Key facts at a glance

Topic	Detail
Country	Belgium
Statutory public holidays	10 (jours fériés légaux / wettelijke feestdagen)
Year covered	2026
Governed by	Belgian Public Holiday Act of 4 January 1974 + Royal Decree of 18 April 1974
Paid time off legally required?	Yes — Public Holiday Act 1974
Holidays on non-working days in 2026	2 substitute days required (Assumption 15 Aug + All Saints 1 Nov)
Employer posting deadline	15 December 2025 (signed workplace notice)
Official government source	employment.belgium.be — public holidays

Introduction

Belgium has 10 statutory public holidays (jours fériés légaux / wettelijke feestdagen) in 2026, governed by the Belgian Public Holiday Act of 4 January 1974 and its implementing Royal Decree of 18 April 1974. In principle, workers may not be employed on these 10 statutory public holidays per calendar year, irrespective of the nature of their job, their seniority, or the duration of their work. All 10 holidays are paid, and the employer must pay the full wage including any bonuses and benefits the employee would have received had they worked that day.

In 2026, two holidays fall on non-working days for most companies: Assumption of Mary (Saturday, 15 August) and All Saints' Day (Sunday, 1 November). Both must be replaced by paid substitute days on ordinary working days. Employers were required to notify employees of those substitute days by posting a signed and dated notice at the workplace before 15 December 2025.

Public holidays in Belgium 2026

The 10 statutory public holidays

Community and regional days (non-statutory)

Belgium's federal structure means each Community and Region observes its own official celebration day. These are not statutory paid public holidays under Belgian labour law. Employer obligations depend on the applicable comité paritaire (joint committee) collective agreement for the relevant sector.

Employer & payroll obligations

The substitute day cascade system

When a public holiday falls on a Sunday or on a day that is normally not worked in the company (usually Saturday), it must be replaced by a paid substitute day. The public holiday then loses its character as a public holiday for scheduling purposes, and the substitute day becomes the actual paid public holiday. The substitute day is determined through a strict cascade:

1. By the joint committee (comité paritaire) for the relevant sector — this takes absolute priority. The joint committee must notify the Minister of Labour before 1 October of the preceding year.
2. Failing this, by the works council (conseil d'entreprise / ondernemingsraad) within the company.
3. Failing this, through agreement with the trade union delegation (délégation syndicale).
4. Failing this, through a collective agreement between the employer and all employees.
5. Failing this, by common consent between the employer and each individual worker.
6. In the absence of any agreement: the holiday is automatically replaced by the first ordinary working day in the company following the public holiday (usually the Monday after a Saturday or Sunday holiday).

Pay obligations

The employer must pay full salary for public holidays, substitute days, and compensatory rest days. The wage owed for a public holiday or substitute day equals the remuneration the worker would have normally earned if they had worked that day, including basic salary, bonuses, and benefits in kind.

Belgian law does not provide for an automatic wage supplement for working on a public holiday. However, a collective labour agreement at sector or company level, or the work regulations, can provide a premium. For example, in healthcare and social services (Joint Committee 330), a supplement of 56% applies for work on a Sunday or public holiday. Always verify the applicable joint committee agreement.

Working on a public holiday

Workers may be employed on a public holiday only in sectors where derogations from the Sunday rest prohibition are permitted (hospitality, healthcare, energy, transport, and others). If an employee works on a public holiday, they are entitled to compensatory rest: a full day if their work lasted more than four hours; half a day if it did not exceed four hours. This compensatory rest must be granted within six weeks following the public holiday or substitute day, and must coincide with a normal day of activity for the worker.

Annual leave

Full-time employees are generally entitled to 20 days of paid annual leave if they have worked a full year based on a five-day workweek. These 20 days are separate from the 10 statutory public holidays, bringing the total to approximately 30 paid days off per year for a full-time employee. Annual leave in Belgium is managed through the National Office for Annual Holidays (Office National des Vacances Annuelles / Rijksdienst voor Jaarlijkse Vakantie, RJV/ONVA) for workers in the private sector.

What this means for international employers

Belgium's public holiday framework is among the most procedurally detailed in the EU. The obligation to actively determine substitute days through a defined cascade process, post a physical signed notice by 15 December, and attach it to work regulations and submit it to the Social Inspectorate is a compliance requirement that many foreign employers only discover during an inspection.

Belgium's federal structure adds complexity. A company with employees in Brussels, Antwerp, and Liège must understand which sector-level joint committee applies to each role, as different joint committees may have reached different decisions on substitute days and community holidays. The applicable joint committee is determined by the company's principal economic activity, not by employee location alone.

For companies posting workers to Belgium from abroad, the LIMOSA declaration is mandatory before posting begins. Under that framework, Belgian public holiday rules apply from day one. Foreign employers must observe all 10 statutory public holidays and any applicable substitute days, and must pay full holiday remuneration as required by Belgian law.

Foreign employers without a Belgian legal entity commonly use an Employer of Record (EOR) to manage substitute day determination, the mandatory workplace posting, joint committee compliance, the Belgian annual leave system (ONVA/RJV), and correct holiday pay. For country-specific hiring routes, see our Belgium EOR overview.

Sources

• Belgian Federal Public Service Employment — public holidays (posting obligations): employment.belgium.be
• Belgian FPS Employment — regulation on public holidays (Public Holiday Act 1974 + Royal Decree 1974): employment.belgium.be/en/regulation-public-holidays
• Belgian FPS Employment — working time and rest periods: employment.belgium.be
• Belgium.be — National Day and feast days of Communities and Regions: belgium.be
• Belgian FPS Employment — minimum paid annual holidays: employment.belgium.be