As from 1 August 2026, Belgian employers and employees will be able to terminate indefinite-term employment contracts during the first six months with a notice period of only one week. Below is what employers need to know.
Key takeaways
- Check the start date. The new one-week notice period applies only to employment contracts concluded for an indefinite term whose performance begins on or after 1 August 2026. Employers should always verify the actual start date before applying the shortened notice period.
- One week cuts both ways. During the first six months of employment, the one-week notice period applies to both dismissals by the employer and resignations by the employee. Employees will therefore also be able to leave more easily during this initial period, which employers should factor into their onboarding and retention strategies.
- Reassess temporary staffing arrangements. Employers whose recruitment policy relies on temporary agency work or successive fixed-term contracts before offering an indefinite-term contract may wish to reassess that approach. Depending on the circumstances, the new short notice periods may offer greater flexibility: if there is no match between the parties, the employment relationship can be ended more quickly during the first six months.
- Keep documenting the reasons for dismissal. The new one-week notice period does not mean that dismissals during the first six months are risk-free. Employers should continue to document the reasons for dismissal carefully, as a well-supported HR file remains important in the event of a subsequent challenge.
In its February 2025 newsletter, Liedekerke discussed the federal government's Coalition Agreement and, as part of that, the reintroduction of a form of trial period as one of the labour market measures announced by the federal government. That political intention has now been translated into a statutory mechanism: not a return to the former contractual probationary clause, but a uniform one-week notice period during the first six months of employment.
The new rules apply exclusively to employment contracts concluded for an indefinite term whose performance starts on or after 1 August 2026. Existing contracts remain subject to the current notice regime.
I. Background: the former probationary clause
Probationary clause. Prior to the unified status reform of 2014, Belgian employment law allowed employers and employees to include a contractual probationary clause (proefbeding / clause d'essai) in their employment contract. During this trial period, either party could terminate the contract with very short notice or, in some cases, without any notice at all.
Abolishment. The harmonisation of blue-collar and white-collar status, effective 1 January 2014, abolished the contractual probationary clause for ordinary employment contracts.¹ As a consequence, employers were no longer able to contractually shorten notice periods at the start of employment. The statutory notice periods — which progressively increase during the first months of seniority — have applied in full since then.
II. The new rules: a statutory shortcut, not a contractual clause
As of 1 August 2026. The reform applies to all employment contracts concluded for an indefinite term whose performance begins on or after 1 August 2026. For those contracts, whenever either party terminates the employment relationship during the first six months of employment, a uniform notice period of one week applies. This is the case regardless of whether the termination is initiated by the employer (dismissal) or by the employee (resignation), and regardless of the precise length of seniority within that six-month window. Alternatively, the terminating party may end the employment contract with immediate effect, subject to payment of an indemnity in lieu of notice corresponding to one week's remuneration.
No contractual clause needed. No contractual clause is required to invoke this shortened notice period. The one-week notice period operates entirely by law. Parties do not need to include a probationary clause or any other specific provision in the employment contract for the new regime to apply. In that respect, the reform is fundamentally different from the former contractual probationary clause that existed before 2014: it is a statutory mechanism, not a contractual one.
Older employment contracts. Contracts whose performance started before 1 August 2026 remain fully subject to the existing progressive notice period regime during the first six months of employment. Employers must therefore carefully verify the actual date on which performance of the contract commences when determining which regime applies.
Seniority of more than six months. Once the employee reaches six months' seniority, the ordinary statutory notice periods apply again in full, as if the shortened period had never existed. The reform thus creates what might be characterised as a "statutory probation window" during which both parties enjoy significantly greater flexibility to end the relationship.
Notice periods during the first six months. Under the new rules, a flat one-week notice applies to every seniority band below six months, for both employer and employee. This replaces the current progressive scale:
- 0 to < 3 months: unchanged — 1 week (employee) / 1 week (employer)
- 3 to < 4 months: currently 2 weeks (employee) / 3 weeks (employer) → 1 week / 1 week
- 4 to < 5 months: currently 2 weeks / 4 weeks → 1 week / 1 week
- 5 to < 6 months: currently 2 weeks / 5 weeks → 1 week / 1 week
Counter-notice. The reform also shortens the counter-notice period. Where an employee has been dismissed with notice and finds another job during the notice period, the employee may terminate the employment contract earlier by giving counter-notice. Under the new rules, employees with less than six months' seniority only have to observe a one-week counter-notice period:
- 0 to < 3 months: unchanged — 1 week
- 3 to < 6 months: currently 2 weeks → 1 week
Liedekerke's Employment & Benefits team would be delighted to address any queries in relation to the upcoming changes to the notice period rules.
¹ The general probationary clause was abolished with effect from 1 January 2014. However, a specific probationary period (i.e. the first three working days) continued to exist for certain contracts: (i) contracts for the performance of temporary work, (ii) temporary agency work contracts and (iii) student employment contracts. These specific regimes continue to apply and are not replaced by the new one-week notice period applicable to indefinite-term employment contracts.
Authors:
Bruno Aguirre, Counsel at Liedekerke
Dries Vermeulen, Associate at Liedekerke
