Temporary unemployment due to force majeure corona further treated as time worked for the annual leave

Days of temporary unemployment due to force majeure caused by the coronavirus shall continue to be treated as days actually worked for entitlement to annual leave during the period from 1 July to 31 August 2020.

As a reminder, a Royal Decree of 4 June 2020 treated the days of temporary unemployment due to force majeure caused by the coronavirus as days actually worked for entitlement to annual leave for the period from 1 February to 30 June 2020 (see our Infoflash "Temporary unemployment 'corona’ equals time worked for leave").

A new Royal Decree of 13 September 2020 extends this measure for the period from 1 July up to and including 31 August 2020.

Consequently, the days of work interruption resulting from temporary unemployment due to force majeure following the pandemic caused by the coronavirus for (manual and non-manual) workers who have been recognised as temporary unemployed due to force majeure are also for this period treated as days actually worked for the calculation of the holiday pay and the holiday duration.

What about days of temporary unemployment due to force majeure caused by the coronavirus from 1 September 2020? Discussions are still ongoing. We will keep you updated.

Source: Royal Decree of 13 September 2020 on the treatment as time worked of days of work interruption resulting from temporary unemployment due to force majeure following the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, in the scheme of annual leave for salaried workers for the period from 1 July 2020 up to and including 31 August 2020, Belgian Official Gazette of 24.09.2020.