Key Points
- Minimum salary requirements will increase for certain foreign workers in Flanders and Brussels on January 1, 2021
- Salaries will increase for executives, EU Blue Card applicants, local hires, and EU ICT Permit holders
- The changes affect current employees, initial and renewal applications, and pending applications
- Benefits and allowances are generally ineligible for minimum salary calculations
Overview
Beginning January 1, 2021, minimum annual salary requirements for foreign workers in Flanders, Belgium will increase to EUR 69,638 for executives, including individuals with the upcoming EU ICT Permit; EUR 52,229 for EU Blue Card applicants; EUR 34,819.29 for local hires under age 30, and EUR 43,524 for highly-skilled permit applicants and specialists and trainees under the EU ICT Permit.
In Brussels, minimum salary levels will increase to EUR 72,339 for executives, EUR 44,889 for specialists; EUR 28,056 for trainees with the EU ICT Permit; EUR 43,395 for highly-skilled permit applicants; and EUR 56,111 for EU Blue Card applicants and managers with an EU ICT permit.
What Should Employers and Applicants Know?
The changes affect existing employees, initial applications, renewals, and pending applications.
- Employers of foreign nationals in the categories above must increase their salaries starting in 2021 to comply with the rule.
- By January 1, 2021, employers of foreign nationals who intend to obtain or renew a permit in the categories above must increase their minimum salaries to comply with the rule. Application requests that do not meet the minimum salary requirements will be rejected.
- Employers of foreign nationals who have pending applications in the work permit categories above must increase their employees’ salaries by January 1, 2021 to comply. Applications that do not meet the salary requirements will be rejected.
To demonstrate compliance with the minimum salary increase, employers must increase salaries for current and new employees. They must notify authorities of salary increases for pending applications. Benefits and allowances are generally not included in minimum salary calculations except when allowances are a remuneration for services, fixed and guaranteed, taxable, and noted on the employee’s pay slip. Employers must guarantee the employee’s salary in EUR regardless of the individual’s location and exchange rates.
Looking Ahead
The region of Wallonia, Belgium, is expected to announce new salary requirements in the next few months, along with several other European countries.
