Working Conditions in Belgium

Permits

Belgium is part of the EU. No special permits needed.

Flanders / Walloon

There is a difference between the French speaking and the Dutch speaking part of the country when it comes to working hours and salaries. Walloon productions incline more towards France.

Working Hours

• 48 hours a week
• 5 days a week – 6 is possible
• 8 hours a day – (up to 9 hours possible without overtime) excluding lunch break
• Lunch break is 60 minutes
• Normal work hours are placed between 6:00 and 20:00
• Night-time is from 0:00 to 6:00
• Turnaround is 11 hours
• The daily max is 11h the weekly max 53h (=15h sup/week authorized)

Overtime

• Hours overtime are paid +25%
• Overtime during night time or holidays are +100%
• Working hours on a Saturday are +50%
• Sundays and Holidays are +100% but normally avoided
• Night times and Saturdays are mostly negotiated and handled within the weekly flat rate.

Rates

Please refer to the enclosed PDF (indicative figures) for the crew members’ rates in gross salary. These rates are weekly minimum wages for crewmembers in categories. In enclosed document you’ll find an explanation of the categories. These rates are contract based salaries, though not every production company in Flanders works with crew on their payroll. When the production company doesn’t want to contract employees, crewmembers have to send their invoices either by their own company or by sub-contracters (temporary employment agencies). In this case, please refer to the list of indicative daily rates excluding 21% VAT.

Social Benefits

Every employee is entitled to the following benefits (percentage based on gross salary):

Paid by employee:

• Social Security: 13.07%
• Tax on social elements according to profile of employee: from 0 to 50%

Paid by employer:

• Social Security: 35.75 %
• Accident Insurance: 1.33%
• End of year Bonus & Holidays: 15,34% but there are additional charges on this item which brings it to approx. 18% in total

Allowances

• Allowance for the day € 35 (for food and drinks if none provided on the set)
• Car: € 0.3169 / km

Actors Wages

• The used minimum daily wage is € 375 / day
• For children € 250 /day + permission should be granted from government (See PDF for full details about working with children in Belgium )

Important Addresses

Funding bodies:

• French Community Fund: Communauté Française de Belgique: www.cfwb.be/av
• Flemish Film Fund: Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds: www.vaf.be
• Wallimage Film Fund: www.wallimage.be

Promotional Institutions:

• Wallonie Bruxelles Images: www.wbimages.be
• Flanders Image: www.flandersimage.be

Locations in Belgium:

• Locations Wallonie Tournages: www.wallonie-tournages.be
• Locations Flanders: www.locationflanders.be
• Locations Brussels: www.bruxellestournage.be