Who is eligible for Holiday Benefits?

The Social and Cultural Activities of the Works Council must benefit all employees, without discrimination between them when granting benefits, in line with the principle of equal treatment:

• ❌ No distinction based on professional criteria: such as type of contract (permanent/fixed-term), job category (manager/non-manager), working hours (full-time/part-time), etc. 
• ❌ No exclusion of employees based on length of service. 

📌 The amount of the benefit can be adjusted according to objective and predetermined social criteria (such as household income or reference tax income), which are known to everyone in the company and set by agreement. 

💡Key point : the Works Council must set rules for granting the benefit that are: objective, transparent, and fair.

There are two cases: 

• ✅ An officer who combines their role with an employment contract: In this case, the officer is eligible for Social and Cultural Activities and therefore for Holiday Benefits, on the same basis as other employees (equal treatment).
• ❌ An officer who only has a company mandate and does NOT also have an employment contract: They must be excluded from the Social and Cultural Activities provided by the Works Council.

Holiday Benefits, like other Social and Cultural Activities provided by the Works Council, must be distributed equally to all employees of the company. 

As a rule, these benefits are mainly intended for employees (i.e. those with an employment contract: permanent, fixed-term, apprenticeship, etc.) of the company. 

However, the law does not prohibit extending this to other beneficiaries on an optional basis, as long as: 

• the decision is made transparently
• the rules for granting benefits are objective and fair
• the Works Council does not breach the principle of sound financial management 

💡 If the Works Council decides to offer Social and Cultural Activities to freelancers, it is recommended that this decision is recorded in the Works Council meeting minutes.

The holiday allowance is a Social and Cultural Activity reserved for employees and is usually distributed by the Works Council (except in certain cases depending on company size). 
Self-employed professionals are therefore not eligible for the associated social exemptions.