System of unemployment with corporate allowance 2020(new)

Each year the Belgian National Labour Council determines, in pursuance of the collective bargaining agreement No 17, whether the corporate allowances and the reference wage threshold for the RCC/SWT must be adjusted with a coefficient based on the evolution of the conventional wages.

In 2020 a revaluation coefficient of 1.0128 will be applied on the corporate allowances and the reference wage threshold for the RCC/SWT.

The amounts below are applicable as from 1 January 2020.

Revaluation of the corporate allowance

A revaluation coefficient of 1.0128 is applied to the corporate allowances calculated on the basis of the reference wage in force before January 2019.

For the corporate allowances calculated on the basis of the reference wage for the months of January, February or March 2019, a coefficient of 1.0096 is applied.

For the corporate allowances calculated on the basis of the reference wage for the months of April, May or June 2019, a coefficient of 1.0064 is applied.

For the corporate allowances calculated on the basis of the reference wage for the months of July, August or September 2019, a coefficient of 1.0032 is applied.

Once the corporate allowance is calculated on the basis of the wage for the month of October, November or December 2019, no coefficient will be applied. Therefore, these corporate allowances will remain unchanged on 1 January 2020.

Reference wage for calculating the corporate allowance

As from 1 January 2020, the gross wage taken into account when calculating the corporate allowance is limited to 4.084.55 EUR/month.  

Thresholds for the withholding of 6.5 % to be borne by the unemployed person receiving a corporate allowance

The RCC/SWT is not subject to normal social contributions. A 6.5 % social contribution intended for the NSSO will be deducted from the total amount of the unemployment benefit and the (legal and extra-legal) corporate allowance.

However, the application of the above withholding may not cause the total amount of the system of unemployment with corporate allowance to fall below certain thresholds.

From  01 January 2020, the thresholds for applying these withholdings in case of a conventional system of unemployment with corporate allowance (Cba No 17) or half-time bridging pension (CBA No 55) are determined as follows:

NB: The 6.5% withholding will be limited or will not be applied when the (full) withholding would cause the amount of the unemployment benefit + the corporate allowance to fall below the above minimum amount based on the dependent family members.

(1) The notion of 'dependant' (within the meaning of the unemployment legislation) is exclusively defined by the ONEm (National Employment Office) on the basis of a document provided to the employer. In the absence hereof, the unemployed person receiving a corporate allowance is presumed to have no dependants.

Source www.cnt-nar.be