More employers give a collective bonus or profit premium, on average 1,000 euros gross

The HR specialist made the calculation based on the most recent wage dates up to and including December 2024 of more than 1.2 million employees in the private sector at more than 37,000 Belgian employers.

The profit premium is mainly used by the smallest SMEs (up to 50 employees), after achieving good results. The collective bonus CAO90 has a wider use, also with larger SMEs.

“Today, both instruments are different,” says Annelies Rottiers, SME consultant at SD Worx. “The CAO90 wage bonus requires a plan and a required declaration in advance. The profit premium is paid afterwards. That may explain the limited success of the CAO90 wage bonus at the smallest SMEs. ”

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Treatment in the field of NSSO and taxation is also different, according to SD Worx. An employee has an average of 808 euros net of a profit premium of 1,000 euros; of a wage bonus 870 euros.