Animation: what is the educational engagement contract?

Verified 01 May 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The Educational Contract of Employment (EWC) is intended for persons who occasionally perform management and leadership functions in collective shelters for minors. For example, in a holiday center or colony. It is a special contract: it deviates from the rules of labor law, in particular on working time, rest and remuneration. We present you with the information you need to know.

The ERC is a contract for persons who have a occasional activity in collective shelters for minors for the following functions:

  • Facilitator
  • Educator
  • Director.

He has met with town halls or associations that organize summer camps, holiday centers or leisure centers for minors.

Certain labor law rules do not apply to the educational employment contract, in particular in the following areas:

  • Working time
  • Break Time
  • Compensation.

Warning  

All contracts signed by the same employee must not exceed 80 days in 12 consecutive months.

The ERC shall specify the following:

  • Identity and domicile of the employee
  • Identity and address of the organizer
  • Amount of remuneration (benefits in kind included)
  • Number of days worked
  • Number of planned rest days
  • Duration of the contract and conditions of early termination.

The number of hours worked per week shall not exceed 48 hours in any 6 consecutive months.

The employee shall be granted a rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours in any 7-day period.

An employee shall also be entitled to a rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours per 24-hour period each day.

However, daily rest may be reduced or eliminated in some cases.

The rules vary depending on whether the employee is housed on the premises (permanent presence at the host location) or at home.

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Employee housed on site

When the animators must be present at all times at the reception, daily rest may be eliminated.

The daily rest is then replaced by a compensatory rest equivalent to 11 hours per day.

It can be taken in divided doses as follows:

  • A part at rest
  • The other part at the end of the stay.

In the context of a 3-day stay, it is possible to grant 33 hours of rest at the end of the stay (i.e. 3 times 11 hours).

FYI  

From a stay of 4 days, part of the rest must be taken during the stay. This fraction of rest must be a minimum of 4 consecutive hours.

Employee living at home

Daily rest may be reduced up to 8 hours when, for example, the employee's home is close to the place of stay and his presence is only compulsory at the time of the young person's getting up and going.

In this case, the employee is entitled to compensatory rest equal to the fraction of the daily rest that he was unable to receive, for example 3 hours of compensatory rest for 8 hours (11 hours minus 8 hours).

This rest can be taken at the end of the stay for stays of less than 4 days, and in a split manner for stays of more than 4 days.

FYI  

Special rules (e.g. night work, rest time) apply when the employee is a minor.

Remuneration per day of the employee must not be less than €51.08 (raw).

If the functions require a continuous presence with the young people, the food and accommodation are entirely at the expense of the organizer.

The EWC may be terminated before the end of the contract by agreement between the employee and the organizer of the stay.

It may also be broken at the initiative of the organizer of the stay in the following cases:

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