The extension of the job bonus was one of the highlights of the September statement of the Jambon government. The job bonus is the instrument with which the Flemish government wants to support lower wages. The underlying message is that working should pay more. But because of the sky-high inflation and the associated automatic indexation of wages, the job bonus threatened to reach fewer people, because many people would suddenly earn too much.
That is why there will be an expansion of the target group next year. This planned extension is authorized with the submitted proposal for a decree. The lower limit increases from 1,800 euros gross monthly salary to 1,950 euros, the upper limit from 2,500 to 2,900 euros. Those who meet the lower limit will receive 600 euros per year. After that, it gradually decreases to 20 euros per month. The government is now raising that lowest amount to 50 euros. In this way, the target group of the measure also goes from approximately 730,000 to 890,000 working Flemish people.
The proposal immediately makes work on the single premium of 100 euros for employees who worked in 2021. All rightholders must now be contacted for this. The proposers of the proposal urge the group of rightholders to notify the competent services if their account number is not known or is incorrect. Those services would then contact the rightholders from November.