An Assessment of Job Retention Support During the COVID‑19 Pandemic and its Aftermath in Belgium

Annex A. Additional Tables

Table A A.1. Forms of temporary unemployment in Belgium

Type of Temporary Unemployment	Firm-Level Conditions	Worker-Level Eligibility	Suspension regimes	Income replacement rate	Employer contribution
Force majeure – General	Unexpected and temporary event beyond control (e.g. natural disaster, government action) making work impossible.	All workers and apprentice workers who are following work-study training	Full suspension for a maximum of 3 months. Renewable.	65% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary)	No
Force majeure - Medical reasons	For companies with workers unfit to perform their duties.	Workers declared fit for work within the meaning of sickness and disability legislation, but still unfit to perform their duties.	Full suspension for a maximum of 6 months, but dependent on placement in reintegration process and/or monitoring from an ONEM approved physician.	65% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary)	No
Force majeure - Coronavirus (March 2020 – June 2022) & Force majeure - Energy crisis (April 2022 – June 2022)	For companies affected by lockdown measures or if the COVID‑19 pandemic forces operation to stop. No specific minimum required reduction. September 2020: Only available in hard-hit sectors.	All workers and apprentice workers who are following work-study training	Full or partial suspension with no time limit if conditions continue to be met.	70% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary) plus a daily supplement of EUR 5.63 from ONEM/RVA	No
Economic difficulties – Blue collar workers	Non-structural reduction in turnover, production, or orders. No specific minimum required reduction.	Workers with eligibility for full unemployment benefits. Extends to apprentice workers who are following work-study training and temporary workers who are supposed to start or end during the shut-down period	i) less than three working days per week for a maximum of 12 months ii) three working days or more every week for a maximum of 3 months (renewal: 1 full working week) iii) full suspension for a maximum of 4 weeks (renewal: 1 full working week).	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary) plus a daily supplement of EUR 2	Triggered if days of temporary unemployment in the three preceding quarters exceed 110 days. Daily contribution then calculated based on the sum of temporary unemployment days in these prior 3 quarters AND the reporting quarter: - 20 EUR if days > 110 and ≤ 130 - 40 EUR if days > 130 and ≤ 150 - 60 EUR if days > 150 and ≤ 170 - 80 EUR if days > 170 and ≤ 200 - 100 EUR if days > 200.
Economic difficulties – Construction sector	Non-structural reduction in turnover, production, or orders. No specific minimum required reduction.	All construction workers with eligibility for full unemployment benefits. Extends to temporary workers hired to replace others, and apprentice workers who are following work-study training.	i) less than three working days per week for a maximum of 12 months ii) three working days or more every week for a maximum of 3 months (renewal: 1 full working week) iii) full suspension for a maximum of 4 weeks (renewal: 1 full working week).	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary) plus a daily supplement of EUR 2	46.31 EUR per worker per day of JRS exceeding 110 days per year.
Economic difficulties – White collar workers	Collective bargaining agreement or SPF/FOD approved business plan. Reduction of at least 10% in turnover, production, or orders or if at least 10% of blue‑collar workers already on JRS.	All white‑collar workers eligible for full unemployment benefits.	i) less than three working days per week for a maximum of 26 weeks ii) full suspension for a maximum of 16 weeks.	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary) plus a daily supplement of EUR 5	No
Technical accident	Work stoppage due to unforeseen technical issues, machinery breakdown, or other accidents impacting production.	All workers, including, temporary workers hired to replace others, and apprentice workers who are following work-study training	Full suspension for a maximum of 3 months. JRS only available from the 8th day following the accident.	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary) plus a daily supplement of EUR 2	No
Bad weather - General	Severe weather conditions such as storms, heavy rain, or snow making it unsafe or impossible to work.	All workers, including, temporary workers hired to replace others, and apprentice workers who are following work-study training	Full suspension until weather conditions allow work to resume. Only available if workers are informed before coming to work.	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary) plus a daily supplement of EUR 2	No
Bad weather – Construction sector	Adverse weather conditions specific to construction, such as heavy rain or snow affecting site safety or workability.	All construction workers, including, temporary workers hired to replace others, and apprentice workers who are following work-study training	Full suspension until weather conditions allow work to resume. Also available if workers are informed only upon arrival at the construction site.	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary) plus a daily supplement of EUR 2	No
Annual vacation closure	Firms with company-wide annual vacation period during which operations are closed	Workers without sufficient annual vacation days to cover the company-wide annual vacation period.	Full suspension for the company-wide annual vacation period, reduced by the workers annual vacation entitlement.	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary)	No
Strike or lock-out	Work stoppage due to industrial action that affects the possibility to carry out work or employer-initiated lock-out.	Workers who are not part of the striking unit and do not have a stake in the strike’s success.	Full suspension for the strike‑ or lock-out period.	60% (capped at 66% of the average gross monthly salary)	No

Note: The information presents the schemes characteristics as of August 2024.

Source: ONEM/RVA.

Figure A A.1. Selection by sector

Average quarterly share of firms and workers on job retention schemes by quintile of the firm-distribution of average pre‑pandemic productivity

Note: See note to Figure 2.3.

Source: OECD calculations based on microdata from the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Social Security and the Belgian National Bank.

Figure A A.2. In the accommodation and food sector prior JRS experience matter the least

Average quarterly share of firms and workers on job retention schemes during the pandemic (Q1 2020 – Q4 2022) by previous JRS use of firms between 2017 and 2019, by sector

Note: See note to Figure 2.4.

Source: OECD calculations based on microdata from the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Social Security.

Figure A A.3. Previous users retained elevated use even when the pandemic subsided

Quarterly share of workers on job retention schemes during the pandemic (Q1 2020 – Q4 2022) by previous JRS use of firms between 2017 and 2019, by sector

Note: See note to Figure 2.4.

Source: OECD calculations based on microdata from the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Social Security.

Figure A A.4. Worker composition among user and non-users of temporary unemployment

Worker characteristics users and non-user of temporary unemployment, by workers placed and no placed on temporary unemployment, before and during COVID‑19

Note: The data refers to the share of certain characteristics among workers that are either placed o job retention schemes or not. Characteristics of workers that are not placed on job retention schemes are split by firms that place no workers on job retention schemes and those that place at least one worker on these schemes.

Source: OECD calculations based on microdata from the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Social Security.

Figure A A.5. The increasing role of employment mobility during the pandemic was mostly driven by a decrease in separation

Average quarterly net employment growth through net employment mobility among pre‑pandemic active firms and by quintile of the firm-distribution of labour productivity, relative to average employment growth

Notes: Total net employment mobility: average quarterly employment-weighted growth rate employment among pre‑pandemic active firms due to workers entering or existing employment from quarter to the next in deviation from aggregate employment growth rate. Hires: average quarterly employment-weighted growth rate employment among pre‑pandemic active firms due to workers entering employment from quarter to the next in deviation from aggregate employment growth rate. Separations: average quarterly employment-weighted growth rate employment among pre‑pandemic active firms due to workers exiting employment from quarter to the next in deviation from aggregate employment growth rate.

The figure shows the average quarterly change in the structure of private sector non-agricultural dependent employment across quintiles of the employment-weighted distribution of labour productivity to the extent of which this is driven by employment mobility and its components of hiring and separations. It is based on employment-weighted firm-level regressions of employment growth on quintile dummies, average pre‑pandemic firm size and quarter fixed effects (Equation 1).

Source: OECD calculations based on microdata from the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Social Security and the Belgian National Bank.

Figure A A.6. Job vacancy rate over time and across sectors

Share of vacant jobs among all jobs, 2019 to 2024, Belgium

Source: STATBEL – Job vacancy survey.

Figure A A.7. Event study regression of employment growth by teleworkability

Employment growth rates, difference between teleworkable and non-teleworkable occupations, 22 European OECD countries

Note: The points represent the differential employment growth rate (in p.p.) between teleworkable and non-teleworkable occupations relative to the reference year 2019, which is normalised to zero. The vertical lines represent the 95% confidence interval around the estimates based on standard errors clustered at the country-teleworkability level. The specification includes country fixed effects. The countries included in the regression are Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic. See Box 3.5 for more information.

Source: OECD calculations based on national sources, the quarterly EU-LFS data.