Your payroll administration – Q1.2025

Key social obligations for employers in the first quarter of 2025 

Deadline tax forms: Be in order in time 

Employers must submit the tax forms for the 2024 income to the tax administration by 28 February 2025 at the latest. In practice, as your social service provider, we handle this filing through Belcotax on Web. The copies you receive from us must be provided to the employees in a timely manner. This is essential to avoid penalties and provide employees with their tax form 281.10 on time for their tax return. Ensure that all data is collected and processed completely and correctly. 

Please note: We only have visibility of payments you have included in the payroll statements. Has your organisation made other payments in addition, such as expense reimbursements? If so, notify us of this in good time. 

Employment plan for older employees 

Companies with more than 20 employees (FTE) on 2 January 2025 must prepare an employment plan over the next four years to maintain or increase the number of employees aged 45 and over. Companies with fewer than 20 employees on this reference date are exempt from this obligation for the next four years. All employees with employment contracts, including temporary workers, count. 

The draft of your employment plan must be submitted to the works council* within three months of the close of the financial year. If your financial year coincides with the calendar year, you must therefore submit your draft by 31 March 2025 at the latest. 

Employee representatives then have two months to give their advice. Adjustments are not mandatory, but deviations must be explained. Without a works council or alternative body*, it is sufficient to inform the employees directly about the plan. No consultation is then required. 

Upon completion of the plan, the employer must inform the works council* of the results of the measures implemented. In the case of a multi-year plan, a progress report must be submitted to the works council* every year. 

The employer must keep the plan for 5 years. 

* In the absence of a works council, the trade union delegation is authorised. In the absence of a trade union delegation, the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW) or even – in the absence of a CPPW – the employees of the company. 

Training plan: Invest in your employees 

Employers with more than 20 employees are required to prepare an annual training plan. This plan includes an overview of the planned training courses and the target group of employees for which they are intended. The training plan must be discussed with the works council or, in its absence, with the trade union delegation before 15 March. If there is no trade union delegation either, the plan must be submitted to the employees. 

The employer must share a draft of the plan with the parties involved at least 15 days before the meeting. After approval, the plan is kept in the company, where employees and their representatives can consult it upon request. 

Within one month of the training plan coming into force, the employer must provide an electronic copy to the Director-General of the General Directorate of Social Laws Supervision of the FPS ELSD via the website transfer.werk.belgium.be. 

Annual report on prevention and protection 

Each year, every employer is required by law to have completed and keep available to the Regional Directorate of Welfare at Work Supervision the annual ISPPW report by 1 April. It is a report on the operation and activities of your Internal Service for Prevention and Protection at Work (ISPPW) during the previous year, usually prepared by the internal prevention adviser. In companies with fewer than 20 employees, the employer itself assumes the role of prevention adviser and is therefore responsible for preparing the annual report. Companies with a Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW) are obligated to have the annual report clarified at the February meeting by the internal prevention adviser. The annual report must be approved by 1 April 2025 and remain available to the Regional Directorate of Welfare at Work Supervision. 

Do you have any questions, or do you need help with these obligations? Feel free to contact us! 

Voluntary overtime agreements: don’t forget to renew on time 

Your employees have the option to perform 120 relance overtime hours during the period from 1 January to 30 June 2025*. In addition, they can take up to 120 ordinary voluntary overtime hours per calendar year, with a maximum of 220 hours** for both types of overtime combined.  

You read it correctly, the employee chooses whether or not to commit to performing these overtime hours when the employer would need it. The employee commits himself for six months at a time. He must also confirm this commitment in writing.  

Note: Relance overtime cannot be carried forward to the next calendar year or past 30 June 2025. This means that remaining hours from 2024 cannot carry over to 2025. Therefore, if your employees want to make use of the 120 relance overtime hours between 1 January and 30 June 2025, a new agreement is necessary. 

*We expect this measure to be extended beyond 1 July 2025, we will inform you when we have more information. 

**We expect this maximum number of hours to increase, we will inform you about this when we have more information. 

SNCB fares update 

From 1 February 2025, SNCB ticket fares will increase by 2.91% and season fares by 3.03%. This increase may affect employer contributions to employees’ transport costs. Whether this has an impact on your company depends on the agreements at the level of your company or sector. 

• Joint Committee 200 

In Joint Committee 200, this increase in SNCB fares has an impact on the employer’s contribution to employees’ transport costs. Within this sector, the employer’s contribution for train transport amounts to 80% of the 2nd class train ticket, starting from the first kilometre. In addition, this indexation of train fares will also affect the employer’s contribution to private transport. In 2024, the employer within JC 200 was only obligated to contribute to private transport for white-collar workers if the annual gross salary was lower than EUR 34,654.00. The adjusted limit amount for 2025 is not yet known. 

Indexations 

Wage indexation takes place on 1 January in many sectors. This is due to the Belgian system of automatic wage indexation. In most cases, indexation is applied to all actual wages. In certain sectors, however, it applies only to the minimum wages. The specific rules and modalities on this are determined at sector level. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this. Below you will find an overview of some sectors where a change is taking place:  

• Additional Joint Committee for the White-collar workers (JC 200): an indexation of 3.58%. 

• Joint Committee for Construction (JC 124): the minimum wages and actual wages, surcharge petrochemistry and board and accommodation allowances increase by 0.61836% from 1 January 2025. The actual hourly wages will be increased by the same amount as the minimum hourly wages (and therefore not by the same percentage). 

• Joint Committee for Hospitality (JC 302): an indexation of 3.571%, including clothing allowance and night premiums. 

Mileage allowance adjustment 

If the quarterly indexed mileage allowance is applied in your sector, the maximum exempted amount of mileage allowance for both commuting and professional travel will again drop slightly in the first quarter of 2025. From 1 January to 31 March, the maximum exempted amount will be €0.4290 per kilometre, while it was still €0.4293 per kilometre in the fourth quarter. 

In case your sector works with the annually indexed mileage allowance, nothing will change for you in the first quarter of 2025. This annual allowance will remain unchanged at 0.4415 euros per kilometre until 30 June 2025. 

Some sectors leave the choice to you, contact us if you have any questions about the applicable scheme in your sector. 

CLA 90 bonus plans 

Are you ready to motivate and reward your employees in 2025 through a CLA 90 bonus plan? These non-recurring, result-related benefits offer a unique opportunity to reward collective results based on objective and measurable criteria. The system is attractive thanks to its favourable tax treatment. On the part of the employee, the bonus is tax-free and only a solidarity contribution of 13.07% is withheld. On the part of the employer, the benefits effectively granted are subject to a special social security contribution of 33% and the cost is fully deductible in the company. The favourable rules apply only if the maximum amount is not exceeded (indexed annually). In 2025, the maximum amount per calendar year per employee is €4,164 gross (€3,622 net, however, this amount is still subject to confirmation from the authorised administration). If this amount is exceeded, the excess is taxed as regular salary. 

A bonus plan may have a reference period of at least three months, but in most cases, this is a calendar year. It is important that the targets to be achieved are of an apparently uncertain nature. After all, the thrust of a CLA 90 plan is to motivate your employees to make extra efforts. In addition, the plan should be prepared in time and submitted to the administrations before the expiry of one-third of the reference period. For an annual plan in 2025, the deadline is 30 April 2025. 

At Van Havermaet, we are happy to help you get the most out of your CLA 90 bonus plan. Our experts support you through the entire process: from setting clear objectives to submitting the plan correctly and on time. We ensure that your bonus plan meets all legal requirements and is in line with your business strategy. Contact us for more information and tailored advice.