Sector agreement 2021 - 2022 for joint industrial committee 200
The social dialogue in Belgium is organized on 3 levels: inter-sectoral/federal, sectoral and company level. In the past few months, the wage norm and several employment measures which serve as the basis for the negotiations on a sector level, have been determined on a federal and inter-sectoral level.
Within JIC 200 these negotiations have been finalized, resulting in a sector agreement for the years 2021-2022 which is valid from 01.01.2021 until 31.12.2022. We would like to provide you hereby with an overview of the most important decisions in your sector.
Wages
1. Salary increase
The sector agreement provides for an increase of the actual gross salaries and the scales by 0,4% from 01.12.2021 onwards. With this increase, JIC 200 uses the maximum salary cost development laid down by the Belgian government.
Companies can choose to replace the increase of the actual gross salaries with an equivalent benefit according to their own terms. This equivalent benefit could be an actual salary increase and/or other benefits increasing purchasing power. One-time premiums can be taken into account as long as they are granted in the period 2021-2022. Important to note is the fact that the benefit needs to be recurring as from 01.01.2023 onwards. The following terms should be taken into account when introducing an equivalent benefit:
- In companies with a labour union delegation, the equivalent benefit needs to be concluded in an agreement on company level at the latest on 30.11.2021;
- In companies without a labour union delegation, the equivalent benefit needs to be communicated in writing and on an individual basis to each employee at the latest on 30.11.2021;
- Yearly salary increases received by the employees based on scales applicable in the sector or in the company (e.g. increase of the salaries based on experience or seniority) are not to be taken into account for the 0,4% increase of the actual salaries.
2. Corona premium
A one-off corona premium must be granted in the form of consumption vouchers in companies that meet the following two cumulative conditions:
- The company has achieved a positive profit in 2019 ánd 2020, and
- The company's turnover or gross margin has increased by at least 5% in calendar year 2020 compared to calendar year 2019.
If the turnover has increased by at least 5 %, the corona premium amounts to € 125. If the turnover has increased by at least 10%, the corona premium amounts to €250.
Please contact your accountant to check whether you meet both of the above conditions.
The corona premium must be granted no later than 31.12.2021. The employer must send a written communication about the granting or non-granting of the premium to the labour union delegation or, if there is no labour union delegation, to the employees, by 15.12.2021.
The premium is paid to employees in service on 30.11.2021, pro rata to the services performed between 01.12.2020 and 30.11.2021 and the days of absence which are equalized to days of work. For part-time employees, the premium is granted pro rata the employment regime they have on 30.11.2021.
A corona premium, which has already been granted at company level in the form of consumption vouchers, is deducted from the above amounts.
3. Mileage allowance
As from 01.07.2022, the bicycle allowance for commuting travel will be increased from € 0.10 per kilometre effectively travelled to € 0.20 per kilometre effectively travelled (with a maximum of 40 km round trip per day or € 8.00 per day). This bike allowance only applies for employees who regularly cycle to work and cannot be accumulated with other interventions in the commuting travel with the exception of an intervention for public transport.
Regarding the contribution for an employee who uses his own means of transport for the commuting travel, there was no obligation for the employer to contribute if the annual gross salary exceeded € 27.750. This amount will be increased to € 29.680 as of 1 January 2022.
Time credit and Unemployment scheme with company allowance
For time credit on specific grounds, the general rules in JIC 200, as they apply in collective labour agreement n°103 are extended and the employees can benefit from 51 months of time credit for reasons of care taking and from 36 months for training purposes, given that they meet the conditions.
For time credit in view of landing positions (career wind-down), JIC 200 already had the possibility of a halftime time credit and a 1/5th time credit with a statutory allowance for employees as from the age of 55 on the condition that they could demonstrate a long career (35 years), a heavy and arduous profession, or 20 years of night work and provided that they had a seniority of 2 years in the company. These schemes of time credit have been extended.
The age for entering unemployment scheme with company allowances is raised from 59 years to 60 years for a long career with night work, for a heavy and arduous profession and for a very long career (40 years) according to the conditions as determined on a sector level.
Training
Similar to what the previous sectoral agreements already provided for, this agreement stipulates that the employer needs to offer the employees a number of days of training, depending on the volume of employees in the company.
