475 hours of student work in 2017: RD published
Student employees are authorised to work in Belgium for a limited period each year. As from January 1, 2017 the threshold will be 475 hours per year. Employing students can be interesting for employers as a lower rate of social security contributions is charged on their wages.
Students may work until December 31, 2016 at a reduced rate of social security contributions for up to 50 days each year. The government decided a couple of months ago to replace the 50-day limit by a maximum of 475 hours. The Royal Decree which enforces this measure has been published in the Belgian Official gazette of yesterday, December 19, 2016.
The expression of the maximum limit in days sometimes caused problems for student employees and their employers. To get the most out of the 50-day period, students wanted to work an 8-hour day. However, if the employer only required work shifts of 3-4 hours a day, the student was forced to use one of his 50 authorised days. Working a maximum number of hours rather than a maximum number of days solves the problem for the student employee.
The reduced social security contributions remained unchanged and are set at 2.71% of the gross wage for the student and amount to 5.42% for the employer. If the student exceeds the limit of 475 hours, the usual contributions will be due as from the 476th hour (13.07% of employee’s contributions and approximately 32% for the employer).
The student will be able to check the balance of his hours through the electronic applications of the platform student@work organized by the NSSO, just like he is able to do so today: https://www.mysocialsecurity.be/student/en/index.html
