Manage your resignation in Belgium

There is no gathering that never comes to an end, everyone needs some new challenges from now and then, so it is quite normal if employees choose to change employer for whatever reason.

I changed my job only 2 months ago, there were quite some things to be taken care of, in the end, for me, although not perfect, most of the steps went rather smoothly. I would like to share my exit process and some tips for those who are working in Belgium, or who have an interest.

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1. Define your next move

I have been always lived in Flanders since I moved to Belgium, in my previous post, I already mentioned that Flemish people are quite conservative, they seldom quit a job without knowing what to do next, I am one of them too.
Unless you really cannot stay one more day at your current job, I suggest you take it slow and find what you really want to do next, and hopefully already signed the offer before you quit your current job. Comparing and choosing from your offers is also quite a journey, check my recent post: What to do after you get job offers?

What should be your next salary?

It really depends on what you want to do next. If you strive for the same job, you should be aware that you will not get a promotion when you just join the new company. Thus you should ask for at least the salary you get now plus the coming raise you will get in your old company.

If you have a completely new function, you should evaluate the responsibility and do some research online or ask around for a salary range, this will help you to negotiate in the final phase. Anyway, there are lots of posts regarding the interview and on-boarding process, I will not go too far here.

2. Be aware of your notice period

In case you are not aware yet, your employer is entitled to keep you still at the current job for a max time of notice period, this notice period depends only on how long you have worked in the current employer and what is the date you officially communicated to your employer. You can check the calculation here.

3. Submit your official resignation letter

It is very important to know that your notice period only starts counting the coming Monday after the reception by the employer of your official resignation letter. This letter needs to be printed in 2 copies, both you and the employer should sign and retain a copy. As English is not an official language in Belgium, your letter should be written in Dutch or French (depends on where your company is located).
In this letter, you need to indicate the date of today, the notice period, and your final day of work.
How to write a formal resignation letter?
Thanks to this site, below is an example for French notice letter.

lettre de démission formelle
Nom Prénom
Rue 1
0000 Localité

Nom de l’entreprise
Rue 1
0000 Localité

Bruxelles, le 25 juin 20XX

Cher monsieur Dupont,

Je souhaite par la présente vous remettre ma démission. J’ai en effet décidé de donner une nouvelle orientation à ma carrière et de rejoindre une nouvelle entreprise. Je respecterai naturellement mon délai de préavis de x semaines/mois, lequel débutera le 1er juillet 20XX.

En vous remerciant pour notre aimable collaboration, je vous prie de croire, cher monsieur Dupont, en l’expression de mes sentiments les meilleurs.

Prénom Nom

For Dutch example, I am referring to this site.

Geachte mevrouw Huizer,

Met deze brief bied ik u mijn ontslag aan. Ik heb een andere baan gevonden die betere perspectieven biedt. Daarom zeg ik onze arbeidsovereenkomst, met inachtneming van de opzegtermijn van een maand, op per 1 mei 2018. 

Ik wil u bedanken voor de goede en correcte samenwerking waarvan ik de afgelopen jaren heb mogen genieten en wens u en het bedrijf het beste toe. Indien u prijs stelt op een gesprek betreffende mijn ontslag dan stel ik mij hiervoor uiteraard beschikbaar.

Graag ontvang ik van u een schriftelijke bevestiging van mijn ontslag.

Hoogachtend,

xx xx 

4. Be professional about your handover and transition

After your official resignation letter, you start to count down your notice period. You probably already get quite some clear tasks for handover or to finish. Try to stay professional during this period, because you never know, maybe one day you would like to come back to this very company, better to keep a good reputation. In my career I also saw quite some reunion of colleagues in different companies, so ending a journey decently is quite important.

5. Administration (holidays, bonus, insurance, company car, exit interviews…)

Among others, you should deal with all the administrations during your time in the company, it is so much easier. To avoid misunderstanding, communicate and ask for confirmation from your HR admin beforehand regarding your holidays left, your bonus, the return date of your company car, etc.

Documents you should receive:
C4 document
Working certificate
Holiday statement
End saldo pay slips

Holidays:

In Belgium, the legal vacation days are paid based upon the days worked in the previous year.
When you leave the company, your current employer pays out the legal vacation days you have “earned” for the next year. These amounts are indicated on the holiday statement. If you join a new employer in Belgium, you will need to provide them your holiday statements.

Don’t hesitate to confirm with HR in advance regarding the days left which should be paid out. Naturally, after you joined your new company, you are still entitled to the number of legal holidays (20 days in Belgium) you left for the current year, but you will not get paid by the new employer.

Bonus:

Depending on the company policy,  your bonus can be paid together with your holiday money in the “End Saldo” you get from your current employer the month after you leave, it can also be paid to you during the next bonus period (could be next year), or even worse, you might lose your well-deserved bonus if you leave before the bonus period.

It is important to find out the company bonus payout policy, to avoid surprises, and also a good idea to figure out the amount with your manager and HR to avoid misunderstanding.

Group insurance & Pension plan:

Your pension or group insurance provided to your current employer will not be lost. You will get a summary from the insurance company regarding the amount you have accumulated and what you can do with it. You can leave it there, or transfer it to the insurance company provided by your next employer so you don’t need to manage multiple pension accounts.

Company car:

If you have a company car, you need to read carefully about the return policy due to exit. Some companies have different policies to return cars due to the change of a car and due to the exit of the company. Things to check are Maintenance, summer/winter tires, technical control, damages, etc.

Eco cheques (if applicable):

Most Belgian companies offer employees 250 euro eco cheques per year, this can be used to purchase quite some things which contribute to the environment. Usually, the eco cheques are ordered by employers in May or June, for most of the companies, they are funded on your electronic lunch voucher card, so you should keep your electronic card until you receive the eco cheques in the coming June. Note you can most probably re-use your card if the supplier of electronic lunch vouchers is the same for your old and new employer.

If your employer still gives out the paper version of eco cheques, you should update them with your latest address.

Exit interview:

The exit interview will be useful for your current employer to get feedback and improve their management styles. Be honest and professional there, try to focus on the improvement rather than the complaints, leave personal issues out of this meeting, and don’t hesitate to point out the things which you appreciated!

6. Goodbye email and goodbye drink

Nowadays it is quite easy to keep in touch with LinkedIn, Facebook, etc, but still, a goodbye email is very important to let your coworkers know that you will no longer be accessing your professional email.
As a matter of fact, I would recommend sending out the goodbye email one week before your actual departure date, so that people are aware and can catch up with you during the week.

In Belgium, normally it is the one who leaves the company organize a drink and invite his or her colleagues. A drink will be a good occasion to say goodbye in an informal way, who knows, maybe some of your ex-colleagues become your colleague, client or supplier in the future.

7. Express your appreciation and gratitude

Whatever the reason is for you to quit, I believe you learned things there from a different level, whether they are training, technical skills, social skills, or even the network you had within the company, so don’t hesitate to express your appreciation and gratitude towards the company and your colleagues.

If you are going to write something on Facebook or LinkedIn, be proud to mention your next employer too.

8.Look forward to the new challenges

When you enter a new company, it is scary and exciting, and inevitable to compare your new colleagues to old ones. If things turn out not to be exactly what you imagined, do not remind yourself too much of the good old times but try to look ahead and focus on tackling the current challenges.

I hope you find this post helpful if you are in the process of changing employer, otherwise even better, enjoy your current job!

You might be interested to know how to choose job offers and offer negotiations in Belgium, check my new blog post: What to do after you get job offers?

Read more:

How to read your payslips in Belgium?

How much pension can you get when retiring in Belgian?

How can you spend the 250 euro eco cheques?

Tax refund in Belgium – Optimise your income tax

Health insurance, are you using it to its full potential?

All the paid holidays you might have missed in Belgium

Back to school – working student in Belgium

Fun facts about divorces in Belgium

References:

https://www.stepstone.be/conseils-de-carriere/article/rediger-une-lettre-de-demission-2-exemples/

https://www.rva.be/nl/formulieren/c4-werkloosheidsbewijs

What should you do after getting job offers?