Minimum wage regulation
In Belgium, there is no law mandating minimum wages. Instead, a legal framework for collective bargaining is established by the Act of 1968 on Collective Bargaining Agreements and Joint Committees, allowing for collective bargaining on the cross-sectoral ‘national minimum wage’ on the one hand, and on sectoral wage floors on the other.
On request of the signatories, the sectoral agreements are legally extended by Royal Decree. Negotiations for the national minimum wage occur in the National Labour Council, while sectoral wage schemes are negotiated by around 100 joint committees (+ 70 joint sub-committees).
Two other Acts complete the framework for collective bargaining: the Act of 1965 on the preservation of the wage of employees defines wages as a predictable labour income that is to be paid in money, hence prohibiting (minimum wage) wage payouts in kind or salary deductions. Finally, the Act of 1996 on the promotion of employment and the preventive preservation of competitiveness, revised in 2017, imposes a biennial maximum margin for real wage increases, known as the ‘wage norm’.
Beyond this norm, which aligns with the two-year bargaining cycle, no fixed procedures exist for determining wage levels. The revision of the Act of 1996 in 2017 was probably the most significant change and evolution in the last 10 years.
The primary collective agreement establishing the national minimum wage is Collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst (collective agreement, CA) nr. 43. Additionally, Collectieve Arbeidsovereenkomst (CA) nr. 50 sets the national minimum wage for other categories of employees, such as those under 18 years old and those working under a student contract.
Actors involved in determining the minimum wages
At national level, the various representative social partners negotiate and establish the national minimum wage, known in Belgium as ‘Guaranteed minimum average monthly income’ (GAMMI). This is a bipartite process within the National Labour Council, the primary bipartite social dialogue body in Belgium.
Represented on the trade union side are the following organisations:
- General Christian Trade Union Confederation (Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, ACV-CSC)
- General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions (Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakverbonden, ACVLB-CGSLB)
- General Belgian Trade Union Confederation (Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, ABVV-FGTB)
- On the employers’ associations side, the following organisations are represented:
- Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen, VBO-FEB)
- Boerenbond
- Middle Class Union (Union des Classes Moyenne, UCM)
- Union of Self-Employed Entrepreneurs (Unie van Zelfstandige Ondernemers, Unizo)
Process of setting the minimum wage
The national minimum wage in Belgium is known as the “guaranteed average monthly minimum income” (“Gewaarborgd gemiddeld minimummaandinkomen” or GGMMI) and is outlined in collective bargaining agreement (CBA) 43. It applies to private sector employees over the age of 18 with an employment contract.
The setting of the GAMMI has no specific routine, the only regular uprating is via automatic indexations.
This system of indexations of the GAMMI is based on the ‘pivot’-mechanism. The pivot index uses predetermined thresholds, with increments of 2%, against which the ‘smoothed health index’ is compared. If the pivot index is met or exceeded, wages or benefits are adjusted.
Negotiations concerning the GAMMI fall under the remit of the social partners at the national level. These negotiations occur within the National Labour Council (NAR-CNT) on an ad-hoc basis. For instance the real amount of the GAMMI was increased in April 2022 and now recently in April 2024.
Importantly, in addition to the national/cross-sectoral GAMMI, which applies to around 3% of the workforce, there are sectoral minimum wages, which are on average around 19% higher than the GAMMI. The margins for sectoral wage negotiations are determined on a biennial basis by the social partners in the so-called G10-group, leading to an ‘Interprofessional Agreement’ or IPA. The negotiations are based on preparatory work by the Central Economic Council (CRB-CCE), which needs to produce a technical report defining the maximum margin for wage increases every two years. The ‘wage norm’ that is agreed upon in the IPA cannot be higher than this maximum margin.
Criteria referred to in minimum wage setting
| Criterion | How is this defined/operationalised? | Regulation or practice |
| Smoothed health index | Minimum wages (as well as social and other benefits) are automatically indexed based on the Smoothed health index according to a pivot index mechanism. Once a certain value of the index is reached, the mechanism is triggered, and the increase is automatically applied. It is a ‘health’ index, meaning that the collection of goods considered in the calculation excludes unhealthy products like tobacco or alcohol. 'Smoothed' refers to the fact that it is calculated as the average value of the health indices of the last four months. | Royal Decree of 24 December 1993 implementing the law of 6 January 1989 for the safeguarding of the country's competitiveness. |
| Expected wage evolutions in neighbouring countries | An estimation is made regarding how wages will evolve in neighbouring countries, namely Germany, the Netherlands, and France. The maximum margin for wage increases is then established based on these predictions. | The calculations are carried out by the Central Economic Council, which then provides the informations to the National Labour Council for further negotiations. The procedure is stipulated in the Act of 26 Juli 1996 on the promotion of employment and the preventive preservation of competitiveness |
Coverage of the minimum wage and exemptions
The national minimum wage (GAMMI), as outlined in collective agreement no. 43, applies to private sector employees over the age of 18 with an employment contract. In the case of Belgium, collective bargaining coverage rate is an important aspect in relation to minimum wage coverage, as the GAMMI is not provided by law but rather by national level, inter-sectoral collective agreement negotiated and signed by social partners. The fact that the vast majority of employees in Belgium are covered by (at least) the GAMMI is therefore primarily due to the high collective bargaining rate, which stands at approximately 96%. This includes all blue and white-collar workers active in the private sector. According to data from the Central Economic Council, around 3% of people are paid the minimum wage.
Some specific categories not covered include:
- Persons employed in a family business managed solely by a parent.
- Workers who typically work less than a month.
- Starter-jobs: a scheme for workers aged over 18 and under 21 with little work experience. The gross wage is reduced to lower labour costs, fully compensated by a net amount on which no employer’s contributions are due.
- Workers employed in the public sector.
- - ‘Flexi-jobs’: secondary jobs for workers already employed at least 80% under a regular contract.
- Freelancers and platform workers.
- Neighbourhood jobs (‘wijkwerken’): a scheme for re-entry into the labour market through small neighbourhood jobs for long-term unemployed workers.
It's important to note that despite the high coverage rate, only a relatively small group of employees relies on the GAMMI. Most sectors establish their own (higher) sectoral minimum rates, which take priority over the GAMMI. Therefore, the GAMMI should be seen as a fallback for those who, in exceptional cases, are not covered by a sectoral collective agreement.
Subminima and higher rates
In April 2015, age criteria for the national minimum wages, sectoral minimum wages, and seniority schemes were largely abolished or replaced by experience criteria. However, in some instances, different minimum wages may still apply for young workers, depending on their age and status.
In the absence of sectoral agreements on minimum wages for workers under the age of 21, lower national minimum wages are set for young workers under 18 or for workers with a student contract, as outlined in collective agreement no. 50:
- 16 years old: 67% of the national minimum wage
- 17 years old: 73% of the national minimum wage
- 18 years old: 79% of the national minimum wage
- 19 years old: 85% of the national minimum wage
- 20 years old: 90% of the national minimum wage
In April 2022, following the revised collective agreement 43/16 of 9 March 2022, the remaining seniority criteria for workers under the age of 21 were finally abolished, as a result of which workers with a regular employment contract aged 18 or over are now entitled to 100% of the national minimum wage, the same as workers above that age.
For students whose work is part of their training (‘alternating learning’), and who do not have an employment contract, collective agreements no. 43 and no. 50 do not apply,but there are rules concerning compulsory statutory (or regional) compensation.
Frequency of payments and how the rate is defined
The national minimum wage is calculated as the average of all labour income over one year and expressed as a monthly income. Therefore, while a payment in one month may fall below the national minimum wage, it can be balanced out by compensation in other months or through other payouts such as task-based or year-end bonuses.
The ‘default’ GAMMI is generally formulated based on a 38-hour working week, but there are also hourly rates for 39 and 40-hour working weeks. For part-time workers, the national minimum wage is applied proportionally.
There is no predefined number of payments stipulated. The essence of the GAMMI is that all forms of payment or wages received by the employee add up to the minimum defined in the GAMMI. Therefore, the number of payments can vary. For instance, an employee might receive 12 higher wages or 12 payments plus an additional holiday premium—what matters is the total sum of those payments.
What counts towards the minimum wage
The components included in the calculation of the GAMMI can vary by sector and are stipulated at that level. Among the most prominent components are the end of year bonus and the 13th month payment.
The national collective agreement establishes a general rule that both cash and non-cash wages, fixed and variable wages, as well as premiums and benefits to which the employee is entitled, apply. All these factors count to the extent that they are linked to the employee's normal work performance. This can be viewed as a fundamental principle.
However, this is only a general principle. Ultimately, all sectors are permitted to deviate from this principle if they wish to alter the content of the GAMMI in their sector. To do so, this must be agreed upon and signed by the social partners in the sector and formalised through a signed collective agreement. It is however relevant that in any case, minimum rates provided by sectoral collective agreements cannot provide a wage floor overall below the level of the GAMMI, as per general collective bargaining mechanism according to which collective agreements of a lower level (i.e. sectoral in relation to national) cannot negatively derogate from the conditions set out in the higher-level one.
A list of benefits-in-kind is formalised in the Wage Protection Law, which includes the following:
- -Housing
- -Gas, electricity, heating, and fuels (valued at cost)
- -The use of land
- -Food consumed at the workplace
- -Tools and service or work clothes, as well as their maintenance, provided that no legal or regulatory provision requires the employer to provide or maintain them
- -Equipment or materials necessary for work that are the employee's responsibility according to their employment or use
These benefits in kind are taken into account to assess whether the employee receives at least the GAMMI. Their value may be deducted from the total amount.
Regular national report on minimum wage setting
There is no regular reporting specifically focused on the national minimum wage in Belgium.
There was a report concerning minimum wages issued by the Central Economic Council in 2022.
There is a general technical report that provides further details on how they calculate the maximum wage margin.
An additional report specifically addresses the global wage handicap between Belgium and its neighbouring countries.
Other country resources on minimum wages
CRB, (2018), Het minimuminkomen in België (Documentatienota No. 2018–2768; p. 25). Centrale Raad voor het Bedrijfsleven.
Dorssemont, F. (2022), ‘Wage setting and wage moderation in Belgium: A never-ending and already-old story in the wake of the 'new European economic governance', European Labour Law Journal, 13(2), 156–169.
Pulignano, V., Marà, C., Franke, L., Domecka, M., Bertolini, A., and Graham, M. (2022), Fairwork Belgium Ratings 2022: Towards Decent Work in the Platform Economy, Leuven, Belgium; Oxford, United Kingdom, Berlin, Germany
Vandekerckhove, S. and Van Herreweghe, D. (2023), Minimum wages in Belgium, Eurofound article
Vandekerckhove, S., Desiere, S., and Lenaerts, K. (2020), Minimum wages and wage compression in Belgian industries, National Bank of Belgium, Working Paper No. 387; p. 39.
Vandekerckhove, S., and Lenaerts, K. (2023). Collective bargaining and inequality in Belgium (BFORE - Bargaining for Equality, p. 61) [National report]. HIVA Research Institute for Work and Society.