Posted by Sometimes mistakes happen, and sometimes simply horrible story happens to people. The most important thing is to know things that are ongoing and deal with them with patience. Today I would like to tell the story about how I finally got the missed salary from one of my previous employers, and share some tips and tricks with you.
I handed in my resignation letter to my previous employer in November 2021, my last working day was in January 2022. ( there are many things to deal with when you resign, check my previous blog post Manage your resignation in Belgium), only in November 2022, I finally got the missed 13th month of 2021, and the whole process was quite interesting.
1. The last salary slip
The last month’s payment in Belgium usually is a big lump sum of multiple things: The current month’s salary, the remaining holiday payment of the current year (both single and double), the pro-rata eligible holiday of next year (based on the days you worked in the current year). So in the end, if you worked full time in your last month, you should (roughly) expect 2.5 times your normal netto salary, if it happens to be December, then you should expect 3.5 times (plus 13th-month salary).
Also check out my previous post How does a Belgian salary slip look like?
It is important for you to read through the payslip for the last month and figure out the details, when I got my last month’s salary, I already felt that it was a smaller amount than I expected, so I reached out to HR team to get the payslip, which took a few months. (Normally, in Belgium, it is a standard process that you receive the last payslip together with your other separation documents, on an unrelated matter, it also took a few months for me to receive the holiday certificate and to get my phone number back, sigh sigh sigh).
2. The struggle
When I wrote the email to HR stating that I didn’t receive the 13th’s month salary according to the payment slip, the response I got was “We have already paid you, it is stated in the salary slip – single and double holiday allowance”. I had to explain in the email and also later in a call that those were 2 different concepts, it is just by coincidence that they both should come in the same month.
Later on, they assigned this matter to an offshore personnel, who still insisted on the same excuse.
After following up for a few months, I got really upset and annoyed by the unprofessionalism about this whole separation process, and decided to ask for help.
3. Ask for help to get back the salary
I wrote an email to the HR of my current employer explaining the situation and asking for advice. They gave me the following advice:
- Ask for help from the working council (from the previous employer)
- Hire a personal lawyer
- File a complaint to social inspection www.werk.belgie.be
I have considered the first 2 options in the past, however, during my tenure, I didn’t particularly have any contact with the working council, and I even didn’t know any contact who still worked there. Hiring a private lawyer was also considered, but would be the last option given the cost.
I was happy to discover the last option, I visited the website and sent an email to them regarding the situation, and after one week, I got the response that I should check if I am eligible for a 13th-month salary. If yes, I can open a case on their website and they will start investigating. I felt like finally I found an organization that could help me!
At this time it has already been 11 months since my resignation, and I was ready to file the complaint, but before opening the official complaint, I thought of giving a heads-up to HR of the previous employer, so the investigation did not come as a surprise. I simply forwarded my conversation with the social inspection agent and explained to her that I was planning to file an official complaint, just giving her an FYI.
4. The result
To my surprise, she immediately acted and involved the payroll processor (which ironically she could have done 11 months ago), After 3 days the payment processor came back with the correct answer, indeed, the communication in the past had been all wrong, and indeed, they owed me my 13th-month salary which would be remit to me by the end of that very month.
At the end of that month, I got the missed salary, with 11 months of delay (eroded by inflation). I consider good lessons learned, and I could have done better during the separation process.
Here are a few pieces of advice for you:
a. Before you leave the company, make sure you have good communication with the administrator of the company, to communicate what (documents) you can expect from them, especially if it is a foreign company. Check Manage your resignation in Belgium
b. Any dispute about money such as bonus, 13th months, etc, should be clarified before you leave because afterward, it is possible that the HR simply ignores your request (it happened to me with another company too)
c. It is always better to know the contact from the working council during your tenure
d. Make sure you know where to find help if you are stuck. The social inspection www.werk.belgie.be was a good discovery for me, I hope they can be of help when you need it!
Let me know if you have any interesting stories about leaving an employer!
Photo by Karolina Grabowska: https://www.pexels.com/photo/different-dollar-bills-on-marble-surface-4386465/
Your approach to this subject is incredibly refreshing.