Hours package and impact

As a student, you receive a yearly hours package from the government. During these hours, you will pay less social contributions than a standard employee. For the year 2024, this package contains 600 hours.

With the online service My Student@work and the Student@work app (available on App Store and Play Store), you can check how many hours you have left of that package.

Working more is allowed, but for every hour you work beyond your 600-hour package, you pay the normal social contributions.

Please note: do you work as a student in the sociocultural or sports sector under the regulation for association work? Make sure you do not work more than 190 hours per year in that regime and take into account the limits per quarter and per sector. If you have already carried out too much association work when you start working as a student, those additional hours will be deducted from your student hours. Read all about it on the Association work page.

More info

• How do I check my hours?
• Am I obliged to use my 600 hours?
• Can I work more than 600 hours?
• Can I combine my 600 hours quota with my 190 hours for association work?
• What is the difference between job student and work student?

No. In consultation with your employer, you can decide whether to use your 600 hours or not. Your employer is still required to conclude a student agreement or contract with you.

More info

• What is my 600-hour package?
• What should the agreement or contract contain?
• What is the difference between job student and work student?

Yes, you can work more than the 600 hours you get from the government. After these 600 hours, you pay the normal social contributions.

Please note: even after reaching the 600 hours, you remain a student and must therefore have a student agreement or contract with your employer.

More info

• What is my 600-hour package?
• Can I combine my 600 hours quota with my 190 hours for association work?
• What should the contract contain?

As long as studying is your main activity, you will get another hours package. For 2024, that package contains 600 hours; the number of hours for the coming year has not yet been determined.

Each calendar year, you may work using your hours package with reduced social contributions. So your package always starts counting from the 1st of January.

Did you work more hours in the previous year? If so, you will again receive a full hours package in the new year.

Attention: if you have been in the service of the same employer for a whole year without interruption, you can no longer conclude a student contract with that employer the following year. However, you can rejoin him with a regular employment contract. In that case, you and your employer will pay the normal social contributions. You can still conclude a student contract with another employer.

Do you still have hours left over from last year? Even then, you will start the new year with a new hours package. Unfortunately, you cannot carry over hours to the next year.

More info

• How do I check my hours?
• The agreement for the employment of students on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

If you perform occasional work in the hotel and catering industry (horeca) sector, you can work for 50 days at preferential rates. During those 50 days, social contributions are not calculated on your real wage, but on a fixed low fictional amount (a 'lump sum'). The online service Horeca@work (New window) shows how many days are left of your 50 days. (In French)

Occasional work means that you make an agreement with your employer for a maximum of two consecutive days.

Student in the horeca sector?

If you are a student working in the hospitality industry, you can choose (in consultation with your employer) which benefit system you will use: the 600 student hours or the 50 days for occasional work. Or a combination of both.

A comparison of both systems:

You choose the system of student job:

• You pay reduced social contributions on your normal salary.
• You can work 600 hours.
• You track your hours with the hour counter of the My Student@work (New window) online service or the Student@work app (in the App Store or Play Store).
• You sign a student contract with your employer.

You choose the system of occasional work:

• You pay normal social contributions on a fixed low fictional salary.
• You can work 50 days.
• You keep track of your days with the day counter on Horeca@work (New window) (in French).
• You sign a student contract with your employer.

More info

• What is my 600-hour package?
• Occasional worker in horeca on social security website (in French) (New window)

Yes you can combine the 600 hours you put in for student jobs with a maximum of 190 hours per year under the regime of association work. However, you must take into account the limits per quarter and per sector.

More info

Please note: if you exceed those 190 hours, the extra hours will be deducted from your 600 hours package.

Did you use up both the 190 and 600 hours? Then you do not pay reduced, but regular rate for social contributions for every extra hour of work.

More info

What is my 600-hour package?

‘Association work’ is a specific regime for activities in the sports and socio-cultural sector. When working in those sectors, you do not need to pay social contributions. For students, the limit is 190 hours/year.

Please note: the system for association work is limited per quarter and per sector. More info on the Association work page.

If you are under 18, you are always entitled to child benefits, no matter how much you work. From your 18th birthday onwards, the number of hours you can work without losing child benefits depends on your place of residence.

• If you live in Wallonia, you are allowed to work 600 hours per year at reduced social contributions. In addition to these 600 hours, you will receive 240 hours per quarter. However, you pay the normal social contributions for the additional hours. The compulsory internship hours to obtain your degree are not taken into account. Only the days actually worked count (and not, for example, paid public holidays).
• If you live in East Belgium, there is no maximum limit to the number of hours you can work per year with a student contract. You only pay reduced social security contributions for the first 600 hours. If you are not working on a student contract but on a normal contract or if you are self-employed, you may not work more than 175 hours per quarter.
• If you live in Flanders, you are allowed to work 600 hours per year at reduced social contributions. In addition to these 600 hours, you can work another 80 hours per month. However, you pay the normal social contributions for those extra hours.
• If you live in the Brussels-Capital Region, you are allowed to work 240 hours per quarter. This rule does not apply in July, August and September if you continue your studies after the summer holidays. All working hours are taken into account, including those you work under a regular employment contract. Hours worked as part of an internship to obtain a degree or as part of an alternate training programme/entrepreneurial training programme do not count. You are allowed to work 600 hours per year at reduced social security contributions.

Please note: if you work more than the allowed number of hours, you might lose the right to child benefits!

More info

• Groeipakket (New window) for Flanders
• Aviq (in French) (New window) for Wallonia
• Iriscare (in French) (New window) for Brussels
• Ostbelgien (in German) (New window)for East Belgium

If you earn more than the maximum amount allowed, your parents have to pay more taxes. You are no longer considered financially dependent on your parents, which means they will have to pay more taxes. That maximum amount changes every year. In 2024, that's 12,422.50 €. That is a gross sum, after deduction of social contributions.

• have no means of subsistence other than student work wages. Information on net resources on the FPS Finance website (New window) (in French)
• no actual professional costs will appear on your tax return (the taxes will then charge a flat-rate amount).

Are you in a different situation? Or do you have another question? Then contact FPS (Federal Public Service) Finance via their contact form (New window) (external link in French).

If you earn less than the maximum amount allowed, you do not have to pay more taxes. That maximum amount changes every year. In 2024, that's 15,100.00 €. That is a gross sum, after deduction of social contributions.

Please note, that gross amount is only valid if you:

• have no other taxable income than the wages from your student contract. Information on net resources on the FPS Finance website (New window) (in French)
• no actual professional costs will appear on your tax return (the taxes will then charge a flat-rate amount).

Are you in a different situation? Or do you have another question? Then contact FPS (Federal Public Service) Finance via their contact form (New window) (external link in French).

More info

Student work and taxes on the website of FPS Finance (New window)

Yes, completing a tax return is mandatory, including for jobbing students. Even when your income is well below the taxable amount.

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I work as a student. Do I need to fill in a tax return? On the website of the FPS Finance (in French) (New window)

Yes you can. You can fill in your tax return online via the MyMinfin website (Tax-on-web) (New window) (in French). And you will receive your tax calculation (assessment note) digitally upon activation of your eBox on the myeBox website (New window) (in French).