But with this reform, the basis for calculating this premium would be drastically reduced. The ACV union has completed a simulation: an employee who is working today from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in a food deposit earns around 2,900 euros gross, to which are added 913 euros of night premium. If only the five central hours (midnight to 5 a.m.) count tomorrow as “night work”, the premium would fall to 571 euros, a monthly loss of 342 euros, and more than 4,100 euros per year. An amount far from negligible, especially for those who already live with modest wages.
Paul Magnette terrified by the Arizona plan: “Night work, Sunday and holidays will be generalized without being better paid”
The government ensures that workers already in office will not lose their advantage: the reform will only apply to new contracts. But unions alert on the risks of discreet replacements. But it is powder in the eyes for unions who fear that employers separate from an employee under this regime to replace it with a new one who will be subject to the new rule.
Officially, the objective is to stimulate e-commerce in Belgium, especially in the face of competition from the Netherlands. But this justification does not convince union representatives who point to the sectors who have nothing to do with e-commerce and who will pay the broken pots.
For the Comeos employers’ federation, this reform goes in the right direction. “In Belgium, the night begins at 8 p.m., while in neighboring countries, it begins later. It is logical to harmonize,” said her spokesperson Hans Cardyn. But even Comeos admits that the bill is not yet finalized. In the meantime, social concerns remain whole.
In Belgium, the average salary exceeds 4,000 euros: where are the strongest increases?
