Collective Closure for Annual Leave
The dates for the 'construction leave' are recommendations from the employers' and employees' organisations. As a construction company, you can adopt these dates, but they are not automatically binding. They only become legally valid when you include them in your labour regulation. The dates of the regional agreements can be found in the construction calendar on our Collective Closure page.
Can you change the dates of collective closure?
To officially establish the collective closure, you must include the dates from the regional agreement in the labour regulation of your company.
If you prefer to close during a different period, you can do so by following these steps:
- First, you must obtain the agreement of the Company Council. If there is no Company Council, you should request the agreement of the trade union delegation. If that does not exist either, you must obtain the consent of your employees.
- Next, indicate the chosen dates in the labour regulation, preferably by December 31 of the holiday service year (the calendar year preceding the collective closure).
- Finally, communicate the established dates at the company level to the social inspection. A template can be found on our Collective Closure page.
Can your workers work during the construction leave?
If the period of collective closure is included in the labour regulation
Your workers rely on this holiday period. Therefore, they do not have to agree to work during these days, as they may have already made arrangements or booked a trip. If you do find an employee willing to work during this period, have them confirm it in writing. They will then take their remaining holiday days at another time. Do not forget: by December 31, all 20 statutory holiday days must be taken.
If the period of collective closure is not included in the labour regulation
If you have not included the collective closure from the regional agreement in the labour regulation, your employees can be employed during this period. Not including the period of collective closure in the labour regulation leaves room for interpretation on both sides. Your employee could then also request holiday at another time.
In this case, employees who work during the leave period must still be able to take their holiday before December 31 of that year.
Compensatory Rest Days
In the construction sector, your employees work 40 hours per week, but to achieve an average of 38 hours, they receive 12 compensatory rest days annually. These days are established through a sectoral collective labour agreement (6 days) and a royal decree (the remaining 6 days) and are therefore immediately applicable to your company.
For 2025, there is still a collective closure period: from December 23 to December 31.
From 2026, there will be two different arrangements, depending on the location of your establishment.
These days are paid by constructiv. Do you want to know under what conditions you can employ staff on these days? Then consult our analysis: ‘Prohibition of Employment on Compensatory Rest Days’.
There are 2 regimes:
Regime A
Regime A applies to companies with an establishment in the Flemish Region and in the municipalities of the German-speaking Community.
These are the original dates established by Royal Decree of May 18, 2022, namely:
- January 2
- April 7 and 8
- May 15
- December 21 to 31
Regime B
Regime B applies to companies with an establishment in the Walloon Region, excluding the municipalities that belong to the German-speaking Community. The social partners have reached an agreement to establish a different arrangement for the Walloon Region, namely for the compensatory rest days that fall outside the school holidays of the French-speaking education system.
These are the following dates:
- January 2
- April 29 and 30
- May 15
- December 21 to 31
If you, as an employer, still wish to apply the other regime, you need the agreement of the trade union delegation by December 1, 2025. If there is no trade union delegation, you decide yourself and announce this decision to your employees by posting it in the company before December 15, 2025.
Which regime in the Brussels-Capital Region?
Companies with an establishment in the Brussels-Capital Region have the choice between regime A or regime B.
This choice must be made by December 1, 2025 in agreement with the trade union delegation if it is present in your company. If there is no trade union delegation in your company or in the absence of an agreement, you decide yourself as an employer and announce this decision to your employees by posting it in the company before December 15, 2025.
Notification to Constructiv
If you deviate from the applicable arrangement (regime A instead of B or vice versa) or when choosing the applicable regime if your company is located in Brussels, you must notify Constructiv.
Replacement Public Holiday
As a reminder: it has already been decided in your sector to abolish the collective replacement day for the public holiday of August 15. The moment when this public holiday is replaced is now freely chosen at the company level.
Read more: "Change of the Collective Replacement Day of August 15, 2026"
What does Securex do for you?
For more information, you can contact your Securex Legal Advisor at myHR@securex.be.
Sources
- Royal decree amending the royal decree of April 1, 2022, declaring binding the decision of the Joint Committee for the construction industry (PC 124) regarding the replacement of public holidays in the period 2023-2026, published in the Moniteur belge on November 10, 2025
