How many paid holiday days you get under Belgian law, how your own work history sets that number, and what happens to days you don't take.
The Belgian standard is 20 paid holiday days a year for a full-time, 5-day week — but it's earned the year before, not the year you take it.
Belgian statutory annual leave runs on a "reference year" system. The number of paid holiday days you can take in a given year is based on how much you actually worked (or were on certain legally-equivalent absences, like maternity or paternity leave) during the previous calendar year — not the year you're taking the leave in. If you worked the full previous calendar year on a standard 5-day week, you earn the full 20 days.
Leave in Belgium is earned, not granted upfront. As a rule of thumb, full-time work earns roughly 1.67 days of leave for every month worked in the reference year (20 days ÷ 12 months) — so someone who worked the whole prior year gets the full 20, and someone who only worked part of it earns a proportional share. Your own contract start date, and how many months you were actively employed in the year before, are what set your number.
New to the workforce, joined us partway through the year, or had a career break? Your entitlement is prorated — but Belgian law has a safety net for exactly this situation.
If you worked, say, 6 months in the reference year, you earn roughly half of the full entitlement for the following year — about 10 days rather than 20, following the same proportional logic. This is common for anyone starting their career, returning after time away, or joining us partway through a calendar year.
Fewer earned days doesn't mean fewer options: see "Topping up your entitlement" below for the legal mechanism (European supplementary leave) that lets you take extra days even in a year where your earned entitlement is short of the full 20 — so a partial reference year isn't a dead end.
European supplementary leave lets you take extra paid days even if your earned entitlement falls short — with one important catch.
If you've worked at least 3 months (90 calendar days) in the current year, Belgian law (the "European supplementary leave" scheme, vacances européennes / Europees aanvullend verlof) lets you take up to 5 extra paid days on top of what you've actually earned from the reference year, once that 3-month run-in period is complete. This exists specifically to stop new entrants to the workforce, or people returning after a break, from having little to no paid leave in their first year.
These days are paid at your normal salary when you take them — but the cost is recovered from your own double holiday pay the following year. In effect, you're advancing yourself paid leave now and paying it back out of next year's double holiday pay (see below). It's a genuinely useful safety net for timing, not free extra leave on top of your normal entitlement.
There are also separate schemes for young workers finishing their studies (jeugdvakantie / vacances jeunes) and older workers returning to the workforce (seniorvakantie / vacances seniors), which can top up a short entitlement in specific circumstances. Eligibility conditions are specific to your situation — ask us if either might apply to you.
You're paid twice for your holidays: once as you take them, and once as a lump sum mid-year.
For every statutory holiday day you take, you continue to receive your normal salary for that day, paid the same way as any other working day.
On top of that, you receive a separate annual lump sum — "double holiday pay" (dubbel vakantiegeld / pécule de vacances) — usually paid around June, worth roughly 92% of a month's gross salary, calculated from your employment in the reference year. This is a legally required, additional payment on top of your normal monthly salary, not a substitute for it.
No — and this is a firm legal rule, not a company policy.
Belgian law requires that statutory annual leave actually be taken. It cannot be carried over indefinitely or paid out in cash while your employment continues — days that go unused are simply lost, not banked or converted to pay. Employers are legally obliged to make sure the leave is actually taken, not to offer people a choice between time off and extra pay for skipping it.
The only point at which untaken holiday becomes a cash payment is when your employment contract ends. At that point, any holiday pay for days you haven't yet taken is paid out as part of your final settlement ("départ" or "departure" holiday pay) — precisely because those days can no longer physically be taken with that employer.
General information based on Belgian statutory annual leave rules, 2026. Individual circumstances (part-time work, sector-specific collective agreements, prior employment history) can change your exact entitlement — this page is not a substitute for checking your own numbers with us or a Belgian employment lawyer.