EOR Service in Belgium

Shraddha Saxena

Hire, Onboard and Pay Employees in Belgium Quickly and Efficiently

Hiring in Belgium at a glance

CURRENCY
Euro (€)
working hours
38- 40 hours per week
public/bank holidays
10 Days
capital
Brussels
language
Dutch, French, and German
date format
DD/MM/YYYY
remote workers
1.2M
tax year
Jan 1st to Dec 31st
minimum hourly salary
No minimum wage
CURRENCY
Euro (€)
public/bank holidays
10 Days
capital
Brussels
language
Dutch, French, and German
date format
DD/MM/YYYY
tax year
Jan 1st to Dec 31st
payroll frequency
Monthly
GDP
US $497 billion (est. 2022)
working hours
38- 40 hours per week

Employer of Record in Belgium

An Employer of Record (EOR) in Belgium helps companies hire employees on their behalf without establishing a legal entity in the country. The EOR acts as the primary employer and is responsible for all employment-related tasks, including payroll and tax management, benefits management, and local labor laws compliance. EOR services in Belgium provide a streamlined way for companies to build teams in the country without dealing with the administrative complexities of overseas operations. It also ensures that all local employment regulations are adhered to, mitigating legal risks for the foreign company. 

Why use Belgium EOR?

A Belgium Employer of Record (EOR) allows foreign businesses to navigate the country's complex employment laws and regulations efficiently. 

Belgium has stringent employment laws, including strict termination procedures, considerable employee protection, and various collective bargaining agreements. For instance, the average work hours in Belgium is 38-40 hours a week. As of the 2022 regulation, full-time employees in Belgium both white-collar and blue-collar, can request a four-day work week, covering the average work hours in 4 days instead of 5. Also, the social security contributions for employers are pretty elaborate and this may make payrolling difficult for new employers. 

An EOR takes responsibility for compliance with these regulations, reducing risk for foreign employers. It handles payroll, tax, benefits administration, and regulatory paperwork. This allows businesses to focus on their core operations, accelerate market entry, and rapidly onboard local talent in Belgium.

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EOR Costs in Belgium

EORs in Belgium typically charge a  percentage of the employee's gross salary. This fee covers the operational costs of managing payroll, taxes, benefits, and ensuring compliance with local labor laws. The pricing depends on the service provider, the complexity of the services required, and the number of employees that need to be managed. Also, additional charges may apply for setup, termination, and other special circumstances.

Gloroots’ has a fairly transparent pricing model that’s easy-to-understand and provides optimum investment value. We manage admin tasks and legal compliances associated with employment. Gloroots offers a live dashboard that helps you track your Belgium workforce expenses in real time. It also offers HR support and benefits management to the employees hired through EOR.

Key Metrics For Foreign Employers 

Belgium ranks 16th in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index report. The country is touted to be a leading provider of technology skills in Europe. Moreover, the government offers a number of financial assistance programs to help foreign employers with the costs of hiring and training new employees. 

For example, the "Welcome to Belgium" program provides financial assistance to foreign employers who hire employees from outside the European Union and relocate them to Belgium. These foreign employers may also be eligible for a number of tax breaks, such as a reduction in the employer's share of social security contributions.

Here are some key indicators from the Global Talent Competitiveness Report if you’re considering hiring from Belgium.

Factors Global Ranking Interpretation
Rule of law 19 Indicates effectiveness of law enforcement
Labour-employer cooperation 38 Indicates positive labor-employee relationships
Reading Maths, and Science 18 Indicates average scores in OECD's survey of 15-year old students
University Ranking 16 Indicates average QS rankings
Labour productivity per employee 7 Indicates total output by the total labor input used to produce that output
Ease of finding skilled employees 45 Indicates findability of skilled talent
Workforce with tertiary education 13 Indicates % of workforce with PG degrees
Digital Skills 32 Indicates prevalence of advanced digital skills in the population

Source: The Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023

Through the Gloroots’ Recrew platform, you can discover amazing talent in Belgium.

Why work in Belgium?

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Static and dynamic content editing

A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Risks of misclassification

Misclassification of employees in Belgium can have significant legal and financial repercussions for employers. Misclassifying workers as independent contractors or exempting them from certain employment regulations can lead to disputes, penalties, and potential lawsuits. Such misclassification may result in the denial of essential rights and benefits to employees, including social security, paid leave, and protection under labor laws.

However, partnering with a reputable PEO/EOR in Belgium can help businesses avoid the risks associated with misclassification. By leveraging the expertise of these professionals, employers can ensure proper employee classification, accurate payroll processing, and compliance with Belgian labor laws and regulations. The PEO/EOR assumes responsibility for managing employment-related tasks, allowing businesses to focus on their core objectives with confidence in their workforce's legal compliance and the protection of their employees' rights and benefits.

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Employing in Belgium

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Static and dynamic content editing

A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Tax

Income tax

Income Range Tax Rate (%)
0.00 - 15,200 25
15,200.01 - 26,830 40
26,830.01 - 46,440 45
46,440.01 and above 50

Social security contributions

Employer Payroll Contributions
Social Security (includes Sickness, Unemployment,
Accident Insurance & Pension)
27%

Employee Payroll Contributions Tax Rate (%)
Social Security for white-collar workers 13.07% (on gross wage at 100.00%)
Social Security for blue-collar workers 13.07% (on gross wage at 108.00%)
Total Employee Cost 13.07%

Separation

Termination 

The termination process varies depending on the type of employment agreement, with dismissal with notice being the most stringent form. Employees employed for at least six months have the right to be informed of the reasons for termination.

Certain employees have protection against dismissal, such as pregnant women who cannot be fired due to their pregnancy. Dismissal is only permitted under specific legal grounds, for example, employee representatives in Works Council and Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPPW) cannot be dismissed without valid reasons.

Certain sectors may have additional procedures outlined in collective bargaining agreements, providing specific information and consultation rules that may not fall under European and national collective dismissal rules, even in cases of multiple dismissals.

Upon the termination of an employment contract, any outstanding wages must be promptly paid, with the payment due at the latest on the first payday following the contract's end (as per Article 11 of the Wage Protection Act).

In situations where a significant percentage of the workforce is made redundant, collective agreements generally entitle them to additional compensations beyond average unemployment benefits. Employees dismissed for serious reasons or those who resign will not immediately be eligible for unemployment benefits.

Severance

Severance pay is only applicable in cases where the employer terminates the employment without providing notice.

Notice period

Duration of Employment Notice Period
0-3 months 1 week
<4 months 3 weeks
<5 months 4 weeks
<6 months 5 weeks
6-9 months 6 weeks
9-12 months 7 weeks
12-15 months 8 weeks
18-21 months 10 weeks
21-24 months 11 weeks
2< years Notice builds annually, capped at 65 weeks

Employers also have the option to pay in lieu of notice. From January 2023, new rules were implemented for the notice period. During this period, the worker is entitled to take time off for training or coaching. This practice is set to be further improved in 2023, with the aim of encouraging a "transition trajectory" to facilitate a quicker return to the labor market.

Probation period

Since January 2014, the Unified Employment Status Act has eliminated probation or trial periods, except for students, temporary workers, and temporary agency workers.

Start Hiring in Belgium today

When hiring globally, ensuring compliance comes with its own set of battles. Employers must ensure all hiring and onboarding activities adhere to employment laws, payroll procedures, DE&I compliance, GDPR and similar data protection, etc. If you think it is hard to set up local entities and start hiring, keeping up with a dynamic compliance landscape is far harder. 

Gloroots helps you minimize all these efforts by providing a single window to manage all these tasks. Our in-house experts fully shield you from cross-border employment and payroll compliance risks. We do this by helping you with generating employment contracts, on-time payments, compliant benefits, while you focus only on screening talent. 

Our promise is a stress-free global employment experience for both you and your employee.

Contact our experts today to kickstart your global hiring campaign.

Grow your team in Belgium

Growing a team means hiring the right employees at the right time and for the appropriate positions. Employers in Belgium must have a local legal organization and use local resources to handle compliance, payroll, tax, and benefits management. The complexity of employment regulations in Belgium makes compliance with employment laws demanding.

With Gloroots’s global Employer of Record (EoR) service, you can let Gloroots do the heavy lifting of payroll, tax, benefits, and compliance and concentrate on what matters to you most: your employees and company growth.

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Experience Seamless Hiring in Belgium?

Let us take care of all your employment needs. We guarantee easy onboarding & compliant workforce management in Belgium.

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