System of unemployment with corporate allowance (rcc/swt) and supplementary allowance for night work: no revaluation coefficient in 2019

Each year the Belgian National Labour Council determines, in pursuance of 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 2019 no revaluation coefficient will be applied on the corporate allowances and the reference wage threshold for the RCC/SWT.

In application of the collective bargaining agreement No 46, the National Labour Council determines whether the additional allowance granted to an employee who requests to return to day work is adjusted in accordance with the evolution of wages. It was decided not to apply a revaluation coefficient to this additional allowance in 2019.

As a reminder, below you will find the amounts that have been applicable since 1 September 2018

SYSTEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT WITH CORPORATE ALLOWANCE (RCC/SWT)

Consequently, the following amounts continue to apply:

Reference wage for calculating the corporate allowance

Since 1 September 2018, the gross wage taken into account when calculating the corporate allowance is limited to 4,032.80 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. 

Since 01 September 2018, 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:

Note 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.

ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCE (CBA NO 46)

An employee of at least 50 years of age who can justify a professional career of at least 20 years in an employment system with night work, can, under certain conditions and provided that a particular procedure is observed, request to permanently return to day work. An employee of at least 50 years of age who meets the same conditions can also request to permanently return to day work for serious medical reasons recognised by the occupational physician.

When his employment contract should be terminated because the employer cannot comply with his request, the employee is entitled to an additional allowance on top of his unemployment benefits during a period of 5 years.

This allowance amounts to 146.89 EUR per month since 01 September 2018.

Source: www.cnt-nar.be