At a glance
- Belgium has expanded the annual limit for voluntary overtime from 100 to 360 hours, increasing to 450 hours for the hospitality sector.
- The reform simplifies administrative requirements by extending the duration of written agreements to 12 months, with automatic renewal unless terminated.
- Voluntary overtime remains fully paid without a requirement for compensatory rest, enhancing operational flexibility for employers.
- Up to 240 hours of voluntary overtime are now exempt from tax and social security contributions, increasing employees’ net pay despite the removal of overtime premiums.
- The system largely excludes part-time employees, subject to limited exceptions, including long-term part-time workers and existing agreements.
Under Belgian working time rules, overtime is generally only permitted in strictly defined circumstances, such as a temporary increase in workload or urgent situations, and typically requires compliance with formal procedures, including trade union approval. Overtime is usually defined as work exceeding nine hours per day or 40 hours per week, although lower thresholds may apply in certain sectors.
Number of voluntary overtime hours increases
A new act approved on 30 April 2026 significantly expands the use of voluntary overtime, which can be performed without needing to rely on one of the legally prescribed grounds. The annual cap on voluntary overtime has been increased from 100 to 360 hours, with a higher limit of 450 hours for employees in the hotel and restaurant sector.
The reform also simplifies the administrative framework governing voluntary overtime. The requirement for a written agreement remains, but its duration has been extended from six months to 12 months. These agreements are automatically renewed for successive 12-month periods unless terminated by either party on one year’s notice. In practice, only the employee has an interest in terminating the agreement, as the employer can simply leave the agreement in place but no longer instruct the worker to perform overtime work.
The act in principle excludes part-time employees from the system of voluntary overtime work. As a general rule, part-time workers (including those temporarily reducing their hours under time credit or parental leave arrangements) are excluded from voluntary overtime. Part-time employees can only perform voluntary overtime work if they work on a part-time basis for at least three years and there is a temporary increase in work.
There is an exception to this rule for part-time employees who have an agreement to perform voluntary work at the time the act is published in the Official Journal, which will be sometime in the coming weeks.
Overtime hours are now tax free
Voluntary overtime continues to be fully paid and does not give rise to a right to compensatory rest, the obligation to pay an overtime premium (normally 50% or 100% for work on Sundays and public holidays) has been abolished for up to 240 hours per year. Instead, remuneration for these hours is exempt from income tax and social security contributions. While the abolition of overtime pay implies the employee will receive a lower gross amount (100% of the remuneration compared to 150%), this exemption of taxes and social security contributions will result in the employee receiving a higher net amount when performing voluntary overtime work.
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