When are you entitled to this premium as an employer?
You are entitled to this increased return-to-work premium of 3,000 euros if you:
- Hire or allow a worker or unemployed person who has been incapacitated for work for at least one year (disabled) to resume work through a so-called progressive return to work. The employee must therefore not start or resume work full-time.
- Allow that employee to resume work progressively or to resume adapted work after obtaining permission from the medical officer of the employee's health insurance fund.
- Keep the employee employed for at least three months.
This measure applies both to employees who were already working for you at the start of the incapacity for work and to newly hired employees. In both cases, the incapacity for work must last at least one year. The return to work is therefore possible both with the original employer and with a new employer.
The measure is compatible with the social security system of the self-employed. Therefore, if you hire a self-employed person who is incapacitated for work as an employee, you are also entitled to this premium provided the other conditions are met.
You are only entitled to the increased premium of 3,000 euros on the condition that both the period covered by the permission of the medical officer and the return to work by the disabled entitled person with the employer on the basis of this permission commence no earlier than 1 November 2026.
What is “adapted work” or “progressive return to work”?
If an employee wants to partially resume work after a period of incapacity for work, they can either temporarily work less or temporarily perform a different function. If your employee obtains permission from the medical officer of the health insurance fund for this, they retain their benefit. This benefit then remains payable for the days or parts of days on which they do not work.
More information about progressive return to work, or resumption via adapted work, can be found in our file.
Which labour contracts qualify?
If your employee meets the conditions, they must perform the work authorised by the medical officer of the health insurance fund for at least three months. For employers in the private sector, the following labour contracts qualify:
- A labour contract for an indefinite period
- A labour contract for a fixed term which, at the start of the authorised work, has a duration of at least three months
- An agreement for alternating training which, at the start of the authorised work, has a duration of at least three months
Does every employment qualify for a premium?
No, the draft royal decree excludes the following forms of employment from eligibility:
- Employment in an enterprise from JC 327 for sheltered workshops, social workshops and customised companies
- Employment as a flexi-jobber
- Employment as a casual worker
- Employment that started before the beginning of the incapacity for work and for which the application of the RSZ law of 27 June 1969 is limited to the sector of medical care with regard to compulsory sickness and invalidity insurance
- Employment as a volunteer firefighter, volunteer ambulance worker or volunteer of civil protection
Where do you apply for the premium?
You can apply for the premium via the health insurance fund where your employee is registered. This can be done at the earliest after three months of employment.
You must submit the application exclusively electronically. You are entitled to only one premium per employee.
The health insurance fund pays the premium no later than the end of the second calendar month after the calendar month in which you submitted the application. If you apply for the premium in December 2026, the health insurance fund must pay the premium no later than 28 February 2027.
The final application date is two years after the third month of authorised work was performed. If you apply for the premium for an employee who resumed work in November 2026, you must apply for the premium no later than 31 January 2029.
Entry into force
This concerns a draft law that has already been approved in the plenary session of the chamber. After publication in the Moniteur belge, the entry into force is scheduled from 1 November 2026.
Source
- Draft law of 8 October 2026, DOC 56 1789/001 (chapter 5)
