Understand · Payroll glossary
What is a public sector salary?
Updated on
In the public sector, pay is called a salary (traitement): it follows from a salary scale and your pay seniority. In Dutch: wedde (brutomaandwedde, nettomaandwedde).
Definition of a public sector salary
The scales set an annual salary, at the base index, which rises with seniority. The monthly salary is this annual amount, indexed, divided by 12 and adjusted to your working arrangements.
The net salary of a statutory federal civil servant is paid on the second-to-last working day of the month.
Worked example
A full-time Flemish teacher (scale 148, just over 3 years’ seniority) has an indexed annual salary of €41,689.20 in 2026: €41,689.20 ÷ 12 = €3,474.10 gross a month.
In Dutch: wedde (brutomaandwedde, nettomaandwedde)
On a Dutch-language payslip or HR document, the salary is called ‘wedde (brutomaandwedde, nettomaandwedde)’; on a French-language one, ‘traitement’. On Indexo’s English pages: public sector salary.
Dutch term taken from: FPS BOSA.
Not to be confused with…
- Gross salary: the amount set in your contract, before any deduction: it is the starting point of your payslip.
- Salary scale: the code that sets your salary in the public sector, according to your grade or post and your qualifications.
Calculate it for your situation
Statutory or contract staff: net pay, gross for gross, holiday pay, the end-of-year allowance and the pension.
Related terms
- Salary scalePublic sector and education · in Dutch: weddeschaal
- Pay seniorityPublic sector and education · in Dutch: geldelijke anciënniteit
- Statutory civil servantPublic sector and education · in Dutch: statutair personeelslid
Sources
Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.
- Vakantiegeld voor onderwijspersoneel (92% of the March salary, 13.07% deduction), Flemish authorities.
- Calcul du traitement mensuel net d’un agent statutaire (August 2023): 7.5% for the survivor’s pension, 3.55% for health care, paid on the second-to-last working day of the month, FPS BOSA.
- Berekening nettomaandwedde statutair personeelslid, FPS BOSA.