Coronavirus: €985 premium for employees in certain sectors

The Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region grant employers in the social and health sectors a premium of €985 per employee.

Your federation may have already informed you of the introduction of this incentive. In this infoflash you can find some more information pending the conclusion of possible CLAs.

This information is given subject to the official publication of the legal texts.

Walloon Region

Who can benefit from the incentive premium in the Walloon Region?

You are entitled to this premium if you engage in one of these activities:

If you are recognized and subsidized by the AVIQ:

• Rest and care homes, day care centres;
• Reception, accommodation and support structures for people with disabilities (excluding services organising activities for disabled people which are not subsidised and structures recognized and financed by foreign authorities);
• Support services for families and seniors;
• Home care and home support coordination centres;
• Psychiatric care homes;
• Protected housing initiatives;
• Functional revalidation centres;
• Multidisciplinary palliative care support teams;
• Mental health services;
• Call centres;
• Specialized addiction care and support networks and services;
• Family and marital planning and counselling centres;
• Local health promotion centres;
• Community-based health promotion services;
• Integrated health associations (for their regional section).

If you are recognized and subsidized by the Walloon Public Service for the Interior and Social Action:

• Reception, accommodation and support services for people in social difficulty (night shelters, shelters and community living houses);
• Social relays;
• Support and care services for prostitutes;
• Services supporting the fight against violence between partners and gender-based violence;
• Social interpreting organizations.

What is the amount of the premium?

The amount of the incentive premium is € 985 gross/full-time equivalent employee. The reference period shall be from 1 September 2020 to 30 November 2020.

You will benefit the premium:

• only for your employees assigned to the recognized activity of the service and, where appropriate, the employees assigned to the health care missions financed on an optional basis organised by the service;
• only once per employee concerned
• in proportion to the hours paid (worked or assimilated)

The Walloon Region also pays the employer's social security contributions due on this premium.

And in practice?

An advance will soon be granted to you by the AVIQ. It is calculated on the basis of the 2019 employment volume (employment register).

An adjustment will be made in 2021 on the basis of supporting documents that the AVIQ will ask you to provide. These supporting documents can be obtained from your Payroll consultant.

Brussels-Capital Region

Who can benefit from the incentive premium in the Brussels-Capital Region?

You are entitled to this premium if you engage in one of the following activities:

 If you depend on COCOM:

• Centres and services for the disabled: day centres and accommodation, supported housing, services to help with daily living;
• General social services: assistance to litigants, social services;
• Adults in difficulty: emergency reception, night shelter, emergency accommodation, marauding, street work, daytime reception, reception house, home guidance, housing first;
• Aid to families;
• Mental health services;
• Home help;
• Rest homes and rest and care homes;
• Day care centres;
• Revalidation centres;
• Psychiatric care homes;
• Protected housing initiatives;

If you depend on COCOf:

• Social affairs: global social work centres, family planning centres, reception homes, debt mediation, home help services;
• Disability policy: day centres, day centres/schoolchildren, accommodation centres, adapted work enterprise, support services for communication and interpretation, accompaniment services, foster care services, inclusive recreation services, support services for social utility activities, participation services through collective activities, support services for vocational training, approved individual projects;
• Health: home support services, mental health services, telephone reception centres, integrated health associations (medical homes), palliative and continuing care services, addiction centres;
• Social cohesion;
• ISP.

What is the amount of the premium?

The amount of the incentive premium is € 985 gross/full-time equivalent employee. The reference period shall be from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020.

You will benefit the premium:

• only for your salaried employees (unless there are sector-specific provisions to the contrary from the disability sector and revalidation agreements)
• for periods of activities directly related to activities subject to recognition (or assimilated) in the COCOM/COCOf legislation and exclusively subsidized by it
• in proportion to the hours paid (worked or assimilated)

The Brussels-Capital Region also pays the employer's social security contributions due on this premium.

And in practice?

If you depend on COCOM:

The procedure consists of 2 stages:

1. An advance will soon be paid to you, in one instalment, by Iriscare. The amount of this advance is calculated on the basis of data of 2019.

2. A regularisation will still be carried out on the basis of the amounts that you will actually pay to the employees.  In order to be able to make this regularisation, Iriscare will ask you for supporting documents. These are a declaration of honour and an Excel file of which the templates are drawn up by COCOM.

You will also have to attach a numbered individual performance sheet for each natural person for the month for which the amount was paid (January, February or March 2021) with a specific mention identifying the amount paid for the incentive bonus.

These 3 supporting documents must be sent to the e-mail address professionnels@iriscare.brussels by 30 March 2021 at the latest.

Your Payroll Consultant is at your disposal to help you complete the Excel file and obtain the individual cards.

If you depend on COCOf:

The procedure consists of 3 stages:

1. You must file a claim electronically by 31 December at the latest.

The COCOf has sent you an invitation e-mail as from 16 December 2020.

2. If you have filed a claim, an advance will be paid to you in one instalment before the end of January 2021.

3. A regularisation will be made on the basis of the amounts you have actually paid to the employees concerned. This regularisation will be made on the basis of supporting documents: these are a numbered individual performance sheet for each natural person for the month infor which the amount was paid (January, February or March 2021) with identification of the employer contributions percentage relating to the incentive premium, taking into account any structural reduction.

We invite you to contact your payroll consultant in order to obtain these individual sheets.