Construction calendar 2027 has been announced

Collective Closure for Annual Holiday

The dates for the ‘construction leave’ are recommendations from the employers’ and employees’ organisations. You can adopt these as a construction company, but they are not automatically binding. Only when you include the dates in the labour regulation do they gain legal value. The dates of the regional agreements can be found in the construction calendar, on our page Collective Closure.  

Can you change the dates of the collective closure?

To definitively establish the collective closure, you must include the dates of 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:

1. You must first obtain the agreement of the Company Council. If there is no Company Council, you request the agreement of the trade union delegation. If that does not exist either, you must obtain the consent of your employees.
2. Next, you indicate the chosen dates in the labour regulation, preferably no later than 31 December of the holiday year (the calendar year before the collective closure).
3. Finally, you communicate the dates, which have been established at company level, to the social inspection. A model can be found on our page Collective Closure. 

Are your manual workers allowed to work during the construction leave?

The period of collective closure is included in the labour regulation

Your manual workers count on this holiday period. They do not have to agree to work during these days. Often they have already made arrangements or booked a trip. If you do find an employee willing to work during this period, preferably have them confirm this in writing. They will then take their remaining holiday days at another time. Do not forget: all 20 statutory holiday days must be taken by 31 December.

The period of collective closure is not included in the labour regulation

If you have not adopted 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 naturally leaves room for interpretation on both sides. Your employee could then also request holiday at another time. 

Here too, employees who work during the holiday period must still be able to take their holiday before 31 December 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 via a sectoral collective labour agreement (6 days) and a royal decree (the remaining 6 days) and are therefore immediately applicable to your company.

For 2026, there is still a collective closure period: from 21 to 31 December inclusive.

These days are paid by constructiv. If you want to know under which conditions you may deploy your staff on these days, consult our analysis: ‘Prohibition of employment on compensatory rest days’.

As a reminder, since 2026 there are two different schemes depending on the location of your establishment unit.

Regime A

Regime A applies to companies with an establishment unit in the Flemish Region and in the municipalities of the German-speaking Community.

For 2027, the following days are set: 

• 30 March
• 31 March
• 28 to 31 December inclusive 

Regime B

Regime B applies to companies with an establishment unit in the Walloon Region, except for the municipalities belonging to the German-speaking Community. 

For 2027, the following days are set: 

• 4 May 
• 5 May
• 28 to 31 December inclusive 

If you as an employer still want to apply the other regime, you need the agreement of the trade union delegation by 1 December 2026. If there is no trade union delegation, you decide yourself and announce this decision to your employees by posting it in the company before 15 December 2026.

Which regime in the Brussels-Capital Region?

Companies with an establishment unit in the Brussels-Capital Region have the choice between regime A or regime B. 

This choice must be made by 1 December 2026 in agreement with the trade union delegation if present in your company. If there is no trade union delegation in your company or if there is no agreement, you decide yourself as employer and announce this decision to your employees by posting it in the company before 15 December 2026.

Notification to Constructiv

If you deviate from the applicable scheme (regime A instead of B or vice versa) or when choosing the applicable regime if your company is established in Brussels, you must notify Constructiv. 

Substitution of public holidays

Your sector has collectively substituted the public holidays for 2027 that fall on a Saturday or Sunday as follows:

• The public holiday of 1 May 2027, which falls on a Saturday, is substituted by Friday 7 May 2027
• The public holiday of 15 August 2027, which falls on a Sunday, is substituted by Friday 13 August 2027
• The public holiday of 25 December 2027, which falls on a Saturday, is substituted by Monday 27 December 2027

What does Securex do for you?

For more information, you can contact your Securex Legal Advisor via myHR@securex.be.