From Thursday onwards, 730,000 people living and working in Flanders will receive a letter to get a job bonus, an initiative to make working more attractive than unemployment benefits. Find out if you're eligible and how to get yours.
For the first time, the Flemish Government will be paying out a so-called "work bonus" to those earning less than €2,500 gross per month as part of its efforts to reach the 80% employment rate goal. It is estimated some 730,000 people in the region will be entitled to this money.
"Eligible people can expect to receive their first letter between 3 November and early 2023," a statement from the government read. "Those who activated an e-box may already have received a digital version on Friday 28 October."
Initially, around 1,000 letters will be sent, but in the coming weeks, this will be scaled up to 120,000 letters per week. "By early 2023, all citizens who automatically qualify will have received the first letter, with the exception of people working across the borders (who have to submit an application themselves via the digital WSE desk).
Who is eligible, and what do they have to do?
The job bonus is for salaried employees and civil servants who earn less than €2,500 gross per month and amounts to between €10 and €600. As the salary increases, the job bonus amount will decrease. This year, €100 will be added to the job bonus amount as part of a one-off increase that applies to both full-time and part-time workers.
In some lower-paid jobs in Belgium, employees are paid so little for their work that their wage sometimes equates to the same amount as unemployed people on benefits are entitled to.
"'Sometimes the financial difference between unemployment benefits and a job is too small. With the job bonus, we want to encourage people to stay in work and to look for a job," Flemish Minister of Employment Jo Brouns said when announcing the measure.
With this bonus, the Flemish Government wants to encourage the unemployed to start working and those earning less to stay in their jobs.
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Those eligible must register with My Citizen Profile to receive an account number. The exact amount that a person will be entitled to and how to register an account number will be included in the letter, while those who already registered an account do not have to do anything further.
Meanwhile, employees who have not received a letter by the deadline but think they are eligible can file an objection with the Flemish Tax Administration.
A larger job bonus will be given to self-employed starters with a low income to encourage entrepreneurship from the end of 2022.
