Your wage administration in Q3/2018
Increase of mileage allowance
1. Increase of mileage allowance
The mileage allowance is a lump-sum reimbursement of costs made and paid by the employees when using their private cars for professional purposes.
In accordance with good practice, on 1 July the government will increase the mileage allowance. For the period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019, the amount shall be EUR 0,3573 per kilometre.
2. Absent due to illness or holidays?
It is summer and most people go on holiday. But what if someone gets sick before they travel? And what about when the employee becomes sick during the holiday?
In principle, the first “suspension” takes precedence. This means that in the first situation there is absence due to illness. In the second situation there is absence due to holidays.
That, at least, is the Belgian rule. However, according to the Court of Justice, this rule is contrary to the European Working Time Directive. According to the Court, the days of sick leave during leave must be regarded as illness, enabling the worker to take leave at a later date.
For the time being, Belgian legislation is not (yet) has not yet been changed accordingly. As an employer, you can therefore decide that an employee who gets sick on holiday cannot take his holidays at a later date, in accordance with Belgian regulations. There is a risk, however, that a court will decide otherwise. If necessary, contact us so that we can help you make the right decision.
3. Supplementary child benefit
The new school year starts in September. It is a phenomenon that the costs of purchasing school equipment increase year after year. Did you know that you can give your employees an extra in an advantageous way?
As an employer, you can supplement the child benefit received by your employees. Because this is a supplement to an already existing social benefit, the Belgian National Social Security Office (NOSS) does not consider this to be wages, so that no social security contributions are due. The NOSS accepts an amount of EUR 50 per child per month, which can be given as a supplement. For the tax authorities, this supplement is taxable wages.
Such an addition can also be made to other social benefits, such as unemployment benefits or compensation from the National Employment Office (NEO) during a career break or time credit, in the case of benefits in the event of an accident at work or in the event of a statutory pension.
4. The new camera law
On 25 May 2018, together with the GDPR, a new camera law also came into force. If your company has cameras in use, this new law may affect your company.
The new law applies to surveillance cameras, which are used to prevent, determine or detect nuisances or crimes. The law does not apply to cameras at the workplace used for reasons of health and safety, protection of the company’s goods, control of the production process and control of the work of the employee.
Do you have cameras in your company or are you planning to install cameras? Please feel free to contact us so that we can assist you in deciding whether this new law applies to you and, if so, to report the cameras to the police forces and to set up and maintain a register for image processing activities.
Publication date: 29 July 2018