Payroll provider Pro-Pay prepared an overview of the official public holidays 2023 Belgium and a reminder of the rules applicable to replacement days for employers with employees in Belgium.

What are the Public Holidays 2023 Belgium?

• New Year’s Day – Sunday, January 1st 2023
• Easter Monday – Monday, April 10th 2023
• Labour Day – Monday, May 1st 2023
• Ascension Day – Thursday, May 18th 2023
• Whit Monday – Monday, May 29th 2023
• Belgian National Holiday – Friday, July 21st 2023
• Assumption Day – Tuesday, August 15th 2023
• All Saints’ Day – Wednesday, November 1st 2023
• Armistice Day – Saturday, November 11th 2023
• Christmas – Monday, December 25th 2023

Applicable Rules Public Holidays 2023 Belgium

If a public holiday falls on a Sunday or another day which is normally a non-working day (usually a Saturday), it must be replaced by a replacement day on a normal working day. In theory, in Belgium, employees cannot work on public holidays. The employer, however, is obliged to pay the employee a normal salary for that holiday.
In the list above, there are two public holidays that fall on a non-working day in the course of 2023. Employees are entitled to two replacement days in 2023: one for New Year’s Day (1 January) and Armistice Day (11 November).

Replacement Days Public Holidays 2023 Belgium

The law of January 4, 1974 provides for the manner in which replacement days should be determined. In theory, the Joint Industrial Committee competent for each sector, may decide when replacement days shall fall, but we don’t see this very often in practice. If the Joint Industrial Committee has not taken its decision before October 1, 2022, each company may decide for itself when the replacement days for its employees will fall in 2023. The company may take that decision in one of the following ways:

• By the Works Council;
• If the company has no Works Council, by agreement between the union representatives and the employer;
• If the company has a Works Council nor union representatives, by agreement between all the employees and the employer;
• If no agreement can be reached for the whole company, individual agreements may be drawn up between the employer and each employee.

Announcement to Employees

If replacement days cannot be decided upon using one of the solutions above, they automatically fall on the next normal working day following the public holiday (usually a Monday).

Employers must inform their employees of the replacement days for 2023 by displaying a signed and dated document on the company premises before December 15, 2022.

More interesting news like Public Holidays 2023 Belgium can be found on Pro-Pay’s website.