Student job and job student

You may work as a job student at reduced social contributions (you get a hours package from the government) if you:

• are a student;
• are old enough;
• are not working while attending classes or participating in other school activities.

Are you a student?

for the calculation of social contributions, you are a student if:

• you are following a recognised course of study in secondary, higher or university education;
• studying is your main activity and any job is clearly secondary. For example: an employee who takes a bachelor's degree after working hours is not a student.

You are no longer a student if:

• you have a contract with an employer for 12 months or more. After these 12 months, you can no longer work as a student with that employer. From then on, you and your employer pay the normal social contributions. However, you can still get a job as a student with another employer.
• You attend evening school or another form of education with a limited curriculum.

It is not always easy to tell whether your main activity is studying. Are you in doubt about your situation? If so, please contact the regional directorates Supervision of Social Acts of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue at info.tsw@werk.belgie.be.

Are you old enough?

You can start working as a job student as soon as you:

• are 15 years old and have completed the first stage of secondary education;
• are 16 years old.

Are you attending school part-time?

If you go to school part-time, you can only work as a job student if you:

• enter into a student agreement with an employer other than the one where you do your practical training in the workplace;
• enter into a student agreement with the employer, where you are on internship, for the summer months outside the internship agreement;
• have a student job outside the hours of your theoretical or practical training;
• do not receive unemployment benefit or integration allowance.

More info

Student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

There is no official legal definition of 'job student' or 'work student'. Unfortunately, this does not allow us to definitively clarify the confusion between these two terms.

Generally, 'job student' refers to a student who uses their hours package and thus pays reduced social contributions (we also use 'job student' in this sense on this website).

'Work student' is used in more than one sense:

• It usually refers to a student who pays normal social contributions while working their job. You pay those normal contributions, for example, if you cannot enter into a student contract or if your hours package is used up.
• Colleges and universities use 'working student' to refer to students who combine working and learning. They have specific study facilities for such students. If you recognise yourself in this description, chances are that your main status is no longer 'student'. In that case, you can no longer sign a student contract and work at reduced social contributions.

The difference between job student and work student as it is described in this text is typically Dutch. In French things are different.

More info

• Can I work as a job student?
• Student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

No, working as a job student can be done all year round. You choose when you work and for how long.

Whatever you do, just make sure you:

• Stay within your hour quota;
• Attend classes or other school activities; during these hours, you are not allowed to work as a student.

More info

• What is my 600-hour package?
• Can I work more than 600 hours?

Yes, you can. You can stay with one employer or go job-hopping. It doesn't matter, as long as you stay within your hours.

Make sure you always have an agreement with your employer.

More info

• What is my 600-hour package?
• What should the agreement or contract contain?
• Student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

Yes, you can still work as a job student upon returning to Belgium. The only condition is that studying remains your main activity.

You will find a wealth of information on the websites of the regional employment services: for Flanders it is the VDAB website (New window) (in Dutch), for the Brussels Capital Region the Actiris website (New window), for Wallonia the Forem website (New window) (in French) and for East Belgium the Arbeitsamt website (New window) (In German).

These tips will bring you a long way:

• Search the job database of your employment service and job sites such as Indeed, Jobat, Stepstone ...
• Share your CV with employers via the CV database of your employment service or from job sites.
• Save your searches to automatically receive tailored jobs in your mailbox.
• Register with a temporary employment agency.
• Tap into your wide network.

Good luck with your search!

Yes, you must sign a written fixed-term agreement with your employer. You and your employer must sign that agreement. You must receive a copy of the agreement.

A student agreement is very important: it gives you certainty about your rights and obligations.

You can sign a student contract for a maximum of one year. If you have worked for an employer for more than one year, your contract will be regarded as an ordinary employment contract. You cannot conclude a new student contract with that employer afterwards either.

The contract must state a whole series of details.

More info

• Student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)
• Template of a student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

The agreement must include the following information, among others:

• your identity;
• a brief job description;
• the start and end date of the job;
• the working hours per day and per week;
• the salary (or the basis and method of calculation).
• ...

More info

Student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

Yes.

The first three days are considered a trial period. During that trial period, you may terminate the agreement without notice.

However, if you want to break the agreement after your trial period, you must respect a notice period:

• If the duration of the agreement is one month or less, the notice period is 1 day.
• If you signed an agreement of more than one month, the notice period is 3 days.

The notice takes effect on the Monday following the week in which you inform your employer that you are terminating the agreement.

More info

Student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window).

Yes, he can. The first three days are considered a trial period. During that trial period, your employer can terminate the agreement without notice.

However, if your employer wants to break the agreement after your trial period, he must respect a notice period:

• If the duration of the agreement is one month or less, the notice period is 3 days.
• If you signed an agreement of more than one month, the notice period is 7 days.

The notice takes effect on the Monday following the week in which your employer informs you that he is terminating the agreement.

More info

Student employment agreement on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

The first three days are considered a trial period. You can terminate your agreement during that term without notice or compensation. Your employer can, too. This arrangement applies even if it is not mentioned in your contract.

More info

The trial period on the website of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (in French) (New window)

Congratulations! There are a few elements to take into account, though.

An employer should not let you do a holiday job that serves as a 'cheap trial period'.

If there is a clear difference between your student job and your job afterwards as a regular employee, there is obviously no problem. This is the case, for example, if you do a completely different job or if you only start working as a regular employee with that employer sometime after your student job.

Are you in this situation and not sure whether there is sufficient distinction? If so, contact the Contact Centre of the Social Law Supervision at info.tsw@werk.belgie.be.

A union defends the interests of workers against their employer. Do you believe your employer does not respect your rights? Then you can turn to a trade union.

In Belgium, there are three trade unions. In alphabetical order:

• The FGTB - General Labour Federation of Belgium (in French) (New window)
• The CGSLB - General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (in French) (New window)
• The CSC - Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (in French) (New window)

If you want to use the services of a trade union, you need to join one. You are free to choose your trade union. As a job student, your membership is free in most cases. Check the terms and conditions on the websites of the different unions.