Context

As you probably know, within Joint Committee 218, salaries were indexed by a fixed percentage (2%) at a variable point in time.

News

As of 1 January 2006, the current system of indexation will be replaced, for Joint Committee 218, by a system of yearly indexations on 1 January of each year (to the extent of the inflation of the previous year).

In other words, a switchover will be made from a fixed percentage (2%) of indexation at a variable point in time, to a variable percentage of indexation at a fixed point in time (namely on 1 January of each year). A transitional period between the last application of the current system and 1 January 2006 will be provided for to ensure a smooth change.

On 1 January 2006, the salaries will be indexed taking into account the evolution of the index figure 115.49 and the arithmetic average of the two quarterly health index figures (“indice lissé”) of November and December 2005. The anticipated adjustment for 1 January 2006 is 1.0136%.

From 1 January 2007, the percentage of increase will be the difference between the arithmetic average of the last two quarterly health index figures of November and December (year minus 1) and the arithmetic average of the last two quarterly health indexes of November and December of the year minus 2. As before, only the fixed part of the salaries has to be indexed, not the variable part.

From now, it will therefore be possible for the employer to anticipate the indexation and to take it into account when allowing voluntary salary increases.

The collective labour agreement entered into within Joint Committee 218 was recently signed and provides for the new methods of calculation in article 4: http://news.hrservices.be?lk200509281