Mandatory working-time registration from 2027: what your Belgian SME needs to know

You may have heard about it: from 1 January 2027, working-time registration is set to become mandatory for Belgian companies. But between the announcements and the legal reality, there is sometimes a gap. Let us give a clear overview, without jargon, including on what has not yet been settled.

Where exactly do things stand? (the law has not yet been voted)

Let us be precise, because it matters. The obligation stems from the federal government agreement (announced in late 2025 as part of the budget agreement). The principle has been decided, but the law has not yet been voted: a preliminary bill has been drafted and is currently submitted for the opinion of the National Labour Council, before going to the Council of Ministers and then to Parliament. The final text is therefore not finalised, and several arrangements will be clarified later, in particular by royal decree.

In concrete terms, the direction is clear (registration will become mandatory), but some details remain to be confirmed in the final text: which data exactly, retention periods, consultation arrangements. No need to panic; the key is to anticipate, without locking yourself too early into a rigid solution.

Why this obligation is coming

This is not a Belgian whim. In 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that member states had to require employers to put in place a system to measure daily working time, in an objective, reliable and accessible way. The aim is to protect workers and to ensure that working-time and rest limits are respected. Belgium was one of the last countries not to have transposed it. The 2027 obligation makes up for that delay.

Who will be concerned?

Very broadly: the obligation should target all employers, in all sectors, private and public alike, whatever the size of the company. Only the self-employed without staff would not be subject to it. In short, if you have team members, you will very likely be concerned.

What will have to be recorded?

The actual working time of each team member: the start time, the end time and the breaks. The idea is to be able to prove, reliably, the time actually worked, without having to rely on rough end-of-month estimates any more. The exact list of data to be kept will be confirmed by the final text.

Good news: no mandatory time clock

This is the most common misunderstanding. The law will require an "objective, reliable and accessible" system, but no particular hardware. You will not have to install a physical time clock. A digital system, or even a simple mobile app, is perfectly valid, all the more so with secure timestamping and geolocation at the moment of clocking in. For an SME, it is in fact the simplest and least costly solution.

Another reassuring point often mentioned: the intention is also to allow flexible systems, including registration after the fact in certain cases. Here too, the precise arrangements will be set by the implementing texts.

Do not confuse two obligations

For some companies, especially in construction and cleaning, two obligations collide. It is better to distinguish them from now on:

The two are different and one does not replace the other. PulseTime, for its part, already covers working-time registration. We will devote a dedicated article to Checkinatwork.

What remains to be clarified

As long as the law has not been voted and the decrees have not been published, a few points remain open: the exact list of data to record, the retention periods, the consultation arrangements and any sector-specific exceptions. The best approach is to follow the communications from your payroll provider, which will relay the final arrangements as soon as they are known.

How to get ready without waiting

There is no need to wait for the final text to move forward. The main principles (reliable duration, accessible system) are already clear. A few good habits:

• ✓Choose a simple system that your teams will adopt without training;
• ✓Favour a solution with no hardware to buy or install, to keep flexibility if the arrangements change;
• ✓Check that the hours export easily to your payroll provider;
• ✓Make sure you have reliable timestamping, ideally with geolocation when clocking in;
• ✓Test with one team before rolling it out. Ideally, be ready before the deadline, not on the day itself.

Anticipating now means avoiding the rush of late 2026, when everyone gets started at the same time.

PulseTime is ready for 2027

PulseTime was designed for exactly this: clocking in with one tap (smartphone, QR code or tablet), reliable timestamping and geolocation, hours consolidated automatically, all with no hardware to buy. Set up in 5 minutes, with no commitment. You anticipate the obligation with peace of mind, and you save time from today.