Like I mentioned in another thread, here I go.

A Belgium technician earns +/- 14 €/hour, the very well paid 16 €/hour.
He may work max 38 hrs/ week.
If he has to work more, the first 2 hours have the same wage, the following 2 muuts be payed at 150 %, the then following at 200%.
Sunday and Saturday afternoon is 200%.

From that wage, the worker receives net in his hands +/- 55% to 60 %.
The deduction of that wage serves fro a pre-payment of his annual taxes, obliged insurances and the later retirement.

At the end of the year, a technician receives +/- 1.250 € as a bonus. During the holidays (22 days/year in summer) he/she don’t works but receives his holiday pay of +/- twice the monthly net payment (+/- 2.250 €)
So the net year payment for a technician will be +/- 18000 € to 19000 € . For this amount, everything is already paid (insurances, taxes, medication..).

The company credits 35 €/hour + transport costs.

What if an employee becomes sick in Belgium? I think we have one of the best social systems in the whole world.
If he/she becomes sick and he needs a doctor for only minor sickness (a flu or a common cold), he only has to pay +/-5 to 10 €. Medication is almost free (you pay max 5% of the medication value or even nothing)
If the disease is worser like an accident, operation, your wife will have a baby (not a disease I suppose), then you have to pay max 400 €, whatever they have to do with you.
Even revalidation or medication afterwards is all included.
Kids not older then 16 years even have t pay 0 €, even for the dentist.
This is also valid for the self-employed refr. Techs if they are insured. Very cheap, I pay 150 €/year for this.
Even if you never had worked in your life, you still have the same rights.

What if an employee becomes unemployed? The first year, he still receives +/-90% of his last wage. Thereafter, this amount is lowered to +/- 900 € if you live alone and can go till 1.400 € or more if you have kids and your wife has no income.
This is not valid for self-employed techs. If you become unemployed, it’s a pity unless you where insured (I’m insured for an amount 30 €/day and this cost me +/- 1.250 €/year)

Once you become retired, officially at 65 years, often at 60 years you receive your retirement pay. This is +/- 1.250 to 1.500 €. Those who did military service or any other government job (teachers, customs, polices, tax employees …) receive as there monthly pension the same amount as they had when they stopped working.
A self-employed tech who retires gets +/- 400 € retirement pay (!) So you need to save for you old days while working. I have a combined insurance if I become unemployed for whatever reason this may be and for my retirement.

For each kid you have, you receive a monthly amount (my dictionary translates this as a family allowance) The more kids you have and the older they become, the more the amount raises/kid and the older they become. For example when they are born : 1st kid = 100 €, 2 nd kid = 125 € and 3th kid = 150 €. If one of the kids is handicapped, the amounts doubles.

If you have a house and you have to pay a loan, then the interests are deductible from your gross wage. You also must take a life insurance, if one dies, the loan is paid immediately by the insurance company .

What we also have in our business is an insurance for lawyers. If we need one, the insurance pays him/her. This cost +/- 600 €/year. The max amount the lawyer the insurance pays is +/- 60000 €

Car insurance all in: +/-1700 € (also your own losses) or +/- 400 € if you only take an insurance where they pay the losses for the other side.

Some prices here: a bread:1.55 €, a bottle cola (1,5 l): 1,25 €, a glass of beer; 1,7 €, one liter fuel :1,1 €, R404a, R407 +/- 9,5 €, a hermetic unit of 2 HP/R404a – FH4525ZHR (Unithι Hermιtique/France): 612 €, a Copeland compressor DLHA-50 X: 1350 €, D8SK-700X : 6506 €,