Background information

Temporary unemployment is available in the private sector and the semi-public sector (the latter referring to public enterprises with an economic aspect, such as the rail service and the postal service). It applies to blue-collar workers, to employees during an economic downturn, and to those whose employability has been impacted by bad weather or an unforeseen event such as a technical accident. The measure must involve a group of workers, such as all those from one unit within a company or all blue-collar workers, and it also has to be temporary.

As a response to the COVID-19 crisis, between 13 March and 31 August 2020, temporary unemployment due to COVID-19 is considered as temporary unemployment due to force majeure, making the support also available to white-collar workers. It has also been extended to interim workers (among other non-standard contracts) and to employees of Belgium-based companies stranded abroad or placed in quarantine after returning from an infected region. Starting the 1 September measures will be more diverse depending on the situation within the company and/or the sector. More concretely sectors that are considered to be struck significantly by the crisis (after the 1 September as well), can still make use of the Covid-19 specific system. The list of sectors is established by the government, otherwise, the company has to prove that at least 20% of its workforce had to make use of temporary unemployment due to economic reasons in the second trimester of 2020.

Content of measure

The employer may establish a system of temporary unemployment for workers by totally suspending the execution of the employment contract or by establishing a system of short-time working. The scheme applies to a certain number of employees and only after exhausting their recuperation days.

The income is assessed based on the worker's last monthly wage and cannot exceed a specified maximum. Since January 2016, workers receive 65% of their salary regardless of their family situation.

Adaptation in the framework of the COVID-19/Ukraïne/Energy crisis crisis response

For the duration of the restrictive measures, the employer is no longer obliged to notify the local branch of the National Employment Office, and the form to apply for benefits to the designated payment institution has been simplified.

Use of measure

The number of dossiers applying for a temporary employment allowance is very volatile, as it is not only depending on the economic conjuncture but also unforeseen events as technical accidents or bad weather.

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, as of late March/early April 2020, about 1.2 million employees (out of an active population of less than 4 million) used the scheme. This is currently the peak moment with regards to uptake of the measure. In July 2020 this was already significantly less with 395.784 applications.

August 2013: 116,279 dossiers September 2013: 135,861 dossiers     January 2013: 209,097 August 2014: 130,965 dossiers        September 2014: 124,200 dossiers     January 2014: 150,11 August 2015: 104,671 dossiers        September 2015: 97,660 dossiers      January 2015: 175,264 August 2016: 82,453 dossiers         September 2016: 86,003 dossiers      January 2016: 173,834 August 2017: 61,402 dossiers         September 2017: 93,772 dossiers      January 2017: 142,619 August 2018: TBA                             September 2018: TBA                            January 2018: 136,096

This instrument is established and well-known. It has a strong level of legitimacy from the social partners and the government. It offers employers both certainty and flexibility concerning staffing levels; for example, it provides the choice of whether or not to implement full or partial temporary unemployment, or to change leave days in case of partial temporary unemployment.

More information is available in the ERM legal database

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Employers' organisations Public employment service	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners (and in particular trade unions) are strongly involved in unemployment benefits, including temporary unemployment support. These are discussed and agreed upon within the relevant joint committees. The trade unions also play an important role in paying out the benefits.

Views and reactions

Unknown

Sources

• 23 February 1993: Belgian Portal of public and official information: Temporary Unemployment (FR) - (NL) (www.belgium.be)
• 23 February 1993: Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue: Temporary unemployment for economic reasons: (FR) - (NL) (www.werk.belgie.be)
• 08 October 2009: Eurofound (2009) Tackling the recession: Employment-related public initiatives in the EU Member States and Norway, Dublin. (www.eurofound.europa.eu)
• 01 January 2018: National Office of Social Security: Temporary unemployment: (FR) - (NL) (www.rva.be)
• 13 August 2020: De Tijd (www.tijd.be)
• 01 August 2022: National Office of Social Security: Temporary unemployment: (FR) - (NL) (www.rva.be)
• 15 October 2022: Eurofound, 2013, Belgium: ERM Comparative Analytical Report on ‘Public policy and support for restructuring in SMEs’, European Monitoring centre on change, Dublin. (www.eurofound.europa.eu)
• 15 October 2022: ILO overview of policy responses in the COVID-19 crisis (www.ilo.org)
• 15 October 2022: Rva.be: Tijdelijke werkloosheid in cijfers (Persbericht van de Minister van Werk) (www.rva.be)