Service tickets in Belgium CSC - Belgium

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb What is a «Service ticket» ?

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb This is a service ticket Name Adress

What is a Service-ticket? A “service ticket” is … – A kind of a check, a ticket – You buy it for 7,50 euro – You can use it to pay for 1 hour of “household- services” = cleaning, ironing, preparing meals, shopping PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb

5.5. Why service tickets? Gouverment started in 2003 with the “service tickets” for 3 reasons: 1) to create extra jobs 2) struggle against illegal (black) labour 3) better combination of work and family

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb Where do you buy the Service ticket? 1 private company (Sodexo) has the right to emit the service tickets Sodexo organises the circulation of the tickets Sodexo gets paied by the Belgian Gouverment

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb How does it work? The customer buys the Service tickets The customer chooses a Service tickets- company ST-company and customer sign a contract e.g. 4 hours house-cleaning a week

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb How does it work? The company sends a Service ticket worker to the customer The company is the employer, not the customer ! All arrangements are made between customer and company

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb How does it work? The costumer pays the company, 1 ticket for 1 hour work The company pays the salary of the worker The company sends the tickets to Sodexo and recieves 20,80 euro for every ticket

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb How does it work? The Service ticket company has to pay all costs with the 20,80 euro: – Salary + taxes + social security – Administration, organisation – Training – Insurance – Benefits

Working conditions Maximum 38 hours a week Minimum wages: – 1 st year: 9,48 euro – 2 nd year: 9,85 euro – 3 rd year: 9,98 euro – 4 th year: 10,08 euro End of year bonus – 4,15% of salary Payment of transport cost PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb

Financial The customer pays 7,50 euro for 1 ticket The customer gets a tax-reduction of 2,25 euro => the service ticket costs 5,25 euro ! Gouverment pays extra 13,30 euro for 1 ticket Gouverment gives extra tax-reduction to the companies PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb Schematic Gouverment ST-company CustomerST-worker Sets the rules + subventions Normal labour contractCommercial contract X Sodexo Tickets

Some figures YearUsed service tickets PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb

Some figures End 2009 – Service ticket companies – Over Service tickets workers ( FTE) – Total cost gouverment 2009: Euro PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb Evaluation + Positive * Domestic worker has a normal, legal labour-contract with social security =pension, health care, unemployment benefit * The gouverment sets the legal basis and minimum working conditions * Organised social dialogue

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb Evaluation + Positive * No real hierarchic relation between customer and domestic worker * Flexibility in favor of workers * Opportunities for low-skilled people

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb Evaluation - Negative * Enormous cost for society (tax-payers) * Almost totally dependend on gouverment subventions * Low cost for customers = low respect for work

PERC - Budapest - 10 and 11 Feb Evaluation - Negative * Illegal, informal domestic works still exists * Fraude * Difficult to “organize” the service ticket workers