article by
Tanel Feldman
Senior Partner at Immigration Law Associates
EU Labour and Employment Law-Immigration Partner
CORPORATE MIGRATION CENTER
Expert in Intra-EU Labour Mobility, with a special focus on the Posting/Secondment of Workers
Belgium introduced several important changes to its working time legislation in 2026. For temporary work agencies established abroad and supplying workers to Belgian user undertakings, three developments are particularly relevant: the new voluntary overtime regime, the simplification of work regulations and the reform of night work.
The reforms need to be considered together with the specific Belgian rules governing temporary agency work. Although the temporary work agency remains the worker’s legal employer, during the assignment the Belgian user is responsible for applying the working time rules applicable at the workplace. The working schedules and rules on overtime, Sunday work and night work applicable within the user undertaking therefore also apply to temporary agency workers.
1. Voluntary overtime
Since 1 April 2026, Belgium has a new structural regime for voluntary overtime.
The system provides for an annual quota of 360 voluntary overtime hours across all sectors. A specific quota of 450 hours applies in the hospitality sector.
No specific justification is required for the use of voluntary overtime and no compensatory rest is due. Of the 360 hours available under the general regime, 240 do not give rise to the statutory overtime premium. In the hospitality sector, this applies to 360 of the 450 hours. A specific favourable tax and social security regime also applies to those hours.
The regime requires the worker’s prior written agreement. The agreement is valid for one year, is tacitly renewable and may be terminated in accordance with the statutory conditions. Maximum working time limits must continue to be respected.
The new regime also applies to temporary agency workers. This is particularly relevant where the Belgian user undertaking makes use of voluntary overtime for its own workforce. Under Belgian temporary agency work rules, the working time and overtime arrangements applicable at the user undertaking also apply to temporary agency workers assigned there.
For a foreign temporary work agency, this requires coordination with the Belgian user. The agency remains the employer and must ensure that the necessary agreement with the temporary agency worker is in place, while the actual organisation of working time during the assignment takes place within the user undertaking.
2. Simplified work regulations
A second reform entered into force on 1 June 2026 and concerns the content of Belgian work regulations.
Previously, applicable full-time working schedules generally had to be individually included in the work regulations. The new legislation allows those schedules to be reflected through a broader working time framework defining the permissible days and periods of work and the applicable minimum and maximum daily and weekly working time. Individual schedules falling within that framework can subsequently be introduced without requiring a further amendment of the work regulations.
Temporary agency work is subject to a particular rule in this respect. During an assignment, the work regulations of the Belgian user undertaking apply to the temporary agency worker. The worker therefore follows the schedules applicable within the user undertaking.
This makes the reform relevant to foreign temporary work agencies even though they do not themselves determine the user undertaking’s work regulations. The broader framework may give Belgian users greater flexibility to organise schedules applicable to both their permanent workforce and temporary agency workers.
Foreign agencies posting workers to Belgium should nevertheless distinguish this from their own obligations as foreign employers. An employer that has submitted the required LIMOSA declaration, or is exempt from it, benefits for twelve months from the exemption from drawing up Belgian work regulations. The twelve-month exemption is linked to the commencement of its posting activity in Belgium and does not restart each time a new temporary agency worker is assigned to a Belgian user. Once that exemption expires, the agency must in principle establish its own Belgian work regulations.
3. Night work
Belgium also substantially reformed its rules on night work from 1 June 2026.
The previous general prohibition on night work was abolished. In addition, for workers entering employment from 1 June 2026 in distribution and related sectors, including the sectors covered by the specific e-commerce rules, statutory premiums and benefits previously associated with work between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. are, in principle, limited to work performed between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
This change can be particularly relevant for temporary work agencies supplying workers to Belgian users in logistics, distribution and e-commerce.
Here again, the rules applicable within the user undertaking are essential. Belgian temporary agency legislation expressly provides that the rules on night work applicable at the workplace also apply to temporary agency workers. If night work is permitted for the user’s permanent employees, it may therefore also be performed by temporary agency workers, subject to the applicable conditions.
Foreign agencies should consequently verify the night-work arrangements applicable at the Belgian user before determining the working conditions and remuneration applicable to workers assigned there.
Conclusion
Belgium’s 2026 working time reforms are directly relevant to temporary work agencies established abroad and supplying workers to Belgian users.
The reforms provide greater flexibility in relation to voluntary overtime, working schedules and night work. Their application to temporary agency workers, however, cannot be assessed solely by reference to the foreign agency’s employment arrangements. The working time regime applicable within the Belgian user undertaking plays a central role.
Foreign temporary work agencies should therefore obtain the relevant working time information from the Belgian user before and during an assignment and ensure that their employment and payroll arrangements reflect the conditions applicable at the workplace.
This is also consistent with the specific Belgian information obligation applicable to cross-border temporary agency work: a Belgian user receiving a temporary agency worker posted from another country must inform the foreign agency of the working and employment conditions applied within its undertaking, including working time, overtime, rest periods and night work.