Most Belgian employers already track their employees’ working hours, but opinions remain divided over whether the practice should become mandatory from January 2027.
Seven in 10 Belgian companies already register their employees’ working hours, according to a new survey by HR services group Acerta. The figures come as employers are expected to introduce a time-registration system from 1 January 2027, provided the necessary legislation is adopted.
“Companies that have not yet introduced time registration are reluctant because they expect their employees to see it as an unwanted monitoring mechanism,” said Florence Cordonnier, a time-registration expert at Acerta.
The upcoming requirement stems from a European obligation for employers to have an objective, reliable and accessible system for recording employees’ daily working time.
Yet employers remain divided over the measure. Some 42.8% of those surveyed said they were (strongly) opposed to mandatory time registration, while 37.8% said they were 'moderately' to 'strongly' in favour. Another 19.4% took a neutral position.
Regional differences are particularly striking: in Wallonia, 56.2% of employers support mandatory time registration, while only around two in 10 are explicitly opposed. In Flanders, meanwhile, 49.7% of employers are against the requirement.
Most companies already track hours
Despite the disagreement over making it compulsory, 69.7% of the employers surveyed already register working hours in some form.
For 41.1% of all respondents, this applies to all employees, using systems such as digital clocking-in systems or apps. Others only register working hours for specific groups or situations, such as part-time employees or workers with flexible schedules.
The practice is particularly widespread in the social-profit sector and among production companies, where 78.7% of employers already use some form of time registration. Among service companies, the figure stands at 62.6%.
For companies that do not yet fully register working hours, the most common reason is a preference for working on the basis of trust, cited by 46.3% of respondents. A further 27.9% say they simply have no need for such a system. Administrative burden (17.6%) and cost (7.4%) were less frequently cited as reasons for not implementing time registration.
Concerns over employee reaction
Employers without a time-registration system are also concerned about how their employees would react to the measure. Almost two-thirds (64.2%) expect little support from their workforce.
However, Acerta's survey suggests that these concerns may be overstated. Among companies that already use some form of time registration, only 24.8% reported a negative reaction from employees.
The survey also found a gap between expectations and experience when it comes to the perception of monitoring. While 86.6% of employers without time registration fear employees would see it as an additional form of control, this was reported by 64% of companies that already use such systems.
She added that the system can also provide employers with better oversight of working hours and overtime. According to the survey, most companies that already register working time do not report paying out more overtime than before.
The Acerta survey was conducted among 304 managers and C-level decision-makers from private and public-sector organisations with at least 10 employees.
