to change my schedules?

Without a works council, you post the draft and staff have 15 days to comment. Without comments, the change takes effect on the fifteenth day after posting. With a works council, it takes effect 15 days after agreement.

Are the rules different in Ghent or Brussels?

The 9 pm closing time is federal. A municipality can grant exemptions for up to 15 days a year, for example for a fair, and sets its own rules for night shops.

Shops open until 9 pm in Belgium: what employers must do

Since 13 August 2026, shops in Belgium can open every day from 5 am until 9 pm (21:00), with no mandatory weekly closing day. The act of 20 July 2026 only sets when customers may come in. When your staff may work is still governed by employment law, your joint committee (JC) and your work rules.

Shops open until 9 pm in Belgium: staff rules: hour by which shops must close 21, in force since 13 August 2026, days needed for a new schedule 15

Shops open until 9 pm: what does the new law say?

The act on opening hours in trade, crafts and services has been amended. For your shop, this now applies:

One closing time for everyone. Customers may not enter and you may not sell before 5:00 or after 21:00. Customers still inside at closing time can be served, but must leave no later than 15 minutes after.
No weekly rest day. The articles on the mandatory closing day have been repealed. You can open seven days a week.
Night shops stay separate. They may open between 18:00 and 7:00, unless the municipality restricts that.

Which shops are open until 9 pm, and which are not?

The rule covers retail: selling to consumers in a shop where seller and customer are present together. If you combine sales with another activity that makes up at least 40% of your annual turnover, your business falls outside the act. Stations, airports, motorway service stations and newsagents meeting strict conditions have their own exceptions. In seaside resorts and recognised tourist centres the 21:00 closing time does not apply, although the municipality may set closing hours there between 21:00 and 5:00.

Municipalities keep a role. The local council can grant exemptions at the request of shopkeepers for fairs or special occasions, for up to 15 days a year. In Ghent as elsewhere, the federal rule applies, with local exemptions on top.

What the law does not cover: Sunday and evening work

Sunday. The ban on Sunday work under the Labour Act still applies. In retail, your staff may work on Sunday from 8:00 to 12:00. Bakeries, butchers, food shops with fewer than 5 employees and, among others, newsagents, tobacconists and florists may work all Sunday. Other shops can choose 3 Sundays a year, plus 3 more if a sector collective agreement sets the conditions. Without a sector agreement, a company agreement or an individual arrangement with at least 100% extra pay will do, but only if you have a works council or union delegation. In seaside resorts and recognised tourist centres you may employ staff on Sundays, up to 39 Sundays a year per employee. Anyone working on a Sunday gets compensatory rest within the following 6 days: a full day for more than 4 hours of work, otherwise at least half a day.

Evening. Work between 20:00 and 6:00 is night work under the law, so the last hour before closing counts. Since 1 June 2026, night work is no longer prohibited in principle, but working time, rest periods and work rules still apply. In the distribution sector, employees hired since that date only get a night premium for hours between 23:00 and 6:00, unless a collective agreement or your work rules that took effect after that date say otherwise. Staff hired earlier keep their rights.

Which evening and Sunday premiums you pay depends on your joint committee. See our guides on JC 201 for independent retail and JC 202 for white-collar staff in food retail.

Shops open until 9 pm: change your work rules first

You can only apply a new schedule once it is in your work rules. Every employee must receive a copy of the change. Without that copy, they are not bound by it.

Write down the new schedules: which team works until 9 pm, on which days, with which breaks.
Check working time and rest periods per employee, and the premiums of your joint committee.
Amend the work rules. Without a works council, you post the draft. Staff have 15 days to write comments in a register. Without comments, the change takes effect on the fifteenth day after posting. With a works council, it takes effect 15 days after agreement.
Send the draft and the register to the inspectorate after that period, and give every employee a copy.
Adjust part-time schedules. Variable part-time schedules must also stay within the framework of the work rules.

A detailed template and the full procedure are in our guide to drawing up work rules.

What Business Centrum does for you

We turn your new opening hours into schedules that fit your joint committee, calculate which evening or Sunday premiums are due and draft the amendment to your work rules, with the register and copies for your staff. The premiums then run automatically in your payroll, together with Acerta.