Hospitality sector representatives from Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders will take legal action against new flexi-work legislation decreed by the Constitutional Court.
Flexi-work contracts allow hotels, cafés and restaurants to hire extra staff without having to employ them permanently. This type of contract has existed in Belgium since 2015 and the number of "flexi-workers" rose by almost 50% in 2023, comprising 7% of Belgians.
Legislation that entered into force on 1 January stipulates new rules for flexi-work contracts. Previously, a flexi-work contract means the gross pay is the net pay, but a €12,000 limit has now been placed on tax-free income per year. There is also a maximum wage and a ban on an officially "flexible" worker entering into contracted employment.
Horeca Wallonia Federation, Horeca Brussels and Horeca Flanders have each denounced all three measures, arguing that the new rules make flexi-work unnecessarily complicated and therefore less appealing to "entrepreneurs aspiring to grow and workers choosing to work more". They have called for a "swift" return to a "flexible, attractive and straightforward system."
The organisations have also expressed concern about a 3% increase in employers' social security contributions. "In these challenging times for employers, we resent the hike in employer social contributions, even though we accept it falls under government jurisdiction to increase or decrease taxes," they stated.
Credit: Belga
In theory, flexi-work is supposed to constitute an extra job on top of a primary income source. However, they are increasingly becoming a main source of employment – 35.5% of flex-work jobs had replaced permanent positions in 2019, for instance.
The contract has expanded to industries beyond hospitality, such as manufacturing, public administration and education. Some healthcare jobs can also be classified as flexible.
