What is a Joint Committee in Belgium?

A Joint Committee (paritair comité in Dutch, commission paritaire in French, shortened to PC or CP) is a sector body where employer and trade union representatives agree the pay and working conditions for companies with similar activities. The committee an employer falls under sets its minimum pay scales, indexation and sector premiums.

How Joint Committees work

Belgium has 98 Joint Committees and 64 sub-committees. Their main tasks are to negotiate collective labour agreements (CLAs) for their sector, prevent and settle disputes, and advise the government. Each committee has a number. Joint Committee 200 (JC 200), the auxiliary Joint Committee for employees and the largest in the country, covers white-collar staff whose employer has no specific committee for employees. Many industries have separate committees for blue-collar and white-collar workers.

A sector CLA can be made generally binding by royal decree. It then applies to every employer and employee in that committee, and breaches can be sanctioned under criminal law. Just over 3 million workers in Belgium, about 74% of the workforce, are covered by this system.

How the right Joint Committee is determined

The deciding factor is the employer’s actual activity in Belgium, not the employee’s job. A salesperson at a metal manufacturer falls under the metal industry’s committee, not a commerce one. Support activities, such as a building materials trader’s own transport, and subcontracted work do not count. As a rule, one employer falls under one committee, with exceptions such as separate committees for blue-collar and white-collar staff.

Employers are expected to know which committee applies to them. If in doubt, they can ask the FPS Employment’s Directorate-General for Collective Labour Relations for an opinion, based on an on-site check by the labour inspectorate. The process takes at least four months and the opinion is not binding. Only a labour tribunal can rule on a disputed case.

What it means for employers

The Joint Committee sets the minimum pay scale for each role, how and when salaries are indexed, the end-of-year premium and other sector premiums and allowances. Applying the wrong committee can leave pay below the sector minimum and lead to back pay claims.

In JC 200, for example, salaries are indexed once a year on 1 January, on both the minimum scales and actual salaries. The increase in January 2026 was 2.21%.

Joint Committees when you hire through an EOR

When you hire through TopSource as your Employer of Record in Belgium, we confirm the Joint Committee that applies and build its pay scale, premiums and indexation into the employment contract and payroll from day one. Indexation is modelled in your cost projections, so salary increases do not arrive as a surprise.

Frequently asked questions

Which Joint Committee covers white-collar employees in Belgium?

It depends on the employer’s sector. Many sectors have their own committee for employees. Where there is none, white-collar staff fall under JC 200, the auxiliary Joint Committee for employees.

Can an employer choose its Joint Committee?

No. The committee follows from the employer’s actual activity in Belgium. The FPS Employment can give a non-binding opinion, and only a labour tribunal can decide a disputed case.

How often are salaries indexed in JC 200?

Once a year, on 1 January. The January 2026 increase was 2.21%. A temporary cap on indexation for salaries above €4,000 gross a month, in force since 1 June 2026, first applies in JC 200 on 1 January 2027.

Joint Committee (Belgium)