Student Jobs 2016 : Gone are the 50 days, Bless the 475 hours!

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The law on student employment has gone from a day-based quota to an hour-based quota

The New Measures: 

From the 1st of January 2017 onwards, student employees will benefit from a more flexible jobmarket. Rather than an annual limit of 50 days during which a student can work at a favourable social security contribution rate of 2,71% (13,07% for regular employees), the student will benefit from a 475 hour quota. 

The current measures dictate that whatever the number of hours worked on any given day, a full day will be deducted from the annual quota. During those 50 days, due to the "student" status, the social security contributions are every low. If one elects to work more than these 50 days, thus surpassing one's quota, one will not only have to pay the regular rate of 13,07% for the supplementary days of work, but also for the 50 initial days. The favourable status is thus lossed after 50 days. 

The government has elected to replace this with an hour-based system in 2017. The annual limit will be set at 475 hours per year. Currently, if a student works for 3 hours on a given day, this will be substracted as a full day's work, no matter the time spent working. 1 hour or 8 hours count equally in regards to the quota. In 2017, only 3 hours will be reducted from the annual limit. 

Additionally, the new measures will offer students the possibility of working more during the year if they wish. If an average workday is about 7:30 hours long, the new system will offer 100 supplementary hours of potential work compared to the current situation, whilst still benefitting from a reduced social tax rate.

 

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These new rules will also be benefecial for employers, as they will be able to maximise their returns on student employment. Not only will they also benefit from a lower social tax rate (5,42%), but they will be able to call upon their student employees based on the demand, without losing entire days of potential employment which could have been used at more profitable moments, both for the employee and the employer. This will encourage the employment of young people. 

Bekijk ook onze lijst van studentenjobs!

What Hasn't Changed:

If the student elects to go beyond his quota of 475 hours, the student will still have to start paying the regular social tax rate, although only for the additional hours worked, not for the initial hours, unlike now. This means the rate will go up to 13,07%. Thus, if a student is payed 10€/hour, he will only receive 8,693€ after the 476th hour, rather than 9,729€. 

Additional Information:

Currently, students can keep track of their workday "balance" on the government's platform "Student@Work". This will be updated on the 1st of January 2017.

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