Indexation in Belgium in 2026: PC 200, the pivot index and the new cap above €4,000

In Belgium, most private-sector salaries rise automatically with the cost of living, under rules set by each joint committee (PC) in a binding collective agreement. The employer does not decide whether to apply the increase, or by how much: the sector agreement fixes the index used, the date and the method, and the rise applies to the minimum scales and to the salaries actually paid.

Each joint committee sets its own rhythm and method, so two employers in different sectors can see different increases in different months. PC 200, the catch-all committee for office staff, indexes once a year, on 1 January, based on the movement of the smoothed health index over the previous year.

Indexation sits outside wage bargaining. The wage norm, which caps real increases in labour costs, was fixed at 0% for the 2025-2026 period in a September 2025 royal decree, yet indexation and the scale increases agreed in the sectors are still guaranteed. A Belgian salary therefore keeps pace with prices even in years when no real raise is allowed.

For a company used to annual pay reviews at its own discretion, the consequence is that part of every January increase is decided before the review starts. The budget conversation is about what to add on top of indexation, not whether to match inflation.

It also means that a salary agreed in a Belgian offer letter is never a fixed number for long. An offer made in October at €4,500 a month will normally, under PC 200, be indexed the following January, even if the person has only been in post for a few weeks, because the rise applies to actual salaries rather than to length of service. Hiring managers abroad sometimes read that first January increase as a raise they did not approve; it is simply the sector rule taking effect.

On 1 January 2026, PC 200 salaries rose by 2.21%. The increase applied to the minimum scales and to every actual salary paid under the committee, so an employee earning well above the minimum received the same percentage as one paid at the floor.

After that indexation, the minimum monthly scales at zero years’ experience stand at €2,242.80 for class A, €2,336.26 for class B, €2,369.30 for class C and €2,555.72 for class D. Higher experience steps sit above those figures, and the job class depends on the content of the role, not its title.

The PC 200 annual premium is indexed as well. Created at €250 gross in 2016, it reaches €330.84 in 2026 and is paid in June, pro rata, unless the employer already grants benefits of equivalent purchasing power. The amounts on the 2026 posting sheet for PC 200, last updated on 27 January 2026, reflect the January indexation.

In money terms, a white-collar employee on €4,400 a month in December 2025 moved to €4,497.24 in January 2026, an increase of €97.24 a month. Counted across thirteen salaries plus holiday pay, that single January step adds a little over €1,350 to the year’s gross, and roughly €316 of employer ONSS, which is not charged on the holiday pay part.

Not everything in Belgium is indexed on a fixed date. The national minimum wage and social benefits follow the pivot index: when the consumer price index passes a set threshold, they rise by 2% shortly afterwards.

That happened in 2026. The pivot index was exceeded in June 2026, and the national minimum wage for full-time workers aged 18 or over (the RMMMG / GGMMI) rose by 2% to €2,233.61 a month from 1 July 2026. Earlier in the year it had already moved to €2,189.81 on 1 April, through a structural increase agreed in collective agreement no. 43.

For most professional roles under PC 200, the national minimum is a background figure, because the sector scales sit above it. It matters more for junior roles and for checking that a package which includes a 13th month still meets the minimum, since an end-of-year bonus counts towards the RMMMG. Our post on the minimum wage and PC 200 scales covers the floors in more detail.

The Programme Law of 30 May 2026, published on 1 June 2026, limits automatic indexation for the part of a salary above €4,000 gross a month. The measure is known as the index centimes (centimes d’index) and it is meant to moderate wage growth without suspending indexation altogether.

The rule works on a full-time reference salary. Indexation continues as before on the first €4,000 a month. Above that line, the increase is withheld until 2% of moderation has been absorbed; meanwhile the employer passes part of the saving to the ONSS as a temporary contribution. The threshold is expressed as a full-time reference salary, so a part-time employee is assessed on the full-time equivalent of their pay.

The cap is applied in two rounds: the first from 1 June 2026 and the second from 1 January 2028, though the second date may be postponed. Because PC 200 indexes only in January, the first moderation reaches white-collar salaries under that committee at the January 2027 indexation, not in mid-2026.

• Salary at or below €4,000 a month: full indexation, no change.
• Salary above €4,000: full indexation on the first €4,000, moderated indexation on the excess.
• Employer: a temporary payment to the ONSS tied to what it saves.
• PC 200 timing: first effect at the January 2027 indexation.

The detailed mechanics of the employer contribution are still being set out in the ONSS instructions, so treat any figure you see for it as provisional for now. The FPS Employment page on index centimes is the reference for the rule itself.

Our reference employee earns €4,500 a month in a PC 200 office job. Because that salary is above €4,000, the January 2027 indexation will be moderated on the top €500, and the employer will owe the temporary contribution.

The January 2027 percentage will only be known at the end of December 2026, so any figure now is an illustration. To show the mechanism, apply the 2026 rate of 2.21% as if the cap had already been in force:

• Full indexation on €4,500: €99.45 a month.
• Indexation on the first €4,000 only: €88.40 a month.
• Held back on the €500 above the threshold: €11.05 a month.

Seen from the employee’s side, the difference is small for a salary just above €4,000 and grows with pay. On €8,000 a month, the same illustrative 2.21% would hold back indexation on €4,000 of salary, or €88.40 a month. For senior teams, the cap is therefore worth explaining in advance, so that a smaller-than-expected January rise does not look like an error on the payslip. A two-line note in the January payslip pack, giving the index and the part held back, is usually enough.

For the employer, the saving on salary is partly offset by the new contribution, and the indexation that is applied still carries the usual 25.00% employer ONSS. The cost model in our breakdown of Belgian employer cost already flags the cap as the next change to the €4,500 example.

A Belgian budget for 2027 has to be built before the January index is known, so the practical approach is to plan with a range and update it in early January. Three items need a line in the plan.

• The PC 200 index. Fixed from the smoothed health index at the end of December 2026. Until then, use a cautious assumption and revisit it.
• The cap. Apply full indexation to the first €4,000 of each full-time salary and moderated indexation above it.
• The temporary contribution. Add a provisional line for each employee above €4,000 until the ONSS instructions confirm the calculation.

Other 2027 figures are not yet fixed either. Belgian federal and regional budgets for 2027 are normally finalised between October and December, and a further structural step for the national minimum wage has not been confirmed. Reforms to withholding tax are expected from 2027 but have not been published.

The safest habit is to separate indexation from merit increases in your own planning. Indexation is a legal cost, decided outside the company; a merit raise is a choice. Keeping them on separate lines makes it obvious which part of the January payroll changes you can influence.

For staff employed through Employer of Record Belgium, we apply the joint committee’s indexation to the Belgian payroll on the date it falls due, including the 2027 cap where it applies, and the change appears on your invoice from that month. You do not need to approve it, because it is not optional, but we let you know in advance so the budget can follow.

Any merit increase you decide on is a separate instruction. Tell us the new gross salary and the effective date, and we update the contract terms and the payroll. Our guide from offer to first payslip shows where salary decisions are fixed at the start, and our post on ONSS contributions explains the contribution side of every increase.

• Before December: tell us about any merit increases planned for January, so they can be combined with indexation on one payslip.
• Early January: we confirm the PC 200 index and the new gross salary for each employee.
• For salaries above €4,000: we show the indexed and held-back parts separately, with the employer contribution.
• During the year: we flag any pivot-index change that affects minimum pay or allowances.

Explaining the change to employees is part of the job too. A short note in January that gives the index applied, the new gross salary and, where relevant, the effect of the cap, prevents most payslip questions before they are asked.