On Saturday 11 April, supporting the special powers granted to prime minister Sophie Wilmès, the Belgian cabinet and the presidents of ten parties in the country’s parliament approved a series of socio-economic measures, particularly in economic sectors deemed “essential” to the needs of Belgium and its population. These include, among others, measures to make voluntary overtime tax exempt as well as to ease the accumulation of fixed-term contracts and allow for flexible working hours and the secondment of staff between companies.
In order to respond to the labour shortage, due to the high rate of absence from work, one of the new measures proposes to extend the possibility of working voluntary overtime (up to 220 hours instead of 100 at present) and to make this exempt from tax until 30 June 2020 in so-called “critical” sectors. These sectors concern, according to an official list updated on 4 April, “private and public businesses, companies and services that are necessary to protect the vital needs of the nation...
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