Successive fixed-term contracts: what is allowed in Belgium?

Published on 30 September 2026

A seasonal worker you call back every year. A warehouse operative you hire for the September-to-December peak. A nurse who covers maternity leave and then stays on a little longer. In plenty of Belgian companies, fixed-term contracts pile up — often without anyone keeping precise track of how many there have already been.

That is risky. In principle, the Employment Contracts Act assumes that anyone who keeps receiving a new fixed-term contract (FTC) is in fact employed on an open-ended basis. And you only notice the difference the moment you want to part ways: suddenly there is a notice period or an indemnity in lieu of notice attached to it.

Below we set out the rules of the game, with the figures you need to know and a practical approach to keeping your contract administration airtight.

First things first: an FTC must be in writing and on time

A fixed-term contract must be recorded in writing, no later than the moment the employee starts working. Not the day after, not at the end of the week.

Is that written document missing, or do you only sign later? Then the rules for an open-ended contract apply. The same logic applies to the contract for clearly defined work.

In practice that means: the contract ready and signed before the first shift, and the Dimona submitted before work starts. Anyone doing that manually for twenty seasonal workers at once knows how quickly one slips through the net.

The main rule: succession = presumption of an open-ended contract

If you conclude several fixed-term contracts one after the other with the same employee, without an interruption attributable to the employee, those contracts are legally regarded as a single open-ended employment contract.

Note that word interruption. A break only counts if it comes from the employee (for example: he or she does not want to work for a while). A two-week gap because things happened to be quiet at your end, or a weekend between two contracts, does not break the chain. That is exactly where many employers get caught out.

There are three exceptions to this main rule.

Exception 1: a maximum of 4 contracts, each of at least 3 months, totalling no more than 2 years

You may conclude up to four successive fixed-term contracts with the same employee, provided that:

each contract lasts at least three months, and
the total duration of the succession does not exceed two years.

Stay within those limits and the FTC remains an FTC. A fifth contract, or a six-week contract slipped in between, can tip the whole structure over into an open-ended contract.

So always do the maths twice before you extend. Four contracts of six months sits exactly on the two-year limit. Four contracts of seven months goes over it.

Exception 2: authorisation from the Supervision of Social Legislation — 6 months and 3 years

With prior authorisation from the Directorate-General Supervision of Social Legislation (FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue) you can go further: successive contracts of at least six months each, with a total duration of no more than three years.

You apply for that authorisation in advance and you have to justify why your company needs it. It is not a formality you can put right afterwards, so plan that application well before you put the third or fourth extension on the table. You will find more information at the FPS Employment.

Exception 3: the nature of the work or other legitimate reasons

As an employer you can also prove that the succession is justified by the nature of the work or another legitimate reason. Think of project work with a clear end point, or successive replacements of different absent colleagues.

The difference with the first two exceptions: here the burden of proof lies entirely with you. So make sure the reason is stated in black and white in the contract and that your file holds up — who are you replacing, why, and until when? If you combine FTCs with replacement contracts, maximum terms also apply to the whole arrangement. Always have that scenario checked by your payroll provider.

What happens if you cross the line?

If the succession does not fit within an exception, the employment relationship is treated as an open-ended contract — with retroactive effect as regards length of service. The consequences:

you can no longer simply let the collaboration expire on the end date;
you have to observe a notice period or pay an indemnity in lieu of notice;
the seniority from all previous contracts counts towards the calculation.

With an employee you have been employing in instalments for two years, that adds up quickly. Particularly in sectors where you work with dozens of temporary staff, such as logistics and warehousing or hospitality, the risk is far from theoretical.

And ending an FTC early?

A fixed-term contract normally ends automatically on the agreed end date. Early termination is possible, but under strict conditions:

During the first half of the term, and within the first six months, either party can give notice with a notice period under the ordinary rules.
After that, a unilateral termination costs the pay for the remaining term, with a cap linked to the notice period that would apply to an open-ended contract.

That makes the length of your contracts a strategic choice. Four contracts of three months give you more breathing space than one contract of twelve months — as long as you stay within the limits set out above.

How to keep it manageable in practice

The law is not the hard part. The hard part is knowing where you stand with 60 employees who each have their own history. Four things that make the difference:

Keep a contract history per employee. Not per year, not per site: per person, across all the years. The counter of four contracts and two years simply keeps running.
Monitor end dates proactively. Set an alert at least a month before each FTC expires. That way you consciously choose between extending, converting to an open-ended contract or stopping — instead of discovering that someone has been working without a valid contract for three weeks.
Link contract, work schedule and Dimona together. An extension that appears in the scheduling but not in the contract administration is a classic finding during a social inspection. Also read our guide on which documents you need to have ready.
Consider the right status. Sometimes a series of FTCs is not the best solution. For short, fluctuating peaks, flexible work — flexi-jobs, student workers, temporary agency staff — can be administratively simpler and cheaper than a chain of contracts drifting towards an open-ended one.

Sector examples to make it concrete

Hospitality: an employee you take on for four months every summer builds up two years after four summers. From that point on, a fifth fixed-term seasonal contract is no longer legally safe.
Healthcare: successive replacements of different absent colleagues can be justified, but always record who is being replaced. Without a file, the justification falls away. See also care and welfare.
Retail: end-of-year reinforcement with six-week contracts falls outside the 4 x 3 months rule. That is fine once, but if you repeat it year after year with the same person, a chain is created.
Industry: project-based work often sits better with the contract for clearly defined work, provided the end of that work can be objectively determined.

In summary

Remember three figures: 4 contracts, a minimum of 3 months each, a maximum of 2 years in total. With authorisation from the Supervision of Social Legislation, that becomes 6 months per contract and 3 years in total. And any interruption that does not come from the employee does not break the chain.

If you track that centrally instead of in separate Excel files per site, you can see at a glance which employee is approaching their limit. That is exactly what a well-organised employee file and streamlined HR administration give you: no surprises on the day you have to make a decision.