Student work: important points of attention 2026
The days are getting longer and warmer, which means summer is on the way. This makes it the perfect moment to revisit the basic principles of student work.
Who is eligible for student work?
Since early 2026, student work rules have changed: students aged 15 and over can now be employed regardless of whether they have completed the first two years of secondary school, even if they are still in full-time compulsory education.
A student who graduates in June, can work with a student contract until 30 September of the same year.
However, a students who terminates their studies during the academic year is no longer considered a student and can no longer conclude a student contract, even if they do not immediately receive their degree.
The student can work a maximum of 12 consecutive months with the same employer.
Lower solidarity contribution for student work and quota of 650 hours
Under certain conditions, student work is exempted from ordinary social security contribution (ca. 28% for the employer and 13.07% for student). Student work is subject to a much lower solidarity contribution (5.42% for the employer and 2.71% for the student), provided that the following conditions are met:
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The student is employed under a student agreement that contains certain legally mandatory provisions and is concluded prior to start of the student work. The student contract is always a fixed-term contract with a maximum duration of 12 months.
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Since 2025, students are allowed to work up to 650 hours per year under the lower solidarity contributions. Hours worked beyond this quota of 650 hours are no longer subject to the lower solidarity contributions but instead to the ordinary social security contributions (as for a normal employee).
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The student can consult the number of hours worked at Student@work. He or she can download a certificate confirming the available hours of the quota. We highly recommend requesting this certificate in advance in order to be sure of the number of quota hours the student has left to work under the advantageous solidarity contributions.
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The student is only allowed to work during periods they do not have to be present at school.
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The employer has submitted a specific Dimona declaration for students prior to the start of the employment. If you prefer your Payroll Business Partner to submit this declaration, please inform them at least two working days before the start of the employment.
Salary and working conditions
You must pay students at least the minimum salary in the sector, as applicable to your other employees (or the minimum salaries on company level if more advantageous rules were agreed upon), unless the sector itself provides an exception for student work. For example, in JIC 200 (joint industrial committee for white-collar employees), specific minimum salaries are provided for students.
As a rule, the same labour law rules are applicable to students as to a normal employee. For example, students also have to receive a copy of the working regulations when they start their employment.
However, there are some exceptions to this general principle. A student contract contains a trial period of 3 days, students may work less than 1/3 of the weekly working time (in a 38-hour week, this implies that students may work less than 13 hours per week) and night work is prohibited in most cases for minors.
* New * With the expansion of the eligibility for student work, additional protective measures have been introduced for 15 year-old students:
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They may only perform “light work”, i.e. activities such as shelf stocking, retail sales assistance, logistical activities like receiving goods, storage, weighing…
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During the school year, their working time is limited to 2 hours per school days, 8 hours per non-school day and to 12 hours per week. During school holidays lasting at least one week, these limits increase to 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.
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A rest period of 14 consecutive hours must be ensured between the end of one working day and the start of the next.
Enrolment certificate
As an employer, you must be able to prove that the person you hire is indeed a student. The NSSO may therefore require you to provide the student’s enrolment certificate for the current academic year upon their request.
With this in mind, we strongly recommend asking the student to provide you with a copy of their enrolment certificate before the start of the employment and keeping this copy available on the company’s premises.
What should you do as an employer?
Before the student contract starts:
- Request enrollment certificate and certificate student@work
- Sign the student contract
- Submit Dimona declaration - inform your PBP!
Upon start of employment: give the student a copy of the working regulations and ask them to sign an acknowledgement of receipt.
