Remember to set the substitute public holidays in 2026

Here are the public holidays for 2026:

According to the law on public holidays, if a holiday falls on a Sunday or a day when the company usually does not operate (typically Saturday), it must be replaced by a regular working day.

Companies that operate on a five-day week from Monday to Friday must schedule a substitute holiday on a regular working day for:

• The Assumption of Mary holiday that falls on a Saturday
• The All Saints' Day holiday that falls on a Sunday

The substitute days must be granted and used within the same year, 2026. It is prohibited to carry them over to the following year.

How do you establish a substitute holiday?

As an employer, you must post a signed and dated notice in the company's premises before 15 December 2025 indicating the substitute days. An email to the staff or a message on the intranet is not sufficient to meet legal requirements.

In the downloads, you will find a template that you can complete and post in your company.

You must also include a copy of that notice in the labour regulation and submit it to the Monitoring of Social Laws.

Also read: ‘What are the sanctions?’

Are you using Officient?

Then you can enter your substitute holidays for 2026 in Officient starting from 15 December 2025. Be sure to do this before the payroll calculation in November, as a holiday must be replaced in November.

Discover how to do this

How is the choice of these substitute days made?

The choice of substitute days is made in one of the following ways:

• By a collective agreement concluded in the joint committee. The Minister of Labour must be informed of this decision before 1 October of the year preceding the year in which the holiday to be replaced falls. This collective agreement only takes effect when it has been declared generally binding by royal decree.
• If there is no sectoral collective agreement, by the company council.
• If there is no company council or if it has not made a decision, through an agreement between the employer and the trade union delegation.
• If there is no trade union delegation, through an agreement between the employer and the staff.
• If there is no agreement with the employees, through an individual agreement between the employer and the employee.

As an employer, you must post the agreed substitute days before 15 December 2024 in all cases.

If the substitute days are not determined according to one of the above procedures, the holiday will be replaced by the first regular working day that follows this holiday in the company.

And the regional holidays?

The regional holidays (11 July for the Flemish Community, 27 September for the French Community, and 15 November for the German-speaking Community) are not public holidays. They are only mandatory in the companies or sectors that have decided to make them a day off.

Sources

• Law of 4 January 1974 on public holidays