Public holidays in Belgium, 2024

How Belgium public holidays work in 2024

Belgium recognises ten federal public holidays under the Loi du 4 janvier 1974 sur les jours fériés. The list is shorter than its neighbours and mixes Catholic and civic dates: New Year's Day, Easter Monday, Labour Day, Ascension, Whit Monday, National Day on 21 July, Assumption, All Saints', Armistice Day on 11 November and Christmas Day. Each of the three regions and three communities adds its own community-level holiday: the Flemish community on 11 July, the French community on 27 September, the German-speaking community on 15 November. These community days are paid leave for public-sector employees of the relevant community only; private-sector observance is at the employer's discretion.

Working days in Belgium

Belgian labour law sets a 38-hour standard working week. The Code judiciaire article 53 rolls procedural deadlines falling on a Saturday, Sunday or a recognised public holiday to the next working day. The standard private-sector week is Monday to Friday with banks operating Monday to Friday. Settlement of euro transactions runs on TARGET2, with domestic Belgian banking using the National Bank of Belgium's calendar that mirrors the federal list of ten. Stock exchange holidays at Euronext Brussels follow the same federal list plus a few exchange-specific days such as 24 December afternoon and 31 December.

For people planning cross-border meetings, the practical move is to overlay Belgium's calendar with the calendars of the other countries on your team. A week that looks completely clear from your end might be a national holiday on theirs. The compare tool above pairs two country calendars and highlights the overlapping closures, so you can spot the weeks where almost no one is at their desk before you put a launch on the board.