Unemployment: what the March 2026 reform really changed
This is no longer a bill going through parliament. Since 1 March 2026, unemployment benefits are capped at 24 months. In the same move, the entry condition has been unified — 312 days of work for everyone — and the degressive scale, which used to run to about a dozen steps, is down to three. Here is what that looks like month by month, and what reopens a right.
The Act of 18 July 2025 rewrote unemployment insurance. It came into force on 1 March 2026, after a transition period that opened on 1 July 2025. So this is no longer a parliamentary debate: it is the system that applies today, and it changes three things at once — how long you are paid, how you get in, and how the amount is worked out.
Twenty-four months, not one more
The first period lasts twelve months, whatever your career. The second is calculated: one month per 104 days of employment record, capped at twelve months. The decimal in the result is rounded up if it reaches 5, otherwise it is dropped.
An employment record of 896 days gives 896 ÷ 104 = 8.61, rounded up to 9 months of second period. A right that opens on 6 April 2026 therefore moves into the second period on 6 April 2027 and expires on 6 January 2028.
A record of 2,365 days gives 22.74, so 23 months — brought back to 12. Beyond roughly ten years of career the cap is reached and a longer career adds nothing.
One point that matters in a lot of files: several situations push back the end-of-right date without using up the counter. Full-time employment, however long it lasts. Part-time work with retention of rights but no income guarantee allowance. Voluntary part-time work without benefits of at least twelve hours a week or a one-third schedule. Periods covered by maternity benefits, compulsory maternity leave, birth leave or adoption leave. And any employment outside the unemployment branch of social security — self-employed, statutory civil servant, tenured teacher — of at least three months without benefits.
The way in: 312 days, whatever your age
This is the second fundamental change, and it went far less noticed than the 24 months.
The 36-month reference period can be extended — sickness, activity outside social security of at least three months, career break or time credit, detention — but never beyond fifteen years in total.
For a worker over 50, getting in has become easier: 312 days instead of 624. For a young person with a short career it has become harder, since the window goes from 21 to 36 months while the number of days stays the same — the net effect depends on how steadily you worked over the last three years.
How much you get, month by month
The degressive scale is down to three steps before the flat rate, where the old system stacked up a dozen.
| Period | % of salary | Salary cap |
|---|---|---|
| Months 1 to 3 | 65% | €4,265.98/month |
| Months 4 to 6 | 60% | €4,010.98/month |
| Months 7 to 12 | 60% | €3,262.99/month |
| Months 13 to 24 | Flat rate, no link to your salary any more | |
The cap counts as much as the percentage. Between the third and the seventh month it falls from €4,265.98 to €3,262.99: on a salary above that second figure, your benefit drops twice, once through the rate and once through the cap.
The gross daily amounts
| Situation | Max. months 1-3 | Flat rate months 13-24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cohabitant with dependants | €106.65/day | €69.59/day |
| Single person | €106.65/day | €56.40/day |
| Cohabitant | €106.65/day | €29.27 or €41.54/day |
The scheme pays six daily benefits a week, Monday to Saturday, so an average of 26 a month. A flat rate of €56.40 a day therefore comes to about €1,466 gross a month. A withholding tax of 10.09% is deducted, except in certain situations.
⚠️ The cohabitant is the big loser under the flat rate. The amount falls to €29.27 a day if the employment record is judged insufficient, against €41.54 otherwise — roughly €761 versus €1,080 gross a month. It is the steepest step in the whole scale, and it lands in month thirteen.
Who escapes the time limit
An exception obtained on an earlier claim stays acquired, even if the conditions tighten afterwards.
Leaving education: the vocational integration period
A young person leaving education without having worked does not fall under unemployment benefits but under the integration allowance, with a separate route.
⚠️ Going back into education wipes out the integration period already served. Resuming studies of at least 27 credits or 16 hours a week stops the integration period from running. And carrying on with studies you had already started cancels the period already served.
The deadlines that cost you weeks
Payment runs from the date of your claim, not from the date your contract ended. That is the most expensive rule to be unaware of: go to your payment institution on the first day of unemployment, even without all the documents.
| Situation | Registration deadline | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|
| General case | On the day of the claim or within 8 days | Benefits only from the date you register |
| Exemption from working your notice | 2 months from the 1st day of the exemption | Exclusion for 4 weeks |
| Payment that cannot be combined with benefits (notice, termination by mutual agreement, eviction, non-compete) | 2 months from the 1st day covered | Exclusion for 4 weeks |
The documents: the C4 certificate is issued by your employer at the end of the contract, and it is the basic one. The C6 comes from your health insurance fund in case of unfitness for work. The C109 is issued by your payment institution after a period of inactivity, after self-employed activity, or if the C4 cannot be obtained in time — that last case is precisely what lets you avoid waiting. The C1 declares your family situation, and it is what sets your category, and therefore your amount.
When your right ends
Once the 24 months are used up, the right expires. To reopen one you have to prove 312 days of work or of days treated as work again within a reference period of 36 months — and those days cannot be the ones already used for an earlier admissibility.
A transition period applies to people who were already being paid before 1 March 2026. The number of months left is counted from 1 July 2025 and depends on the payment period reached on 30 June 2025: from six months for someone on the flat rate for twenty years or more, to twenty-four months for someone in the first period with at least five years of employment record. That calendar is what explains the clustered expiry dates seen since the start of the year.
If you are thinking of going self-employed rather than waiting for your right to run out, the guide to resigning and the bridging right covers the subject from the voluntary-departure side.