Recovery hours: social agreement
October 2021 – The social agreement of June contains, among other things, an agreement on the so-called recovery hours. These are voluntary overtime hours that can be worked in addition to the normal quota and without extra pay.
An extension for some, a novelty for others
The granting of 120 hours of voluntary overtime was already possible in 2021 for the so-called essential sectors. The list of these essential sectors is contained in the Corona Decree of 28 October 2020. These are supermarkets, doctors, companies in the energy sector, the chemical sector, the financial sector, etc.
Initially, this extra overtime was only possible in the first quarter of 2021.
Then the relaxation was extended to the second quarter, but the 120-hour limit was maintained. This regime is now understood to apply to the whole of 2021 and the whole of 2022.
Please note: companies that have already made use of this scheme during the first two quarters must deduct the overtime hours used from the 120-hour overtime quota.
In addition, this scheme now also applies to non-core sectors. These sectors too can now make use of the 120 hours of recovery for 2021 - from 1 July to 31 December 2021 - and for 2022.
Terms and conditions
The conditions and modalities for the use of restarting hours remain unchanged:
the worker must agree in writing to the provision of additional dunning hours;
the written agreement is valid for a renewable period of six months;
the written agreement must be concluded expressly and in advance of the period in question.
The advantages of dunning hours are as follows:
there is no extra pay to be paid ;
overtime is not subject to social security contributions;
dunning hours are not subject to withholding tax (but beware... see below);
the hours are not taken into account in the calculation of the internal limit (the maximum number of overtime hours in a reference period) or in the calculation of the working time;
ordinary" voluntary overtime does not have to be used up.
Still no law
There was the agreement, there was the idea, and... there was also the parliamentary recess. The government did not manage to submit the proposed social agreement to Parliament. The Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (FPS ETCS) therefore announced at the end of July that the scheme would in any case already be accepted in practice until the necessary legal and regulatory provisions had been approved.
But beware: this does not commit the tax authorities! In a communication dated 3 August 2021, the tax authorities stated that as long as the legislation was not in force, dunning hours worked after 1 July 2021 would be subject to withholding tax. It does not specify what will happen if the law is finally enacted and comes into force on 1 July 2021. It is to be hoped that the law will clarify matters.
