Soon, every 15-year-old will be able to work as a student.

From 2026, a 15-year-old who is still required to attend full-time compulsory education will also be allowed to work under a student agreement. However, this is only permitted under strict conditions and for 'light work' only.

This AI-generated translation may contain errors and should not be considerd legal advice. For accurate info, refer to the Dutch or French version or consult your Securex Legal Advisor.

One student is not the same as another

Today, you can recruit a student under certain conditions via student work as long as they are not fully subject to compulsory education.

Students are no longer fully subject to compulsory education if:

They are 16 years old, or
They are at least 15 years old and have completed the first two years of secondary education. Simply "attending" the second year in secondary school is enough; the student does not need to have "passed" that year.

This will soon change.

Students from 15 years old also with full compulsory education

From next year, you can employ a student via student work from 15 years old, even if they are still fully subject to compulsory education. The requirement that the student must have completed at least the first two years of secondary education will therefore be removed.

Of course, you must also comply with all other conditions of student work.
Read more: "student work file"

Additionally, the law also provides extra protection for 15-year-old students.

Protection measures for students

Only for students aged 15

These students may only perform light work. The specific details of what this entails will be established by a royal decree.

On a school day, a maximum of 2 hours may be worked. During a school period, a maximum of 12 hours may be worked weekly. These restrictions do not apply during a holiday period, which is defined as a time when there is no school activity for at least one week, such as the Easter holiday.

Between two working days, you must ensure at least 14 consecutive hours of rest. For students aged 16 and older, this is only 12 hours.

For all students up to 18 years old

For all students between 15 and 18 years old, there are several provisions regarding the limitation of working hours and the prohibition of night and Sunday work. The existing restrictions on the employment of all students between 15 and 18 years old remain fully applicable.

The main protection measures for young workers are:

Maximum working hours of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. This maximum applies to all employers together where the young worker is employed. It is therefore not possible to work, for example, two times 25 hours with two different employers.
In principle, no work may be performed between 20:00 and 06:00 (prohibition of night work).
At least 30 minutes break must be provided if your student works more than 4.5 hours, and at least 1 hour break if the working day exceeds 6 hours. In the latter case, the student must be able to take at least half an hour break at once.
Prohibition of overtime except in cases of force majeure.
In principle, there is a prohibition on work on Sundays or public holidays.
Additional rest day on the day before or after Sunday. They are therefore always entitled to a weekend of at least 2 days (either Saturday and Sunday or Sunday and Monday).
Special safety regulations and the prohibition to work in dangerous working conditions.

Note: For 15-year-old students who have not yet fulfilled their full compulsory education (i.e., have not completed the second year of secondary education), all protection measures remain fully in force and no exceptions are allowed.

In addition to certain specific exceptions to these rules, there are also sectoral deviations. For example, in PC 302, young workers older than sixteen years may only be employed in the hospitality sector until 23:00.
To find out what applies in your sector, it is best to consult the provisions of your joint committee on Lex4You.

Sanctions

If you do not comply with the conditions regarding the employment of 15-year-old workers with full compulsory education, you may face criminal sanctions with a level 2 penalty:

Either a criminal fine of 400 euros to 4,000 euros.
Or an administrative fine of 200 euros to 2,000 euros.

These fines are also multiplied by the number of minors involved.

Entry into force

The measure is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2026. However, the entry into force is linked to the publication of the royal decree establishing "light work" for 15-year-old students.