Anyone who purchases cleaning services or organises them in-house is paying an average of 6.45% more in 2026 than last year. This follows calculations by sector organisations in the cleaning industry, which published their price indexation from 1 January 2026. The range runs from 5.45% to 7.95%, depending on region, company size and workforce composition.

What is behind the rise

The increase has several causes that reinforce each other:

  • Collective agreement wage increase: from 1 January 2026, a 3% increase on the gross hourly wage applies, supplemented by fixed allowances per wage group.
  • Rising social security charges: employer contributions follow the wage cost index upwards.
  • Early retirement scheme: costs for early departure are included in the collective agreement and weigh on total labour costs.
  • European ruling on equal treatment: part-time and full-time workers must be treated equally for overtime supplements. This forced the sector to reopen and amend the collective agreement mid-term, creating additional administrative and financial pressure.

What this means concretely per employee

A full-time cleaning operative (PC 121) costs a Belgian employer — including social security contributions, year-end bonus and holiday pay — easily €45,000 to €52,000 per year. With an indexation of 6.45%, the extra cost on an annual basis rises to more than €3,000 per employee.

For a company with 5 cleaning staff, that represents an additional annual cost of more than €15,000, purely through wage indexation. And that amount keeps rising every year.

When does a robot pay off?

An autonomous floor cleaner such as the Gausium Phantas or Mira is available on lease for a fixed monthly amount, maintenance included. Compared to the full annual staff cost for large floor surfaces, the payback period for most medium-sized organisations is less than 12 months.

The calculation becomes even more favourable when you factor in:

  • The robot works at night, without supplements.
  • Consistent results: no bad days, no sick days.
  • Automatic compliance reporting, useful in food, healthcare and cleaning contracts with quality guarantees.
  • The robot cost does not rise with the wage index.

Not for every situation

A robot does not replace an employee entirely. Sanitary areas, detail work and contact surfaces, customer interaction: those remain human work. But for large floor surfaces, corridors, car parks and halls, the business case in 2026 is stronger than ever.

Use our ROI calculator to calculate your own payback period, or request a free site audit. We calculate the business case based on your concrete situation.

Conclusion

A rise of 6.45% in labour costs is not a one-off shock. It is a structural trend that continues every year. The cost of a cleaning robot does not rise with it. For a growing number of Belgian companies, 2026 is the year when the calculation definitively tips in favour of the robot.

Sources

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