Modifications regulations time credit

From February 1, 2023 a number of changes have entered into place for employees who apply for a time credit from that date.

The changes only concern the right to allowances. The right to obtain a time credit – without allowances if need be – does not change. Time credit “landing positions – end of career” does not change either.

In this newsletter, we inform you of these changes.

Time credit for reasons of “care taking for a child”

• In case of full time time credit: the age of the child for whom the employee can take time credit will be reduced from 8 years to 5 years from 1 February 2023. The employee's child may therefore be a maximum of 5 years old at the time of the start of this full-time suspension.

! The age of 8 years is maintained for half-time or 1/5 time credit with allowances.

• The right to allowances will be reduced from 51 months to 48 months from February 1, 2023 for the time credit “caring for a child” for all possible suspensions (full-time, half-time and 1/5). This means that it is possible to receive 51 months of time credit for the reason “caring for a child”, but that the employee can only receive allowances for 48 months. This provision also applies to an employee who has already taken time credit before February 1, 2023, but who has not yet taken 30 months of thistime credit on February 1, 2023.
• From June 1, 2023, the employee will also have need a seniority with the employer of 36 months instead of the current 24 months to be entitled to allowances. This new seniority condition does not apply when the time credit is taken immediately following the parental leave.

All suspensions of time credit for a reason

In addition to time credit “caring for a child”, there are other forms of time credit for a reason, such as following a recognized training and caring for a seriously ill family member.

The following changes apply to all forms of time credit with allowances, including the reason “caring for a child”:

The seniority condition with the employer is increased:

• for a full-time time credit, the employee must be employed full-time during the 12 months preceding the written notification to the employer or part-time during 24 months.
• for a half-time time credit, the employee will have to be employed full-time during the 12 months preceding the written notification to the employer instead of the current ¾ employment.
• nothing changes for the 1/5 time credit: full-time employment was already required here. 

The maximum period remains 51 months for the other time credits for a reason – except for the reason “caring for a child” (48 months) and the reason “following a recognized training” (36 months).

The increased allowances for full-time and half-time time credit for employees who have at least 5 years of seniority with the employer will be abolished.

On the other hand, from July 1, 2023, some allowances will be increased (thematic leave for the care of a child and 1/5 time credit for a reason) for single employees with children.

Thematic leaves

Employees older than 50 years received an increased allowance in the framework of a thematic leave (parental leave, medical assistance leave, palliative leave). These increased benefits will be abolished.

Points of action   

• Make sure that your employee who applies for time credit carefully checks whether he/she meets the new conditions so that he/she is entitled to time credit with allowances.
• Make an annex to the employment contract in order to record the new work schedule and the (possible) impact on the other employment conditions.

Do not hesitate to contact us for more information through legal@pro-pay.be.

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