The end of the year is approaching: get your payroll administration in order
November 2025 - With the end of 2025 approaching, it is time to pay extra attention to your company's payroll administration. From public holidays to indexations and from end-of-year bonuses to new legislation: as an employer, you have a lot to organise and follow up on.
What are the most important points to consider for correct payroll administration, so that you can start 2026 on the right foot?
1. Public holidays and collective leave
1a. Replacement public holidays
If a public holiday falls on a Sunday or a day on which your company does not normally work (usually Saturday), you must replace that day with another working day. You can arrange this collectively through a company agreement, which must be communicated by 15 December at the latest. In 2026, this concerns:
· 15 August (Saturday) – if this is not a normal working day
· 1 November (Sunday)
If no agreement is reached, the public holiday will automatically be moved to the next working day.
1b. Collective closing days
If you wish to close your business during certain periods, this must be included in the employment regulations. When this is introduced for the first time, a formal procedure is mandatory, with notification within the company and registration with the FPS WASO. For subsequent years, a simple notification and registration is sufficient.
1c. Correct processing of expense allowances
Since 2022, all expense allowances – whether flat-rate or based on supporting documents – must be reported on tax form 281.10.
2. Indexation, wage increases and wage norm
2a. Automatic indexation
The rules vary per sector, but some expectations for 1 January 2026 are:
· Construction: +0.10%
· White-collar workers (PC 200): +1.95%
· Hospitality (PC 302): +2.00%
Please note: these forecasts are subject to change.
2b. Wage norm
A wage norm of 0% applies for 2025-2026. This means that you cannot provide for any additional general wage increases on top of the indexation. There are exceptions, however, such as salary scale increases, promotions or seniority. Benefits such as bonus plans (CLA No. 90) also remain possible.
2c. Mileage allowance
The exempt mileage allowance will increase slightly from 1 October 2025 to 0.4312 euro/km. If your sector uses annual indexation, the rate will remain at 0.4449 euro/km until 30 June 2026.
3. End of year: bonuses and gifts
3a. End-of-year bonus
In most sectors, an end-of-year bonus is mandatory. Because it is heavily taxed, some employers convert the bonus into alternative benefits via a cafeteria plan. This can be tax-efficient, but is not permitted in every sector.
3b. Gifts and cheques
An end-of-year gift is exempt from social security contributions and withholding tax if it:
· amounts to a maximum of 40 euros per employee (plus 40 euros per dependent child)
· is awarded at Sinterklaas, Christmas or New Year
· is awarded collectively
Sports and culture vouchers also remain possible for the time being, although their abolition is under discussion.
4. Holiday entitlement and overtime
Employees must take their statutory holiday entitlement before the end of the year. Since 2024, this can only be carried over in exceptional circumstances (e.g. illness or maternity leave). The holiday pay must then be paid in the original year.
Overtime is normally taken within the same year. Exception: a maximum of 65 hours may be carried over to the following year, provided it is taken within three months.
5. Mobility budget from 2026
Do you offer company cars as an employer? Then, from 1 January 2026, you will be obliged to provide a mobility budget. Employees will then be able to choose between a car or a budget for alternative mobility. There is no concrete arrangement yet for employees without a car. The legislation has not yet been definitively published, but the obligation is coming.
6. New measures from the federal coalition agreement
· Recovery overtime: the 120 hours of overtime without social security contributions and taxes will remain in place until the end of 2025.
· 180 hours of tax-friendly overtime: also extended until the end of 2025.
· Social security exemption for high salaries: from Q3 2025, no more employer contributions will be due on salaries above 85,000 euros per quarter.
· Foster parent leave: officially possible since July 2025, for up to 4 months.
· SWT (early retirement): completely discontinued from July 2025, except for medical reasons.
· Resignation with unemployment benefit: from March 2026, an employee will be able to resign once in their career and receive temporary unemployment benefit, provided they meet the conditions.
7. Meal vouchers: increase in 2026
The employer's contribution will increase from 6.91 to 8.91 euros per voucher from 1 January 2026. However, the increase will not happen automatically; an amendment to the agreement will be necessary. Sectoral agreements and further legal clarification are still awaited.
8. Training registration (FLA) postponed again
The deadline for registration in the FLA tool has been moved to 1 January 2026. In the meantime, the training obligation remains in place. Experts advise continuing to register training courses internally so that you are always in compliance.
