At a glance
- Belgium's 'bridge pension' system, officially known as 'unemployment with company allowance,' has been almost completely abolished.
- The minimum age and professional career requirements for accessing the regime have been gradually increased over the years.
- Collective bargaining agreement n° 165, signed on 30 May 2023, allows access to the regime from age 58 under specific conditions.
- The Royal Decree of 5 September 2025 abolished most forms of the regime for new entrants and removed exemptions from job market availability.
- Transition measures are in place for those currently receiving benefits or in the process of accessing the regime.
Belgium has traditionally had an early retirement regime commonly known as a 'bridge pension'. Its official name is 'unemployment with company allowance'. It is not legally a form of retirement but instead is a system where an employee who meets the age and professional career requirements is dismissed and receives unemployment benefits until they reach retirement age. Aside from respecting the notice period or paying an indemnity in lieu of notice, the last employer must also pay a monthly allowance until the employee reaches retirement age.
Over the years, the government has gradually increased the minimum age and the professional career requirements. While the person could resume working and keep the monthly allowance paid by the former employer, this was rare in practice.
Under collective bargaining agreement n° 17, the general rule stipulated that to access the 'bridge pension', the employee had to be at least 62 when the employment contract was effectively terminated. They also had to have worked in a professional role for at least 40 years. However, there were exceptions with different thresholds, such as for employees aged at least 60 who had a professional career of at least 33 years and who had also worked at least 20 years on night shifts.
Under collective bargaining agreement n° 165, signed on 30 May 2023 by the National Labour Council, access to the regime is possible as of the age of 58, if the worker has a professional career of at least 35 years and is also either a disabled worker registered with the regional unemployment administration or a worker with serious physical difficulties. The Federal Agency for Professional Risks assesses the latter condition. The National Labour Council expects maximum 1,200 people per year will meet these conditions.
Even when an employee meets the conditions, an employer isn’t obliged to terminate the employment contract with a view of accessing the regime. If an employee is on long-term sick leave and is approaching retirement age, the employer might prefer not to do anything and just wait until the employee resigns to take their retirement pension.
Under Royal Decree of 5 September 2025, collective bargaining agreement n° 165 and its extensions are the only systems where workers can still access the unemployment with company allowance regime. All other forms are closed for new entrants.
This also concerns the possibility to ask to lower the minimum age for unemployment with company allowance when the employer was granted 'employer in difficulties' or 'employer in restructuring' status by the Federal Minister for Work. This used to be one of the first claims trade unions would make when an employer was contemplating a collective dismissal so as many impacted people as possible could access the regime. The trade unions generally perceived these terminations as granting early retirement, so in a sense was positive for the person involved. Royal Decree of 5 September 2025 abolished this possibility from 1 May 2025.
While people received unemployment benefits during the period of unemployment with company allowance, there was an exception to the requirement of availability for the job market. A considerable number of people under the 'bridge pension' regime didn’t have to accept job offers they received from the unemployment administration and they didn’t have to actively look for a new job. Royal Decree of 5 September abolished this exemption as of 1 July 2025.
The Royal Decree of 5 September 2025 includes transition measures. For people who are currently receiving unemployment benefits and the company allowance, nothing changes, except that some people may have to apply for an exemption to the requirement of being available to the job market.
There are also transition measures for employees whose employer already terminated the employment contract with a view to accessing the regime and who are currently either respecting their notice period or in the period covered by the indemnity in lieu of notice.
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