Flemish service vouchers - service-voucher employment contract

If the work services of your employees are paid with service vouchers, you must have entered into a ‘service-voucher employment contract’ with those employees beforehand. That contract is an ordinary employment contract, with some rules that take into account the specifics of the work.

• You and your employee first record in writing the intention to enter into a ‘service-voucher employment contract’. You do so at the latest when the employee works their first shift for your company.
• The employment contract itself will be put in writing no later than 2 days after employment is started.

The employment contract contains:

• your identity and that of your employee;
• your recognition number;
• the start date;
• the end date (in case of a fixed-term contract)
• the working hours;
• the timetable. In the case of employment for an indefinite period, the contract will also specify the time period within which the domestic worker will be informed of their timetable. If you do not mention it in the agreement, you must communicate the timetable to your employee at least 7 days in advance.

A fixed-term contract:

• is only possible for the first three months of employment;
• within those three months, you can conclude several successive fixed-term employment contracts with the same employee;
• you can conclude several successive fixed-term employment contracts with the same employee;
• a fixed-term contract need not automatically lead to an open-ended contract;

An open-ended contract:

• is valid from the 1^st day worked of the 4^th month after the 1^st day of employment.

Weekly working hours are 38, unless otherwise provided by collective agreements concluded in the competent joint committee.

Minimum weekly working hours

• You can hire your employees full-time or part-time.
• During the 1^st 3 months, there are no legal minimum weekly working hours.
• From the 1^st day worked of the 4^th month, however, minimum weekly working hours are mandatory. The minimum weekly working hours vary depending on the employee’s entitlement to additional benefits:
  • 13 hours if the employee receives additional benefits
  • 10 hours if the employee receives no additional benefits.

Minimum duration of each shift: at least 3 hours

A shift is a continuous period worked.

• Minimum duration of each shift must be at least 3 hours. However, that shift may be interrupted by a break.
• The time taken to travel from one customer to another is considered working time. For example, if your employee works at one customer from 10am to 12pm and at another customer from 12.30pm to 2.30pm, that is considered a continuous period worked, and the time between two customers is considered necessary for travel.

Priority in getting more hours

Do any of your employees work part-time and are entitled to:

• unemployment benefit
• a living wage
• financial social assistance?

Then that employee should be given priority if a full-time job or a part-time job with more hours becomes available. They must have requested additional hours from you in writing to do so.

Your employees with service-voucher employment contracts are socially protected.

• They are covered by health and disability insurance, so in case of illness or accident, they receive benefits.
• Shifts worked are included in the calculation of their pension.
• They are entitled to annual vacation.
• The shifts worked via a service-voucher employment contract count toward their eligibility for unemployment benefits.