Overview of the bonus plan (CAO 90) and deadline for 2025

What is a CAO 90 bonus?

As an employer, you set collective objectives that must be achieved within a specific timeframe by either all employees or a designated group. If these objectives are met by the end of the set period, the involved employees receive a bonus.

The collective nature of the bonus is essential. A CAO 90 bonus plan cannot be used to reward an individual employee.

Conditions and objectives for the bonus

The benefit depends on achieving clear, measurable, and verifiable objectives.

The objectives must be collective, and their achievement cannot be guaranteed at the time of implementing the plan.

Examples of possible objectives include:

• Financial objectives (e.g. reaching a specific revenue target);

• Management-level objectives (e.g., increasing the number of employee training sessions);

• Organisational objectives (e.g., reducing absenteeism);

• Environmental/ecological objectives (e.g., reducing waste production);

• Other objectives (e.g., obtaining a specific certification).

What timeframes are possible?

If your company wants to grant such a bonus, you must determine the period to which the collective objectives will apply.

If you choose the calendar year 2025 as the reference period, your collective labour agreement or accession document must be submitted no later than 30 April 2025.

The bonus plan may be applied retroactively, but only for a maximum of one third of the selected timeframe.

Social and tax treatment of the salary bonus

The employee pays a solidarity contribution of 13.07% on the awarded bonus. As an employer, you owe a 33% employer contribution on the same amount.

No withholding tax is due as long as the bonus remains under the legal threshold, which is calculated after the employee's solidarity contribution is deducted.

The thresholds are indexed annually. For 2025, the limits are:

• €4,164 for social security contributions;

• €3,622 for withholding tax.

If the awarded bonus exceeds the threshold, the exceeding amount will be subject to regular social security contributions and payroll withholding tax.

Obligation to inform employees

As an employer, you are required to provide each affected employee with an information sheet when paying the non-recurring performance-related benefit.

If no benefit is paid during a given period, the affected employees must still receive an information sheet at the end of that period.