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Unemployment
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Unemployment Insurance in EU->Belgium

Unemployment insurance in Belgium

Type of scheme

How to join? Compulsory Unemployment Insurance. You will automatically be enrolled in unemployment insurance when you start working in Belgium, and the compulsory insurance ends with the end of the employment relationship.

Contribution: Contributions are paid by employers and employees.

Who is covered? All employees.

Benefit amount: Earnings-related.

For the self-employed worker there is a specific benefit ("droit passerelle").
This scheme is only for specific categories of self-employed (as main activity, helper or assisting spouse) and the benefit is only possible to receive in case of interruption or forced cessation or termination due to economic difficulties. To be covered the self-employed must join a social security fund.

NOTE: Be aware that the Government in Belgium in 2025 have made an agreement which will bring significant changes to the Unemployment Insurance Scheme. This includes among other things that the duration of unemployment benefits will be shortened to a maximum of 2 years for people under 55 years of age.
For now (as of 8 April 2025), the agreement still needs to be made into law. We will update the information if/when changes are introduced.

Read article about the expected changes.

The rest of this article is based on the rules which applies now, as of 9 April 2025 (before the expected changes in 2025).

Requirements for entitlement

have worked in a job covered by social security deductions, with a remuneration that the legislation considers sufficient in a minimum number of days (between 312 and 624) during a specified period (21 to 42 months), depending on your age. See more below.
Some days are considered working days: for example, sick days covered by mutual insurance and days covered by holiday pay.
being involuntarily unemployed (due to circumstances beyond your control)
Be able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work
be registered as a jobseeker with the relevant regional employment service (FOREM, Actiris, or VDAB).
participate in the support and training programs offered by the employment service

How many days of work do I need to prove?

Age	Minimum number of days of salaried work to prove and reference period
Under 36 years	312 days during the 21 months preceding your request or 468 days during the 33 months preceding your request or 624 working days during the 42 months preceding your request
From 36 to 49 years	468 days during the 33 months preceding your request or 624 days during the 42 months preceding your request or 234 days in the 33 months + 1,560 days in the 10 years preceding these 33 months or 312 days in the 33 months + for each day missing to arrive at 468 days, 8 days in the 10 years preceding these 33 months
From 50 years	624 days in the 42 months preceding your request or 312 days in the 42 months preceding your request and 1560 days in the 10 years preceding these 42 months or 416 days in the 42 months + for each day missing to arrive at 624 days, 8 days in the 10 years preceding these 42 months

The reference period of 21, 33 or 42 months may be extended by certain events. See more at onem.be.

Are there special rules for new graduates?

Yes. If you have completed your studies (generally secondary education), you can under certain conditions be covered by the "Professional integration programme" (Stage d’insertion professionnelle/beroepsinschakelingstijd).

Graduates receives a flat-rate allowance called an integration benefit (allocations d’insertion/inschakelingsuitkeringen). The amount of the benefit depends on the family composition.

Before being entitled to unemployment benefit, graduates must complete a 310-day waiting period in which they have to prove that they are actively looking for work, which is assessed during two interviews.

After this qualification stage, the application for benefits must be filed before the graduate turns 25 years.

The professional integration benefit is awarded for a period of up to 36 months, which can be extended under certain conditions.

The amount of unemployment benefit

Unemployment benefits are income related. The basis for calculation is gross salary earned, with a lower and an upper ceiling.
There are different salary ceilings for the different compensation periods (see below). If your previous salary was higher than the mentioned salary ceiling, then your unemployment benefits is based on the salary ceiling and not on your actual salary.

The amount you receive will depend on your family situation and the duration of unemployment (see below).

Salary ceilings for calculation are defined as follows:

What salary ceiling?	When is it applicable?	Salary limit per month
Upper salary ceiling	From the first to the sixth month of complete unemployment	3,432.38 euros
Intermediate salary ceiling	From the seventh to the twelfth month of complete unemployment	3,199.04 euros
Basic salary ceiling	From the thirteenth month of complete unemployment for cohabitants with or without family responsibilities	2,989.43 euros
Specific salary ceiling	From the thirteenth month of complete unemployment for people living alone	2,924.37 euros

The amount of unemployment benefits is split into three periods, with degression:

First compensation period: 12 months

All unemployed people receive:

during the first three months of unemployment: 65% of the last salary received, limited to the upper salary ceiling
from the fourth to the sixth month of unemployment: 60% of the last salary received, limited to the upper salary ceiling
from the seventh to the twelfth month of unemployment: 60% of the last salary received, limited to the intermediate salary ceiling

Second compensation period: maximum 36 months

This first period of one year (= 3 months + 3 months + 6 months) is followed by a period of 2 months, extended by 2 months per year of your working career as employee. This second period is a maximum of 36 months and is subdivided into a maximum of 5 phases:

1. An initial phase of 12 months maximum (2 “fixed” months and 10 months maximum depending on your working history). Depending on your family situation, you receive the following amounts:

cohabitants with family responsibilities: 60% of the last salary received, limited to the basic salary ceiling
people living alone: 55% of the last salary received, limited to the specific salary ceiling
cohabitants without dependents: 40% of the last salary received, limited to the basic salary ceiling

2. four following phases which represent a total of 24 months maximum (= a maximum of 4 periods of each 6 months maximum):
The benefit decrease in four stages to reach a flat-rate benefit.

Third compensation period: after 48 months maximum

During the third period, after a maximum of 48 months of unemployment (= 12 months first period + maximum 36 months second period), you receive a flat-rate unemployment benefit. The amount depends on your family situation but no longer on the last salary received.

Exemption to degression

You keep the amount you received during a phase of the second period if, during this phase, you find yourself in one of the following situations:

you have a long professional past (at least 25 years),
you have a permanent incapacity for work of at least 33%, or
you have reached the age of 55

Payment of benefits

Payment of benefits is made by payment bodies. There is a public body - CAPAC - and payment bodies of a union: ACV-CSC, FGTB or CGSLB.

Tax treatment

Unemployment benefits in Belgium is subject to the income tax, but tax reductions exist.

The duration of unemployment benefit

The duration of unemployment benefits is, in principle, unlimited. However, as seen above after a maximum of 48 months of unemployment with a flat-rate unemployment benefit.

Insurance periods from other EEA countries

You have to work 3 months in Belgium to be able to use insurance periods from other EU/EEA countries.
See key points of EU Unemployment Insurance coordination below or read our article "EU social security coordination".

How to apply for unemployment benefit

You must go in person to the payment body of your choice (either the public body: CAPAC, or the payment body of a union: ACV-CSC, FGTB or CGSLB) to submit a claim for unemployment benefits.

You must register as a job seeker with the regional employment service responsible for your place of residence (VDAB, ACTIRIS, Forem, or ADG - see below under "Contact") on the day of your application or within 8 calendar days of your application.

Read more about how to submit a claim at onem.be.

If you do not meet the requirements

Belgium do not provide a Unemployment Assistance programme. However it is possible to apply for the guaranteed minimum income benefit (Revenu d’Intégration Sociale).
This is a non-contributory benefit, means-tested and not taxable.

Who do yo need to contact?

The National Employment Office (ONEM)

Address (central administration): Boulevard de l'Empereur 7 - 1000 Brussels

Telephone number (main): +32 25154111

Find the office where you live at: https://www.onem.be.

Paying organisations:

Fédération générale des travailleurs de Belgique (FGTB) - Belgian General Federation of Labour
Address (central administration): Rue Haute 42 - 1000 Brussels
Telephone: +32 25068211
Website: https://fgtb.be/

Centrale générale des syndicats libéraux de Belgique (CGSLB) - General Federation of Liberal Trade Unions in Belgium
Address (central administration): Chaussée de Haecht 579 - 1031 Brussels
Telephone: +32 22463111
Website: https://www.cgslb.be

Confédération des syndicats chrétiens (ACV-CSC) - Confederation of Christian Trades Unions
Address (central administration): Chaussée de Haecht, 579 - 1030 Schaerbeek
Website: https://www.acvcsc.be/

Caisse auxiliaire de paiement des allocations de chômage (CAPAC) – Auxiliary Unemployment Benefits Fund
Address (central administration): Rue de Brabant 62 - 1210 Brussels
Telephone: +32 22091313
Website: https://hvw-capac.fgov.be

The regional employment services

FOREM is responsible for placement (for the Walloon region) and vocational training (for the French and German-speaking communities). Vocational training in French in Brussels is organized by IB.FFP (Brussels Training).

ACTIRIS is responsible for placement in the 19 municipalities of the Brussels region.

The VDAB is responsible for placement (for the Flemish region) and vocational training (for the Flemish Community). Dutch-language vocational training in Brussels is also organized by the VDAB.

The ADG is responsible for placement matters for the German-speaking Community.

Belgian words

Unemployment Insurance = Assurance chômage, werkloosheidsverzekering

Unemployment benefit = allocations de chômage, werkloosheidsuitkeringen

This page was last updated on April 9, 2025.

Unemployment insurance in Europe →
Unemployment Insurance in Belgium

Key points of EU Unemployment Insurance coordination

Transferring periods of work and insurance between EEA countries As an EU citizen you can transfer acquired rights from Unemployment Insurance when moving between EU/EEA contries. In this way it may be easier to become entitled to unemployment benefit in the country you move to.
In the vast majority of the Member states the aggregation rule become fully applicable as soon as you starts to work in the country. However in Denmark, Belgium and Finland you must work some period there before you can use the aggregation rule.
You need a PD U1 document in the country you leave or if the involved countries use electronically exhange (EESSI) there will be issued a SED U002. The countries who issues the highest number of PD U1 documents are Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The countries who receives most PD U1 documents are Lithuania and Italy.
Transferring unemployment benefits Under certain conditions you can go to another EU country to look for work and continue to receive your unemployment benefits from the country where you became unemployed. The period you can export your unemployment benefits varies from 3 to 6 months in the different Member states.
You have to apply for a PD U2 document in the country you leave, or if you haven't done that the institution in the receiving country must request a SED U008 from the competent institution in your last country.
The countries who issues the highest number of PD U2 documents are Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark. Poland is the country who receives by far most PD U2 documents.
Unemployment benefits coverage According to OECD the net replacement of income after 2 months of unemployment, for a single person without children whose previous in-work earnings were 67% of the average wage varies from 33 percent (Ireland) to 91 percent (Belgium). Read more here..

Having residence in another EU country than where you work? According to EU social security coordination rules you must only be insured against unemployment in one country at a time. As a generel rule this country is where you work.
In Member states who have compulsory insurance, you will automatically be covered when you start working there.
However you may be insured by your country of residence if you are posted to a EU/EEA country or work in two or more EU/EEA countries at a time. In these situations you can not your self decide where to have unemployment Insurance, but you (or your employer) must apply for a PD A1 document which states in which country you are covered by social security, including Unemployment Insurance. Special rule also apply for cross-border workers ("frontier workers").
Third-country Nationals working in EU/EEANON-EEA citizens are covered by Unemployment Insurance in the EU countries who have compulsory Unemployment Insurance. In countries with voluntary Unemployment Insurance (Denmark, Sweden and Finland) third-country nationals can become member of an Unemployment Insurance Fund.
In the most countries Third-country nationals can also use the EU Coordination rules when moving within EU/EEA (however not in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).
Third-country nationals in short-tem working relations often faces problems with actually get Unemployment benefits, even though they have contributed to the system. This is due to the fact that one normally need a residence permit which allow one to take any job, and also because of a qualifying period in most countries between 6-12 months.

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