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Full-time vs part-time work
I am looking at a contract that calls for 35 hours/week. My understanding is that under Belgian law, a minimum of 36 hrs/week is considered full-time.
Could anyone please share what are the implications of part-time work under a Belgian contract, ie less leave, coverage, or perhaps eligibility to benefits or unemployment benefits should this job end?
Thank you.
The hours considered full time depend on under which labour agreement (commission paritaire) you work at. 35 hours might be full time, though the most common weekly hours is 38h in the white collar jobs.
For part time job the holidays, holiday allowance, bonuses, end of the year premium and any other benefits are simply calculated pro rata (80% working time gives you 80% of extra legal benefits). However possible net allowances are paid as written in your contrat (f.ex. Representation allowance). Meal vouchers are paid from each day you work (independent on how many hours you work during that day).
The effect is the same on social benefits. The unemployment benefit, maternity and paternity leave allowance, sick leave pay etc. are defined based on your daily salary (usually the allowance is a percentage of the daily salary), so as part timer the allowance is simply lower than for full time. The social benefits are also paid only for the number of hours/days you work, so if you work 4 days a week, the benefit in question is also paid only on 4 days per week. If you work less than 75% of full time, you start being excluded from some social benefits, but the rule varies depending on the benefit so you should check this separately.
The above applies for employee contracts for undefined and defined period. If you are looking at interim contract, it might be that the contract is made without holidays and hence the weekly hours are lower. In this case you should discuss the contractual terms well through with the interim agency before signing.
What a complete and helpful answer. One can only guess as to why it wasn't marked as helpful.
