Set the substitute public holidays for 2027 promptly

Public Holidays in 2027

According to the law on public holidays, a public holiday that falls on a Sunday or on a day when the company usually does not work (usually Saturday) must be replaced by an ordinary working day.

Companies that operate a five-day week from Monday to Friday must set a substitute public holiday on an ordinary working day in the following year for the following:

• The public holiday for Labour Day that falls on a Saturday
• The public holiday of the Assumption of Mary that falls on a Sunday
• The public holiday Christmas that falls on a Saturday

The substitute days must be granted and taken during the same year, 2027. It is forbidden to carry them over to the following year.

How do you establish a substitute public holiday?

As an employer, you must before 15 December 2026 post a signed and dated notice on the company premises specifying the substitute days. An email to the staff or a message on the intranet is not sufficient to be legally compliant.

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

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

Also read: ‘What are the sanctions?’

Do you use Officient?

From 15 December 2026, you can enter your substitute public holidays for 2027 in Officient. Do this no later than before the pay calculation of May 2027, since a public holiday must be replaced in May.

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 labour agreement concluded in the joint committee. The Minister of Labour must be informed of this decision before 1 October of the year before the year in which the public holiday to be replaced falls. This CLA only takes effect when it has been declared generally binding by Royal Decree.
• If there is no sector CLA, by the Company Council.
• If there is no Company Council or if it has not taken a decision, by an agreement between the employer and the trade union delegation.
• If there is no trade union delegation, by an agreement between the employer and the staff.
• If there is no agreement with the workers, by an individual agreement between the employer and the worker.

As an employer, you must in all cases post the agreed substitute days before 15 December 2026.

When the substitute days are not determined according to one of the above procedures, the public holiday is replaced by the first ordinary working day following this public holiday in the company.

And the regional public holidays?

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

 Source

• Law of 4 January 1974 concerning public holidays