Self-employed parcel couriers will receive a minimum remuneration of €32.77 per hour from 2024, the Federal Post Minister Petra De Sutter announced on Friday.
The minimum allowance for parcel couriers is a gross amount that includes transport costs, clothing costs, telephone costs, wages, social security contributions and hospitalisation insurance. These amounts will also be indexed and vary depending on whether someone cycles or drives a van.
"The minimum fee, made possible by the parcel law, is unique in Europe," De Sutter told Belga News Agency. The parcel law aims to stop companies from taking advantage of couriers. The minimum fee – which will be reassessed every six months – is defined in the Royal Decree, as is the role of the coordinators who will work around prevention in the depots.
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''There will be designated coordinators in postal parcel depots who will give information to delivery drivers. They will then teach parcel couriers about their rights and obligations when they start working for a parcel company," De Sutter said. "Additionally, the coordinators write a plan that identifies risks and can prevent violations."
She stressed that parcel companies cannot pay less than this amount but can of course pay more. "How much they earn today I do not know, but what we do know is that several checks showed that parcel couriers now often have to do undeclared work to make ends meet."
