From Pay Standard to Negotiations
In September 2025, the government set the pay standard at 0% by royal decree. This gave the social partners within the joint committees the green light to start negotiations on the sector agreements. Some sectors are now nearing the final phase.
Read more: ‘Royal Decree sets the pay standard for 2025-2026 definitively at 0%.’
It was also agreed that the face value of meal vouchers would increase by 2 euros from 1 January 2026. Employees receive a higher net amount, while the tax deduction for employers doubles from 2 to 4 euros per voucher.
Read more: ‘Can you increase the amount of the luncheon vouchers to 10 euros?’
Read more: ‘Law on various provisions published that affect, among other things, car taxation, flexible pay, and luncheon vouchers.’
From Negotiation to Collective Labour Agreement
Negotiations traditionally start once the trade unions have submitted their demands. On this basis, the social partners work towards a jointly acceptable solution, which is set out in a collective labour agreement (CLA).A recurring trend in the agreements concluded so far is the increase in the value of meal vouchers and arrangements around extending flexi-jobs to all sectors.
Read more: ‘10 essential items to include in your staff budget for 2026’
Our tip: Wait for the agreement in your sector before increasing meal vouchers for your employees. If your sector does not make any provision for the allocation of meal vouchers or for an increase in their value, you can decide yourself to allocate meal vouchers to your employees or increase your contribution.
Budget Agreement
The decisions taken by the government in the budget agreement may have an impact on current negotiations or on collective and other agreements already concluded, which might include measures to do with indexation, night work or flexi-jobs, for example. None of these measures have been defined in detail through legal texts. We will come back to this as soon as there is more clarity.
Read more: ‘What are the key points of the budget agreement?’
Has a Pay Agreement Already Been Reached in Your Sector?
We will of course monitor the sectoral negotiations for you. Once an agreement has been reached in your sector, you will find the full analysis on Lex4You. Go to your joint committee on Lex4You and click on Employment agreements> Employment agreements 2025-2026.
You can find a brief overview below:
Joint committees 100-152
|
Joint committee |
CLA and Securex analysis |
Agreement on |
|
JC 100 Supplementary JC manual workers |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
PC 102.02 Bluestone quarries in Liège and Namur |
Yes |
|
|
Joint committee 107 Garment makers |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 109 Clothing and ready-to-wear clothing |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 110 Textile care |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 111 Metal |
No agreement has been reached in the sector. |
No |
|
JC 112 Garage sector |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 113 Ceramics |
No agreement has been reached in the sector. |
No |
|
JC 116 Chemical sector (manual workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 116.01 Chemicals West Flanders |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
PC 116.02 Chemicals Limburg |
There is an agreement. Read our analysis for JC 116.02 (NL/FR) |
Yes |
|
JC 118 Food industry (manual workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 119 Food retail |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 120 Textiles |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 121 Cleaning |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 124 Construction |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 126 Upholstery and woodworking |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 127 Fuel trade |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 128 Skins and Leather |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 130 Printers |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 130.01 Daily newspapers |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 132 Technical agricultural and horticultural work |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 136 Paper and board processing (manual workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 140.01 |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
|
JC 140.02 Taxis |
No agreement has been reached in the sector. |
No |
|
JC 140.03 Transport |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 140.05 Removals sector |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 142.01 Recovery of raw materials |
There is an agreement. Analysis to follow. |
|
|
JC 142.02 Recovery of rags |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 142.03 Recovery of paper |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
PC 142.04 Recovery of miscellaneous products |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 149.01 Electricians |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 149.02 Vehicle bodywork |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 149.03 Precious metals |
There is an agreement. Analysis to follow. |
No |
|
JC 149.04 Metal trading |
There is an agreement. Read our analysis for JC 149.04 (NL/FR) |
No |
Joint committees 200-227
|
JC 200 Supplementary JC white-collar workers |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 207 Chemicals sector (white-collar workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 207.01 Chemicals West Flanders |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 209 Metal (white-collar workers) |
No agreement has been reached in the sector. |
No |
|
JC 211 Petroleum |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 214 Textiles (white-collar workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 215 Clothing and ready-to-wear clothing (white-collar workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 217 Casinos |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 220 Food industry (white-collar workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 222 Paper and board processing (white-collar workers) |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 226 International trade |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 227 Audiovisual sector |
There is an agreement. |
No |
Joint committees 302-341
|
JC 302 Catering |
No agreement has been reached in the sector |
No |
|
JC 303.03 Cinemas |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 306 Insurance |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 307 Insurance brokers |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 310 Banks |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 315.02 Airlines |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 315.03 Airport management |
No agreement has been reached in the sector |
No |
|
JC 317 Security companies |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 320 Funeral businesses |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 321 Wholesalers and distributors of medicines |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 330.03 Dental prosthetics |
An agreement has been reached on Meal vouchers | Securex (NL/FR) |
Yes |
|
JC 323 Real estate sector |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 333 Tourist attractions |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
JC 335 Services to business and the self-employed |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
JC 336 Independent professionals |
There is an agreement. |
No |
|
PC 339.200 Accredited social housing organisations: Walloon Region |
There is an agreement. |
Yes (new to the industry) |
|
PC 339.300 Accredited social housing organisations: Brussels-Capital Region |
There is an agreement. |
Yes |
|
JC 340 Orthopaedic technologies |
No agreement has been reached in the sector |
No |
|
JC 341 Intermediation in banking and investment services |
There is an agreement. Read our analysis for JC 341 (NL/FR)
|
No |
What Securex Can Do For You
Still have questions about your sector agreement or meal vouchers? Feel free to contact us at myHR@securex.be.
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