"It's not open on Sundays," goes the famous refrain in Belgium. But could this soon be changing?
Nearly two in three (63.8%) Belgians are open to working on Sundays and public holidays if their employers ask them to, according to a new survey by HR services group Acerta.
The figures come as recent data from Eurostat shows that, for employees only, 11.5% of 15 to 64-year-olds worked on Sunday, above the EU average of one in 10 employees.
Despite Sunday working being illegal in Belgium, except in certain circumstances, Acerta's survey shows that almost a quarter of employees would not need compensation to work on Sundays, while 39% would expect to be compensated with extra pay or vacation days.
Becoming part of the traditional workweek
"Sunday work is clearly becoming part of the traditional workweek more and more often," according to Kathelijne Verboomen, Director of HR services group Acerta, who released the figures. "For employers, Sunday work offers a solution to specific needs, such as handling peak demand, responding to consumer patterns, and organising staff flexibly."
"Working Sundays or public holidays is acceptable given an appropriate remuneration and compensation, precisely to prevent this from becoming the norm and employees from being under-rewarded for their efforts," Bert Engelaar, president at trade union ABVV-FGTB explained to The Brussels Times.
"Particular care must be taken with individual arrangements: employees are loyal and willing to step in, whilst employers may – sometimes subtly – exert pressure to work more irregular hours," the union leader said.
Engelaar further explained that his union has always advocated for collective agreements, so that colleagues are not pitted against one another, the work-life balance is maintained, the workload is kept under control, and employees’ flexibility does not become a free gift to employers.
Those working on Sundays in Belgium are more likely to be younger workers, with 17.1% of 15 to 24 year olds reporting working on Sundays in 2025, Eurostat data shows. The figures vary widely across the EU, from 3.3% in Lithuania to 32.4% in Ireland.
"Whereas Sunday work used to be rather exceptional, today it seems to be increasingly viewed as a normal part of flexible working," Acerta's Verboomen further noted.
"However, it is not as straightforward as it seems. Currently, labour law still stipulates Sunday rest and that working on a public holiday is prohibited. A number of exceptions apply to that basic principle. In any case, it remains a particularly complex matter," explained the HR expert.
In Belgium working on Sundays as an employee is officially prohibited except in certain circumstances or certain roles, such as in some retail work. In April the Federal Government relaxed shop opening hours for Sundays, while keeping in place restrictions that limit opening hours to after midday.
Responding to the changes in Sunday trading rules back in April, the ACV trade union noted that some employers ignore the Sunday law calling it "pure lawlessness".
Kristel Van Damme, responsible for the retail sector at ACV, said that fines fail to deter, "even if violations are detected, the fine is disproportionate to the profit made."
