Final statement for the settlement of holiday certificates of new non-manual workers approaching

Author Annelies Verplancke  (Legal Expert)
Read time 8min
Last updated 06/12/2024 - 15:08

Since the beginning of this year, a new settlement method of the single leaver holiday pay of recently hired non-manual workers has been in place. This settlement will be done in 2 steps from now on. In December 2024, many employers will apply the second step in this settlement for the first time. A similar settlement method is also applied in the event of a transition from manual to non-manual worker status. Below, we briefly recap the main principles.

Settlement of single leaver holiday pay for non-manual workers

When a non-manual worker leaves service, the employer must pay him leaver holiday pay. This leaver holiday pay covers the salary for the leave days that were not taken during the year of termination of the employment relationship (= single holiday pay) as well as any double holiday pay if it has not yet been paid. The employer is also obliged to pay single and double leaver holiday pay calculated on the basis of the salary received during the current year, as pre-funding of the leave days that will be taken the following year with a new employer.

This leaver holiday pay is mentioned on the holiday certificates delivered to the new employer when the employee enters service. The amount of holiday certificates must be settled by the new employer to the extent that these leave days are actually taken.

Since 1 January 2024, the single holiday pay is settled in 2 consecutive steps.

Settlement of single holiday pay stated on the holiday voucher in the event of a transition from manual to non-manual worker status

A (rough) similar settlement method has also been applied since the beginning of this year in the event of a transition from manual to non-manual worker status. Note that a (former) manual worker receives his holiday pay every year in the May-June period from the holiday fund or the RJV/ONVA, the so-called holiday cheque.

Settlement in 2 steps since the beginning of 2024

Step 1: payment of 10% salary when taking a leave day based on the certificate

When the non-manual worker takes a day of leave based on a holiday certificate (or a holiday voucher), the employer pays him the salary for this day in an initial stage, minus a lump sum amount corresponding to 90% of the gross daily salary for the month in which the non-manual worker takes his leave.

Thus, for each day of leave taken, the non-manual worker receives only 10% of his gross daily salary.

Step 2: final settlement in December (or earlier on departure)

In December of the holiday year, or at the earliest at the end of the employment contract, the employer must then make a final statement.

In this second step, corrections are made resulting from the difference between the 10% single holiday pay paid during the year with the new employer for the leave days accrued with the previous employer and the single holiday pay effectively owed by the new employer, from which the single (leaver) holiday pay already paid by the previous employer (or by the holiday fund) was deducted. 

Here, if necessary, the certificate is capped at the current salary: the employer may not deduct holiday pay that exceeds the amount of the holiday pay he himself would have had to pay if the non-manual worker had worked for him the previous year. 

The balance can be positive (if the 90% deductions were too high in relation to the basic salary of the certificate) or negative (if the worker earns less with his new employer, for example, or if no or too few days were taken into account with 90% deductions).

Any overpayment of single holiday pay is an advance and any settlement must comply with the Wage Protection Act: the employer can withhold 1/5th of the salary after deduction of tax and social security deductions and, if necessary, if the 1/5th limit is exceeded, the deduction will be spread over 2 months, unless the worker expressly agrees to a one-off deduction.

Important note: 

  • Nothing changes as far as the settlement of double holiday pay is concerned: it is still settled in one go and this, in principle, when the worker takes his main leave;

  • The new settlement method will not affect employers who already apply an actual deduction per leave day;

  • Settlement (with a 90% deduction) is made only for statutory leave days taken on the basis of a holiday certificate or cheque. For the leave days accrued during the holiday qualifying year with the new employer (or under the new status of non-manual worker), there will obviously be no settlement;

  • Only the holidays that are actually taken with the new employer based on the holiday certificate (or cheque) will be settled.

Illustrative example

A worker leaves employer A on 31.12.2023 with whom he has worked full-time for the whole year (5 days a week in a 38h/week schedule). He earned a gross annual salary of € 30,000 (€ 2,500 per month). He received leaver holiday pay amounting to 30,000 x 15.34 % = € 4,602 (€ 2,301 single and € 2,301 double holiday pay). With a new employer, he is entitled to 20 leave days in a 5-day/week schedule.

This worker start working with employer B on 01.01.2024, earning a gross monthly salary of € 3,000. He works full-time, 38 hours a week, spread over 5 days.

Step 1

  • In March 2024 (month with 21 working days), the worker takes 5 days of leave covered by the holiday certificate received from employer A. The following will be deducted from his salary for March: € 3,000 (gross salary for March) x 5/21 x 90% = € 642.86 

  • In September 2024 (month with 21 working days), the worker takes 15 days of leave covered by the holiday certificate of employer A. The following will be deducted from his salary for September: € 3,000 (salary for September) x 15/21 x 90% = € 1,928.57.

For your info: There will also be a settlement of the double holiday pay that month (since September is the month when the worker takes his main leave); this will still be done in one go, as this is not new we will not elaborate on this.

Step 2 (final statement)

  • In December 2024, a correction of lump-sum payments of 10% gross daily salary single holiday pay is made: for this purpose, the already deducted amounts of 90% per leave day taken based on the holiday certificate are added: €642.86 + €1,928.57 EUR = €2,571.43.

  • Since the salary with employer B is always higher than with employer A, the deduction based on the holiday certificate will not be limited. Therefore, the final deduction based on the certificate should be € 2,500 x 12 x 7.67% = € 2,301

  • These 2 amounts will now be compared. => There is a positive balance: the 90% deductions in March and September were too high compared to the base salary on the holiday certificate. In December, the worker receives an additional amount of € 2,571.43 - € 2,301 = € 270.43 gross single holiday pay on top of his monthly salary.

What does this mean for you? 

We will of course take care of this settlement for your affected workers. Do check that all leave days taken were correctly reported to us and correctly listed in the leave counters.

Also know that the legislator has tightened the employer's obligation to provide information as a result of this change in the settlement rules. Accordingly:

  • The employer must inform the non-manual worker via the pay slip of the amount withheld/paid out as a result of the adjustments made (at the final statement in December or earlier on departure);

  • If the non-manual worker so requests, the employer must inform this non-manual worker by the most appropriate means (electronically or on paper) about the method of calculation and the settlement rules for the holiday pay. For this, you can of course contact your payroll consultant where appropriate;

  • The holiday certificate must state in a general and understandable way that the leaver single holiday pay is an early payment for the leave days that will be taken with another employer and that this amount will be settled by this new employer. The social partners approved a standard text for this purpose.

Finally, one should not forget that, for some non-manual workers , other holiday pay settlements also occur in the month of December, i.e.:

  • The ‘December settlement’: when a non-manual worker has reduced his (average) weekly working hours in the course of the calendar year, that employer has to pay a ‘settlement holiday pay’ in December of that year (and also in December of the following year) for the leave days that the worker was unable to take due to the reduction in his working hours;

  • Payment of the transferred days of leave the worker was not able to take in the holiday year due to a well-defined suspension. 

Sources: Royal Decree of 28 September 2023 amending articles 46, 48 and 49 of the Royal Decree of 30 March 1967 determining the general terms and conditions for the implementation of the laws relating to the annual holidays of workers, Belgian Official Gazette of 18.10.2023.

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