A Royal Decree of 8 February 2023 allows workers who are unable to take their annual leave due to illness, accident, maternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave, prophylactic leave or foster care leave to transfer these days to the following calendar year.
A full-time worker is entitled to four weeks’ annual leave. According to European legislation, the right to annual leave should ensure that workers are able to take sufficient rest.
The Royal Decree of 8 February 2023 now reinforces the effectiveness of the right to annual leave.
Thus, in the event that a worker is prevented from taking his statutory leave due to a series of causes that suspend the execution of his employment contract, he retains the right to take up these days during a two year-period following the year in which he should have taken the holidays.
In other words, under certain circumstances, the worker acquires a right to transfer the untaken leave days to the following calendar year.
The causes of suspension that allow a transfer of the annual leave are accident, illness, maternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave, prophylactic leave or foster care leave.
Moreover, these causes of suspension cannot be imputed on the annual leave days, even if they occur during the holiday.
For example, if a worker falls ill or has an accident during his annual leave, the incapacity to work will prevail over the annual leave. The worker will retain the right to the leave that he did not take.
Specifically for blue-collar workers, the employer must pay the holiday pay for the days still to be taken by 31 December of the year in which the employee should have taken his leave. This new rule therefore provides for an advance payment of leave days still to be taken.
Finally, at the end of the employment relationship, the holiday certificate must now mention the transferred statutory leave.
These new rules take effect on 1 January 2023 and apply for the first time to the 2024 leave year.
What to remember?
The Royal Decree of 8 February 2023 reinforces the effectiveness of the right to annual leave.
An employee may postpone his annual leave entitlement when he is unable to take it due to illness, accident, maternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave, prophylactic leave or foster care leave.
Source: Royal Decree of 8 February 2023 amending Articles 3, 35, 46, 60, 64, 66 and 68 and inserting an Article 67bis in the Royal Decree of 30 March 1967 determining the general modalities of the laws relating to the annual leave of workers, BOG 16 March 2023.
This article was first published by our Belgian member firm Sotra on 17 March. For more details on this topic or any employment-related questions in Belgium, please contact our representatives Olivier Rijckaert and Marian Dewaersegger at Sotra.
