On 31 January 2025, the federal coalition agreement for the period 2025-2029 was reached. Many of the planned measures are still expressed in general terms. They will be further elaborated in the coming months by the governing parties - sometimes in consultation with or at the initiative of the social partners - for implementation.
The De Wever government proposes an ambitious fiscal consolidation through reforms in the areas of the labour market, taxation and (supplementary) pensions. By focusing on these three areas, the government aims for economic growth, social justice and the sustainability of our social security.
Below, a few measures are listed aimed at thoroughly modernising the labour market, with the objective of keeping more people in work and promoting sustainable careers.
The new government wants people to stay at work longer and, to that end, is pursuing options to enable a healthy work-life balance. One such option will be the so-called ‘family credit’, simplifying existing leave entitlements for those who contribute to the care of a child. At birth, each child would receive a ‘backpack’ of leave entitlements. Grandparents would also be able to draw from this credit.
For elderly employees, it will remain possible to work part-time at the end of their career via a special time-credit scheme (1/2 or 4/5) called ‘landingsbaan’ in Dutch or ‘emploi de fin de carrière’ in French, from the age of 55, provided they have a professional history of at least 30 years with at least 156 days worked per year. This will be gradually increased to 35 years in 2030.
In line with the new government's ambition to keep people in work longer, it is envisaged that new inflow into the early retirement scheme will stop from the date of the coalition agreement, unless it is for medical reasons. However, access to the early retirement scheme will continue to be guaranteed for workers employed in companies that entered into a letter of intent to restructure or collective redundancy before 31 January 2025. The rights of those already in an early retirement scheme will also be safeguarded.
In terms of working time legislation, a lot is in the pipeline. The measures that stand out most are the annualisation of working time, the abolition of the ban on night work, the abolition of the obligation to include all timetables in the work regulations and the strong expansion of the voluntary overtime system. In addition, the new government provides for the simplification of part-time work rules and the simplification of a number of formalities. Finally, a (increased) credit of 650 hours for student work is again provided for and the age for student work is lowered to 15 years.
The new government is also committed to degressivity of unemployment benefits. In addition, a right is provided for the worker who already has a career of at least 10 years to resign once per career and still be entitled to unemployment benefits for a period of six months, which can be extended once by six months in the case of successful training for a bottleneck profession and if this training started in the first trimester of unemployment benefits.
Adjustments are also planned in the area of dismissal. For instance, the trial period will be reintroduced by the end of 2025. It will then become possible again for both parties to end the employment contract with one week's notice during the first six months of employment. For newly hired employees, the notice period will be limited to a maximum of 52 weeks. Furthermore, the number of protection payments that can be obtained in the context of a dismissal would be limited. It is not clear yet what this limitation will entail in concrete terms.
The government is aware of the challenges and reforms ahead in labour market policy. It counts on the social partners to issue opinions or conclude agreements. With this, the new government emphasises the importance and role of social consultation for various proposals that are the subject of the coalition agreement. Only if the social partners would fail to reach an agreement will the government itself take a decision. An example is the request to the social partners to reduce the number of joint committees by 1 January 2027. Or the request to work out an opinion on reforming the wage norm law and the automatic indexation system by 31 December 2026.
The measures will still have to be moulded into concrete legal texts. It will certainly be a challenge for employers to monitor these changes closely. Never a dull moment for HR....
By Olivier Wouters, Lawyer - Associate, CLAEYS & ENGELS Lawyers
Many more details can be found in the Newsletter of the Claeys & Engels law firm here.