Belgium - The end of the (performance) year: attention points regarding bonuses for employers in Bel

With the end of the year fast approaching and the challenging context 2020 has brought, employers may consider granting bonuses or setting out the conditions for the upcoming performance year.

In this newsletter we set out some of the key items to be considered from a Belgian employment perspective when granting bonuses or implementing bonus policies as well as a Dag number of action points.

Employers may consider the following action points when reflecting on their bonus clauses / policies:

• Inclusion of a condition to be in the company’s service for eligibility to payment of the bonus and/or exclude possibility of payment of a prorated bonus.
• Check the bonus documentation and translate if necessary.
• Correct calculation of the severance allowance and inclusion of bonuses paid for the calculation and payment of vacation pay.
• Conversion of cash bonuses with other more beneficial reward schemes. For such conversion, employers should implement a timely replacement of the (cash) bonus, i.e. upon a moment in time that the employees do not yet know whether they will be entitled to a bonus payment for that financial year and what the amount of the bonus will be.

To read more, please see also our attached document.