In mid-January, almost a third (31%) of Belgian workers had already received a corona bonus, according to calculations by HR service provider Securex on Saturday. On average, this amounts to 315 euros and more than a quarter (27.6%) of workers who have already benefited from this bonus have received the maximum amount of 500 euros.
The bonus, Securex recalls, is a tax-efficient form of compensation created by the federal government for companies that have achieved good results during the crisis in 2021 and wish to offer their employees a one-time bonus of up to, therefore, 500 euros. This is paid in the form of electronic consumption vouchers, which the worker can spend freely.
In some sectors (e.g. construction, chemical and cleaning industries), employers are obliged under a sectoral agreement to provide a corona bonus (25.2% of workers benefiting) d by the end of March. For nearly half of the workers (47.3%), the employer is required to pay a bonus if the company has made a profit: this rule applies in particular to the joint committee 200 (which covers the largest share employees) and joint committee 111 (metallurgy).
Before March 31, 2022
In this group, 33.7% have already benefited from a corona bonus, which amounts to 320 euros on average. “Employers who are obliged to pay a corona bonus must do so before March 31, 2022. If this is not done before this date, they risk a fine (from 80 to 800 euros, multiplied by the number of workers concerned) and will have to pay the premium in the form of salary, which is much less advantageous from a tax point of view”, warns Els Vanderhaegen, legal expert at Securex.
Finally, for a last group of workers (27.5%), no sectoral agreement has been negotiated, and therefore no obligation applies. This mainly concerns in the non-profit sectors, hairdressers, hospitality, temporary work and the arts sector, lists the HR service provider. In this group of workers, only 5% have received a corona bonus at the moment, for an average amount of 243 euros. Only 15.8% of workers in this group received the maximum amount.
