loonklassen

Loonklassen, literally wage classes, is a wage classification system used in several Dutch-speaking labor markets to group jobs into distinct salary levels. In practice, positions are assigned to specific classes based on criteria such as required skills, responsibility, effort, and working conditions. The classes determine the applicable pay range and are often codified in collective agreements (CAO).

Typically, a company or sector maintains multiple loonklassen, each with a minimum and maximum salary. Jobs in higher classes command higher pay and greater responsibilities. Progression occurs through promotion, skill development, or seniority, and can involve automatic annual increments within a class or reclassification to a higher class when duties increase.

Loonklassen support transparency and comparability across roles and employees, facilitating collective bargaining and internal equity. They can simplify payroll administration and provide predictable career paths. Critics argue that rigid class structures may hinder wage flexibility, obscure market-driven pay, propagate grade inflation, or stall advancement for workers whose duties evolve without formal reclassification.

Although the term and format are most common in the Netherlands and Belgium, variants appear in various sectors worldwide under different names. In many public and semi-public sectors, loonklassen are still used alongside modern pay systems, with ongoing reforms to align them with skills, market rates, and performance.