With the end of the calendar year around the corner and the holiday period coming up, we summarize key actions from an HR/payroll perspective at year-end which are commonly overlooked or where misconceptions are common.

Replacement days for public holidays

For public holidays which coincide with a day of non-activity within the company (generally on a Saturday and Sunday) a replacement day needs to be determined. For 2025, all public holidays are on standard weekdays, except for All Saints' Day, November 1st, which is a Saturday. As such, most companies will need to determine a replacement day for one public holiday.

While replacement days can be determined on a sectoral level (rarely applied), it’s usually decided on company level, in consultation with the works council, the union representatives or the employees collectively. If no decision is taken on a collective level, the employer can agree on the replacement days individually with each employee.

In absence of any agreement, the next day of normal activity within the company is used as a replacement day (as such, All Saints’ Day would be replaced with Monday November 3nd).

The replacement day must be communicated to the employees before December 15th (dated and signed bulletin posted in a location accessible to the employees, annexed to the work regulations and communicated to the labor authorities within 8 days).

Transfer of time off

An annually recurring question is what to do with time off that is still open at the end of the year. A good rule of thumb in that regard is that only time off which is granted based on an (individual or collective) agreement is transferrable.

Below, you will find an overview of the rules which are applicable in the majority of cases (specific circumstances of an individual case or sector/company level exceptions are not taken into account):

Belgian vacation rights are built up during vacation service year X, to be taken during the following year, vacation year X+1.

When the work regime of an employee who has built up vacation rights during vacation year X is reduced in year X+1 (e.g. from full-time to a part-time work schedule of 80%), the following needs to be taken into account:

• The number of vacation days (with single vacation pay) is pro-rated in accordance with the reduced work regime;
• The double vacation pay, if not yet paid out, will be calculated based on the new part-time salary (usually in May or June).

In other words, the employee may receive single and double vacation pay in vacation year X+1 which is lower than they would receive if they still worked full time. As a result, a recalculation of the single and double vacation pay is required in December to ensure the employee receives the full vacation pay to which they are entitled based on their employment during vacation year X. This is the so-called first December recalculation.

The required calculation entails the following steps:

• For the single vacation pay: the single vacation pay due for vacation days taken during the on-going vacation year is offset against 7,67 % of the total gross salary of the vacation service year;
• For the double vacation pay: the double vacation pay already paid in May/June of the on-going vacation year is offset against 7,67 % of the total gross salary of the vacation service year;

If there is any excess in either calculation, the employee is entitled to receive this vacation payment as an additional payment in December.

Additionally, if the change in work regime does not take place as from the beginning of January, a part of the vacation rights which the employee accrues during vacation service year X+1 will also be based on the original work regime (full time in the example we mentioned), and a part will be based on the reduced work regime (80% in our example). As a result, in those cases, a second December recalculation will be necessary in vacation year X+2.

Consequently, a reduction in an employee’s work regime can lead to the requirement for a December recalculation during the year in which the change of the work regime took place, as well as in the next year.

Final settlement of exit vacation pay in December for new employees

As of this year, the settlement of exit vacation pay with a new employer has been changed.
As explained in our previous alert in this respect, the settlement of single exit vacation pay now occurs in two phases.

The first phase includes the deduction of 90% of the daily salary each month an employee takes a vacation day with the new employer based on entitlements built-up with a previous employer.

The second phase is the final settlement of the single exit vacation pay and occurs in December. With this final settlement it is determined whether the employee is entitled to a remaining amount of vacation pay or whether an additional deduction is required.

We refer to our alert in this respect for a more detailed explanation and examples.

Key takeaways

Given the above, the following actions are advised:

• Determine the replacement days for public holidays based on process relevant for the company and communication to the employees by December 15th;
• Remind employees that they are obligated to take their time off before the end of the year, and that generally speaking only extra-legal vacation days can be transferred (in line with the relevant policies or agreements);
• Determine if a (first or second) December recalculation is needed for any employees and instruct your payroll provider;
• Check whether any new employees have started with the company and verify whether an additional payment or deduction of exit vacation pay is required.

Our payroll professionals can help you optimize the (global) payroll and reduce compliance risk so you meet all payroll requirements today and in the future. EY Payroll Operate answers a clear demand in the market: a global payroll solution that provides a single framework that can be scaled by you as your business needs evolve. EY professionals operate client payrolls as a managed service from data collection, preparation, execution right up to statutory reporting, payment preparation and employee communication.

In case of any questions with regard to your specific company or a specific employee, please do not hesitate to reach out to us: [email protected]