social security - FOD Sociale Zekerheid

Annual vacationToday, it seems logical that everybody is entitled to a few weeks of leave every year, but thathas not always been the case. From the beginning of the 20th century already, trade unions havefought for paid vacation days for salaried workers. It is the National Office for Annual Vacation(RJV – ONVA) that intervenes for the annual vacation of manual workers and artists. The vacationfee for employees and civil servants is paid directly by the employer. Here, we will discuss thethree categories of employees more thoroughly. It is clear that the self-employed, who are notinsured for the annual vacation sector, do not receive any vacation fee.A. Blue-collar workers (and apprentice workers) and artistsThe vacation fee for the blue-collar and apprentice workers who are subject to the legal annualvacation scheme for employees, is paid ex-officio by the National Office for Annual Vacation or aspecial vacation fund. The vacation fee for artists who are not self-employed is paid ex-officio bythe National Office for Annual Vacation. The beneficiary does not have to apply for it.Employers no longer have to take specific steps to affiliate with a vacation fund. As soon as theNational Office for Social Security transfers the first declaration of salary and working time datafor such an employee to the National Office for Annual Vacation, the employer is automaticallyaffiliated with the vacation fund of the National Office for Annual Vacation or a special vacationfund, on the basis of his activity.The National Office for Annual Vacation receives the employers' social contributions via theNational Office for Social Security and divides them among the special vacation funds. Since boththe employer and the employee also have to pay social security contributions during the vacationperiod and because this payment should not come at the expense of the vacation fund, the socialsecurity contributions during the entire year are calculated on the basis of 108 % of the grosssalary.The duration of the vacation period of these employees depends of the number of actual workingdays and the days assimilated to working days of the worker during the year of service on thebasis of which the vacation is calculated (the calendar year previous to the year of payment of thevacation fee). The vacation period in case of full-time employment (231 days and more) counts20 days in a five-days-a-week scheme or maximally four weeks of vacation in the work systemin which he is employed at the time of the vacation.The vacation fee includes the simple vacation fee (8% of gross wages at 108%) and thedouble vacation fee (7.38% of gross wages at 108%). The double vacation fee sort of coversthe extra expenses made during the vacation period (for instance going on a holiday). A part ofthe double vacation fee is subject to a 13.07% deduction. The calculation of the amount of thevacation fee takes account of the salary and of a fictive salary for the days that are assimilatedto actual working days. For the calculation of the vacation fee of artists, some particularities haveto be taken into account.The vacation fee is paid at the moment of the main vacation, at the earliest on 2 May of thevacation year.60