Hiring Employees in Belgium: A Comprehensive Guide (2026)

Belgium operates one of Europe's most structured employment markets. Generous statutory protections, a layered system of 160+ sectoral collective bargaining agreements, and a dual-pillar social security regime mean that hiring here without expert preparation leads to payroll errors, misclassification penalties, or delayed onboarding.

For mid-market HR and finance teams working without a Belgian entity, that preparation gap is exactly where Employer of Record (EOR) services solve the problem. Getting the details wrong here compounds fast — in penalties, in delays, and in rework.

Belgium's appeal for global employers is real. Brussels is home to EU institutions and multinational headquarters, Antwerp is a global logistics and diamond-trading hub, Ghent and Leuven anchor a deep technology and life-sciences talent pool, and Belgium's trilingual workforce (Dutch, French, and German) makes it a natural gateway into Western European markets. Companies that need access to that talent quickly and compliantly benefit from understanding Belgium's employment framework end to end.

This guide covers every dimension of hiring in Belgium in 2026: employment law fundamentals, payroll and tax obligations, statutory benefits, how an Employer of Record works in this market, a step-by-step hiring walkthrough, visa and right-to-work requirements for non-EU hires, and termination and redundancy rules.

Whether you're hiring your first Belgian employee or standardizing a growing team's onboarding process, you'll find the compliance framework and Deel's role within it clearly laid out.

Belgium employment law: what every employer must know

Belgian employment law rests on a combination of federal statute, regional implementation, and critically, sectoral collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) negotiated through joint committees (paritair comités / commissions paritaires). This three-layer structure means that what applies to an employee in a Brussels tech firm can differ significantly from what applies to a Flemish manufacturing worker, even though both are covered by the same national Labor Act.

Understanding that layering is the starting point for any compliant Belgian hire.

Employment status categories

Belgium legally distinguishes three main worker categories. Most protections and payroll obligations in this guide apply to the employee category.

The distinction between employee and self-employed is not determined by contract title or mutual preference. It is determined by the actual facts of the working relationship under the Act on Labour Relations of 2006. Belgium's four-criteria misclassification test is covered in detail in the EOR section below.

Written-statement requirement

Belgian law requires a signed written employment contract before the first working day for fixed-term contracts, part-time contracts, and student employment agreements. Indefinite-term (permanent) contracts can technically be oral, but are routinely supported by a written document covering working conditions, the applicable joint committee, and the CBA. In practice, issuing a written contract for all contract types is expected. Failing to do so creates evidentiary risk if a dispute arises.

Minimum wage

Belgium's Guaranteed Average Monthly Minimum Income (GGMMI in Dutch, RMMMG in French), the national wage floor for private-sector employees over 18, rises three times in 2026 through Belgium's automatic pivot-index mechanism:

The national GGMMI applies to approximately 3% of the workforce directly. Most Belgian employees are covered by sectoral CBAs negotiated within their joint committee, which set minimum wages that average 19% higher than the national floor. Employers must check the applicable joint committee for the sector-specific minimum before onboarding.

Working time

The statutory maximum is 38 hours per week and 8 hours per day under the Labor Act of 1971. Sector-specific CBAs can set lower limits. Overtime is permitted up to 45 hours per week with appropriate internal or sectoral approval. Continuous and shift-work arrangements allow up to 11 or 12 hours per day under defined conditions. Belgian working-time rules also govern minimum rest periods: 11 consecutive hours between shifts and at least 35 consecutive hours of weekly rest.

Statutory annual leave

Belgium operates on a deferred-accrual holiday system: employees earn leave entitlements in one calendar year (the "holiday service year") and take them in the following year. For a full year of full-time employment, the entitlement is 4 weeks (20 working days on a 5-day week schedule). Employees joining mid-year accrue leave proportionally based on months worked. The deferred accrual means a new employee hired in 2026 will take their full 2026 accrual as leave in 2027. Employers need to plan payroll accordingly and typically advance leave in year one.

Beyond the 20-day statutory entitlement, Belgium recognizes 10 official public holidays per year at the national level (New Year's Day, Easter Monday, Labour Day, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, Belgian National Day, Assumption Day, All Saints' Day, Armistice Day, and Christmas Day). When a public holiday falls on a weekend, the replacement day is typically determined by the applicable joint committee CBA.

Joint committee framework

Every private-sector employer in Belgium belongs to at least one joint committee (paritair comité / commissie paritaire), determined by the company's primary business activity. There are 160+ joint committees in Belgium covering every sector, numbered by worker type: committees starting with "1" cover blue-collar workers, "2" covers white-collar employees, and "3" covers both. The most significant for technology and professional services companies is Joint Committee 200 (PC 200), the Auxiliary National Joint Committee for White-Collar Workers, which covers approximately 50,000 enterprises and 300,000 employees in sectors not falling under a more specific committee. Employers must identify their correct joint committee at incorporation. The applicable committee determines minimum wages, working time rules, holiday allowances, transport reimbursement, year-end premiums, and more. A misassigned joint committee means the wrong CBA applies, which can lead to underpayment of statutory minimum wages or benefits.

Right-to-work checks and GDPR

Employers must verify every candidate's right to work in Belgium before the first working day. For non-EU/EEA nationals, this means confirming a valid Single Permit or other work authorization. Processing personal data during recruitment and employment is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and enforced by Belgium's independent supervisory authority, the Autorité de protection des données (APD) / Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit (GBA). Employers must have a lawful basis for each data-processing activity (typically contract performance or compliance with a legal obligation) and must maintain a record of processing activities (Article 30, GDPR). The APD has enforcement authority to impose fines of up to 4% of global annual turnover for serious GDPR violations. For a full overview of how to maintain global GDPR compliance in employment contexts, Deel's dedicated guide covers the cross-border and multi-jurisdiction requirements that apply to international hiring.

2026 employment-law reforms

Several notable changes apply to Belgian employment in 2026:

• Meal voucher increase: the maximum face value of meal vouchers rose to €10.00/day from 1 January 2026, with the employer's maximum contribution rising to €8.91/day (up from €6.91). Implementing this requires a company CBA or signed contract amendment; it does not happen automatically.

• Mobility budget delay: the mandatory mobility budget obligation (requiring qualifying employers to offer a cash alternative to employees entitled to a company car) was delayed from the original 2026 target and now applies from 1 January 2027 for companies with more than 50 employees and from 1 January 2028 for companies with 15–50 employees. From 1 January 2026, only fully electric vehicles qualify under Pillar 1 of the mobility budget scheme.

• Notice period cap: a parliamentary reform effective 1 June 2026 caps notice periods for new employment contracts at 52 weeks once the employee reaches 17 years of seniority. Previously, notice could continue to grow indefinitely.

• Quasi-trial period notice: under the Act of 3 June 2026 (in force 1 August 2026), a flat one-week notice period applies for both employer and employee in the first six months of employment.

Payroll, tax, and employer costs explained

Belgium uses a Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) withholding system administered centrally through the National Social Security Office (ONSS/RSZ). Employers deduct both employee social security contributions and professional withholding tax (bedrijfsvoorheffing / précompte professionnel) from gross salary before paying the net amount. The employer separately remits its own social security contributions to the ONSS on a quarterly basis through the DmfA declaration.

Income tax bands

Belgium applies four progressive personal income tax rates. The thresholds below apply to income earned in 2026 (assessment year 2027), with a personal tax-free allowance of €11,180:

These national rates are supplemented by a municipal surcharge (gemeentebelasting / taxe communale) levied by the municipality where the employee lives. The national average surcharge is approximately 7%; Brussels applies 7.99% in 2026. Employers withhold a professional advance based on FPS Finance withholding tables, which account for family status and other deductions.

Social security contributions

Both employers and employees contribute to the ONSS/RSZ, funding pensions, healthcare, unemployment, family allowances, and incapacity cover. Rates for 2026:

• Employer contributions (white-collar): approximately 27% of gross salary (basic rate ~25% plus additional employer contributions of ~3%)

• Employer contributions (blue-collar): approximately 33% of gross wages, calculated on 108% of actual gross wages. The 8% loading reflects how blue-collar holiday pay is funded through the sectoral holiday fund

• Employee contribution: a flat 13.07% of gross salary, with no ceiling

From 1 July 2025, under Belgium's Programme Act of 18 July 2025, employers are exempt from basic social security contributions on employee gross remuneration exceeding €85,000 per quarter. The basic rate (~25%) exemption applies; additional employer contributions and employee contributions remain unchanged.

Double holiday pay

Belgian employees receive a supplementary holiday payment (vakantiegeld in Dutch, pécule de vacances in French) paid in May or June each year. For white-collar employees:

• Amount: 92% of the gross monthly salary in the payment month, pro-rated by the proportion of the prior calendar year worked at full time

• Example: an employee earning €5,000 gross/month who worked full-time for all 12 months of the prior year receives €5,000 × 92% = €4,600 in double holiday pay

• What counts: fixed salary and variable elements subject to regular ONSS contributions are included; benefits in kind (company car, meal vouchers) are excluded

Blue-collar workers receive holiday pay through the sectoral RJV/ONVA holiday fund, not directly from the employer. The employer contributes to the fund via ONSS, and the fund pays employees directly.

Year-end premium (13th month)

Many sectoral CBAs in Belgium mandate a year-end premium (effectively a 13th month of salary) paid in November or December. This is not a national statutory requirement at the federal level, but is so widespread across sectors that employers should treat it as standard and verify the applicable joint committee CBA.

Where the year-end premium is mandated by CBA, it is calculated on pro-rated gross salary for employees who did not work the full year. A mid-year joiner receives a proportional amount based on months worked in the calendar year.

Reimbursement of transport costs

Under most Belgian sectoral CBAs, employers are required to contribute to employees' daily commuting costs.

For employees using public transport, employers typically reimburse the full cost of season tickets. For employees commuting by car, a per-kilometer reimbursement applies at a rate set by the applicable CBA.

Some joint committees have also introduced cycling allowances as an alternative form of transport cost reimbursement. These reimbursements are generally exempt from social security contributions up to applicable ceilings.

Employer cost example

The following table illustrates the all-in annual cost for a white-collar employee earning €60,000 gross per year. This is an indicative example; actual totals vary by sector CBA, classification, and benefits choices.

This example excludes group/hospitalization insurance, eco-cheques, transport reimbursement, and the mobility budget where applicable. Add these and the true all-in cost for a mid-salary Belgian employee can reach 1.5× or more of gross salary.

Pension

Belgium's pension system operates on three pillars. The first pillar is the statutory state pension funded through ONSS contributions. Both employer and employee contributions feed into this over the course of an employment career.

The second pillar covers occupational pension plans. At the federal level, second-pillar plans are not universally mandatory, but sector-level joint committee CBAs frequently require employers in their sector to enroll employees in a group insurance plan that includes both a supplementary pension component and disability coverage.

The third pillar covers individual voluntary savings plans. Employers joining a new sector should immediately check the applicable joint committee CBA for any mandatory second-pillar obligation and the designated fund or insurer they must use.

Profit sharing and collective bonuses (Cao 90).

Belgian employers can grant a collective bonus to all employees through the CLA 90 scheme (cao 90 / CCT 90). This is a non-recurring result-tied bonus that benefits from favorable social security and tax treatment, entirely exempt from employer and employee ONSS contributions up to a threshold of €3,948 per employee per year in 2025 (indexed annually).

The bonus must be tied to objective, verifiable collective results (team performance metrics, company revenue targets) and must be set through a company-level CBA, a company work rules amendment, or a standard written document if no trade union delegation exists.

The CLA 90 collective bonus is widely used as a cost-effective alternative to individual variable pay, and employers should understand the structure before defaulting to standard variable compensation arrangements that attract full social security contributions.

Electronic salary payments

Belgium requires that salaries be paid electronically to a bank account designated by the employee. Payment by cash is not permitted for employment contracts subject to Belgian law. Payroll must be processed in euros.

Salary payment frequency is typically monthly, with the pay date determined by the employment contract or applicable CBA. Many CBAs specify payment on or before the last working day of the month.

Statutory benefits and leave entitlements

Belgian employees receive statutory benefits, many of which are further enhanced by sectoral CBAs. Building total compensation in Belgium means accounting for all of these, not just gross salary.

The gap between gross salary and total employment cost is wider than most international HR teams expect when budgeting their first Belgian hire.

Annual leave and accrual mechanics

The deferred-accrual basis (holiday service year X, holiday year X+1) means new joiners in their first calendar year accrue leave for the following year.

Employees on indefinite contracts working full-time for a full prior calendar year are entitled to 4 weeks (20 days) in the following year.

Part-time employees accrue proportionally. For employees hired mid-year, most employers advance a portion of anticipated leave entitlement and true-up at year-end or departure.

Some sector CBAs extend the statutory entitlement beyond 20 days.

Check the applicable joint committee to confirm whether additional leave applies to your sector.

Sick leave and guaranteed wage

When an employee is unable to work due to illness or accident, the employer is legally required to continue paying full salary — the guaranteed wage (gewaarborgd loon / salaire garanti) for the first 30 calendar days of incapacity.

From day 31, the employee's health insurer (mutualiteit / mutualité) pays sickness benefits up to statutory daily ceilings, typically at 60–80% of capped gross salary depending on family status and duration of illness.

Extended illness beyond one year transitions into a separate invalidity benefit regime administered by the INAMI/RIZIV (National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance).

Leave entitlements

Belgium's primary parental protections:

From 1 January 2026, parents of children born in 2026 or later are entitled to an additional 5 paid days of leave following birth, on top of existing birth-leave and maternity-leave entitlements. These 5 days can be taken as a single block or individual days during the child's first year.

Group insurance and hospitalization

Group insurance, typically combining a supplementary pension component with disability and sometimes life insurance, is widely offered by Belgian employers. It is not federally mandated in the absence of a sectoral CBA requirement, but many joint committees require it for their sector.

Hospitalization insurance covers inpatient treatment costs and, increasingly, outpatient consultations as well. It is not legally mandatory at the federal level but is standard market practice.

Approximately 80% of the Belgian population holds hospitalization coverage, the majority through employer-sponsored plans. Employers entering Belgium as a market should budget for hospitalization insurance as a near-universal competitive expectation.

Meal vouchers

These are the most widely used supplementary benefit in Belgium. From 1 January 2026:

• Maximum face value: €10.00 per working day

• Maximum employer contribution: €8.91 per working day

• Minimum employee contribution: €1.09 per working day (deducted from salary)

• Tax treatment: the employer contribution is exempt from social security contributions and personal income tax, provided the maximum is not exceeded and all formal conditions (including a valid CBA or contractual basis) are met

Implementing the new €10.00 face value requires a company CBA or a signed amendment to each employee's employment contract. Meal vouchers can only be issued electronically (since January 2022) and can only be used for meals or food products.

Eco-cheques

Eco-cheques can be provided up to a maximum of €250 per employee per year, with each individual eco-cheque having a maximum denomination of €10. They are fully exempt from social security contributions and income tax when all conditions are met, valid for 24 months, and can only be spent on environmentally friendly products listed under CBA No. 98.

Eco-cheques have been issued in electronic format only since January 2022. Note that proposals to phase out eco-cheques in favor of enhanced meal vouchers have been discussed at the national level, but no firm legislative timeline has been set as of 2026, and eco-cheques remain fully in force for now.

Additional paid leave (ADV/RTT days)

Many sectoral CBAs grant additional paid leave days (known as ADV/arbeidsduurvermindering days in Dutch or RTT/réduction du temps de travail days in French) as a mechanism for reducing average working time below the statutory 38-hour maximum.

The number of additional days varies by sector and employment regime. For a 40-hour workweek in a sector with a 38-hour CBA standard, employees typically receive 12 ADV/RTT days per year on top of their statutory 20-day leave entitlement. Employers must account for these sector-specific additional days when calculating total leave liability.

Mobility budget

Employees who have, or are entitled to, a company car can request a mobility budget as an alternative. The employer must then provide a budget calculated on the total company ownership cost (TCO) of the relevant car.

The budget operates across three pillars:

• Pillar 1: a zero-emission company vehicle (which from 1 January 2026 requires the vehicle to be fully electric),

• Pillar 2: sustainable transport alternatives like cycling allowances and public transit passes

• Pillar 3: cash payout subject to social security contributions. Minimum budget: €3,233/year; maximum: 20% of total gross remuneration, capped at €17,244/year.

Transport cost reimbursement

Most Belgian sector CBAs require employers to contribute to employees' commuting costs. For public transport users, employers typically reimburse the full cost of season tickets. For car commuters, a per-kilometer allowance applies.

Some joint committees set specific minimum reimbursement levels above the national default. The transport cost reimbursement is generally exempt from ONSS social security contributions up to applicable thresholds, making it a tax-efficient benefit component.

Well-being at Work obligations

Belgium's Well-being at Work Act (Welzijnswet / Loi sur le Bien-être) requires employers to carry out systematic risk assessments of the work environment, appoint a prevention adviser (internal or through an external Prevention and Protection Service), maintain a psychosocial risk register, and provide employees with specific protections against violence, harassment, and undesirable behavior at work. These obligations apply from the first Belgian employee and are not waived for small employers or foreign entities using an EOR.

Deel's EOR onboarding process includes confirmation that the employee has received required well-being information, but the substantive risk-assessment and prevention obligations remain with the entity directing the work: the client company.

Hiring without a Belgian entity — how an Employer of Record works

For companies that want to hire in Belgium without first establishing a Belgian legal entity, an Employer of Record (EOR) is the most direct path to compliance.

The EOR becomes the legal employer of record in Belgium: it holds the employment contract, manages payroll, and bears the legal employer obligations, while the client company retains day-to-day management of the employee's work output, objectives, and commercial relationship.

How the EOR model works in Belgium

Deel's Belgian entity registers as the employer with the ONSS/RSZ. The client company directs the employee's daily work, sets objectives, and owns the business output. Deel, as EOR, is responsible for:

• Drafting and issuing a Belgian-compliant employment contract in the correct regional language (Dutch, French, or German)

• Filing DIMONA IN declarations before the employee's first working hour

• Running payroll, withholding professional tax, and remitting ONSS contributions

• Processing double holiday pay and year-end premiums where applicable

• Monitoring the applicable joint committee CBA for wage and benefit updates

• Managing sick leave administration, including coordinating guaranteed-wage obligations with the health insurer

• Handling the DIMONA OUT filing and final payroll on offboarding

Control vs. responsibility

Belgium's misclassification risk

Belgium's worker classification framework, governed by the Act on Labour Relations of 27 December 2006, applies a four-criteria test to distinguish an employment relationship from a commercial self-employment arrangement:

1. Free will of the parties — what the contract says and whether that reflects the actual relationship

2. Freedom to organize working time — can the worker freely choose when to work?

3. Freedom to organize work — can the worker decide how the work is done?

4. Hierarchical control — does the company closely supervise and direct the work?

Control is the decisive factor in Belgian case law. Where a foreign company closely directs a Belgian worker's daily schedule and methods, Belgian authorities will likely classify the relationship as employment regardless of what the contract calls it.

Misclassification carries severe consequences: retroactive ONSS contributions for up to 7 years, penalty multipliers on outstanding contributions, and criminal sanctions under Belgium's Level 4 social fraud framework.

Using an EOR can mitigate worker-misclassification risk by establishing a formal employment relationship from day one.

EOR vs. own Belgian entity

When to set up your own entity

An EOR makes strong economic sense for early-stage hiring, project-based hires, and teams where a full Belgian legal presence isn't yet warranted.

As Belgium headcount grows, or when a Belgian entity is needed for local contracting, regulatory licensing, or government procurement, establishing a Belgian subsidiary becomes more rational.

Deel offers entity-setup and own-entity strategic guidance for companies making that transition.

What makes Deel's EOR different

Deel's EOR service in Belgium operates through an established Belgian legal entity with existing ONSS registration, compliant employment contract templates in all three regional languages, and a platform that centralizes ONSS filings, payroll, and benefits administration.

Clients get onboarding that covers DIMONA filing, payroll configuration, and CBA determination in a single workflow. Deel monitors Belgium's 160+ joint committees for wage and benefit changes, so clients don't need to track sectoral CBA renegotiations themselves.

A note on EOR legality in Belgium

The legality of EOR arrangements in Belgium is a frequently raised question, and it deserves a direct answer. Belgian law regulates temporary agency work (uitzendarbeid / travail intérimaire) separately from permanent employment.

An EOR is not the same as a temporary staffing agency. Deel's EOR solution in Belgium operates as the statutory employer on an indefinite or fixed-term employment contract basis, not on a temporary agency basis.

The employee has a direct, ongoing employment contract with Deel's Belgian entity and the full statutory protections that come with it. This model is legally distinct from temporary agency work and consistent with how EOR services operate across other EU jurisdictions.

Companies using Deel's EOR service receive a compliant employment contract, not a temporary placement arrangement, and Deel's Belgian entity maintains all ONSS registrations, DmfA filings, and CBA obligations accordingly.

Step-by-step guide to hiring an employee in Belgium

Hiring a Belgian employee follows a defined legal sequence. Each step corresponds to a mandatory compliance action, not optional guidance. Deel's EOR solution manages many of these steps through connected platform workflows and local operational support.

There are two hiring paths: hiring through Deel's EOR solution (for companies without a Belgian entity) and hiring directly through your own Belgian entity. The steps below apply to both. After choosing an EOR as the hiring model, Deel handles the applicable employer registrations, filings, payroll, and benefits administration described in Steps 4 and 5.

Step 1: Choose your hiring model

The first decision is whether to hire through an EOR, your own Belgian entity, or another route. The key variables: how many employees you need, how quickly you need them, and whether Belgium is a long-term strategic market for the company.

Companies without a Belgian entity that need to hire quickly can consider an EOR, subject to their long-term operating and regulatory requirements. Companies with an existing Belgian entity proceed directly to Step 2.

Step 2: Verify right to work

Every employee must have the right to work in Belgium before their first working day. For EU/EEA nationals and Swiss citizens, free movement applies. Verify their EU/EEA identity document or residence registration.

For non-EU nationals, confirm they hold a valid Single Permit, EU Blue Card, or Intra-Company Transfer permit authorizing employment. Copying and storing these documents constitutes personal data processing under GDPR. Ensure your data-processing register reflects this activity and that retention periods comply with Belgian requirements.

Step 3: Draft and issue a compliant employment contract

Belgium has three official language regions that determine the mandatory contract language:

• Flanders (Dutch-speaking region): all employment documents must be in Dutch

• Wallonia (French-speaking region): all employment documents must be in French

• Brussels-Capital Region: Dutch and/or French; bilingual contracts are commonly used

• German-speaking community (Eupen-Malmedy area): all employment documents must be in German

Using the wrong language can render the contract partially invalid. The contract must specify: the parties' identities, job description and function, place of work, working time regime (full-time or part-time hours), gross wage, the applicable joint committee (PC/CP number), the start date, and, for fixed-term contracts, the end date or project scope.

Deel generates compliant, region-appropriate contracts as part of its EOR onboarding workflow.

Step 4: Register with the local tax/payroll authority

DIMONA (Déclaration Immédiate / Onmiddellijke Aangifte) is the mandatory electronic pre-employment declaration filed with the ONSS/RSZ. The DIMONA IN declaration must be submitted before the employee's first working hour. There is no grace period.

• DIMONA IN: filed before Day 1, recording the employee's national registry number, contract type, start date, and expected end date for fixed-term contracts

• DIMONA OUT: filed no later than the first working day following the end of the employment relationship

Fines for non-compliance start at €600 per unreported employee. Repeat violations can escalate to criminal prosecution with fines of €2,400–€24,000 and potential ONSS penalty surcharges.

Deel handles the required DIMONA filing as part of its EOR onboarding and payroll process.

Alongside DIMONA, employers must register with the ONSS and receive an employer identification number (RSZ-nummer / numéro ONSS) before the first payroll run.

Quarterly DmfA declarations separately report wages, hours, and employment details for every employee.

ONSS registration is a prerequisite to payroll. Without it, there is no legal mechanism to remit social security contributions, and payroll processed without ONSS registration is a serious legal violation.

For companies using Deel's EOR solution, DIMONA filing, DmfA declarations, and ONSS remittance are fully handled by Deel's Belgian payroll team. Deel manages these filings as part of its EOR service and provides relevant status information to the client.

Step 5: Set up pension and benefits enrollment

Check the applicable joint committee CBA to determine whether a sector-specific group pension or hospitalization insurance plan is mandatory. If it is, the employee must be enrolled before or immediately after the start date. Additional benefit setup:

• Meal vouchers: establish the electronic voucher agreement (company CBA or contract amendment required for the new €10.00 face value)

• Transport reimbursement: confirm whether the CBA requires public transport season ticket reimbursement or a per-kilometer car allowance

• Eco-cheques: if the sector CBA mandates them, set up the annual electronic delivery schedule

• Year-end premium: if mandated, configure payroll to accrue and pay the 13th-month premium in November or December

Step 6: Run the onboarding workflow

A complete Belgian onboarding covers:

• Providing the signed written contract before Day 1

• Confirming payroll setup: bank account details, tax-code determination, family-status declaration for withholding tax calculation

• Providing the employee with information about their joint committee and the rights under the applicable CBA

• Registering with the employee's health insurer (mutualiteit / mutualité) so sick-day benefits and maternity payments can flow correctly

• Completing any sector-specific safety training or registration requirements (e.g., construction sector requires a safety passport)

• Issuing the mandatory workplace-safety information under the Well-being at Work Act

Deel's onboarding workflow covers document collection, contract e-signing, payroll activation, and compliance confirmation in a single structured flow.

Step 7: Maintain ongoing compliance

Compliance in Belgium is an ongoing obligation, not a one-time onboarding exercise. Belgian employment law evolves regularly: through national legislation, EU directives transposed into Belgian law, and sectoral CBA renegotiations that happen on their own schedule, independent of the legislative calendar.

Building a compliance monitoring process is as important as getting the initial hire right.

Belgian compliance obligations don't end at onboarding:

• CBA updates: Belgium's joint committees renegotiate wage minimums and benefit terms regularly, often annually. Sector wage increases frequently outpace the national GGMMI indexation. Failing to apply the new sectoral minimum can expose employers to back-pay claims.

• LIMOSA notifications: if employees from other countries are posted temporarily to work in Belgium, employers must file a LIMOSA pre-posting declaration with the ONSS before work begins. LIMOSA is mandatory for all non-Belgian employees working in Belgium, including posted EU workers.

• A1 certificates: employees who split their work between Belgium and another EU member state need an A1 certificate confirming which country's social security rules apply. This is especially relevant for remote workers, cross-border commuters, and traveling managers.

• DmfA quarterly filings: the quarterly DmfA declaration reports wages, hours, and benefits for each employee, and feeds into the annual double holiday pay calculation. Inaccurate DmfA filings can result in incorrect holiday-pay payments the following year.

Hiring internationally into Belgium — visas and right to work

Belgium's position as home to EU institutions and dozens of major multinational headquarters makes it a regular destination for internationally mobile talent. For HR teams hiring non-EU nationals into Belgium, coordinating the work authorization process requires working across Belgium's regional employment authorities and the federal Immigration Office.

Belgium's status as the de facto seat of the European Union means it regularly receives internationally mobile workers across all seniority levels. Understanding which permit or right applies, and who initiates the process, avoids both delays and technical violations.

Belgium's work authorization framework

Since January 2019, any non-EU/EEA national who wants to live and work in Belgium for more than 90 days requires a Single Permit (Gecombineerde vergunning / Permis unique), which combines the work authorization and residence permit in a single procedure.

Since May 2026, all applications must be submitted through the federal online portal. Paper PDF applications are no longer accepted. The Belgium.be portal is the official entry point for work authorization information and applications.

The employer's role in the process

The Belgian employer (or, in an EOR arrangement, Deel's Belgian entity) must initiate the Single Permit application with the relevant regional employment authority: Brussels Economy and Employment, the Flemish Employment Agency (VDAB), or the Walloon equivalent.

The application is processed jointly by the regional employment authority and the federal Immigration Office.

Key procedural points:

• The process takes up to 120 days from when the regional authority has a complete file

• After the permit is approved, the employee needs a minimum of 15 working days to obtain the entry visa (Visa D)

• The employee must register with their local municipality and apply for a Single Permit card within 8 working days of arriving in Belgium

• A Single Permit is issued for the duration of the employment contract (or up to 3 years) and can be renewed

Primary permit and visa routes

• Highly Skilled Worker route (Single Permit): available to non-EU workers holding a higher education degree (minimum 3 years) and an employment contract of at least one year, earning at or above the applicable regional salary threshold. 2025/2026 thresholds: approximately €46,632/year in Flanders, €51,613/year in Wallonia, and €3,703/month in Brussels. Workers under 30 can qualify at 80% of the regional threshold in Flanders and Wallonia.

• EU Blue Card: a higher-threshold route for highly qualified workers, providing EU-wide mobility rights. Minimum gross salary in 2026: €63,586/year in Flanders, €68,815/year in Wallonia, €56,976/year in Brussels. Issued for up to 3 years and renewable; allows up to 90-day stays in other EU member states without a separate permit.

• Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) permit: for managers, specialists, and trainee employees transferred within the same corporate group from a non-EU country. Three categories with different salary thresholds and maximum stays: managers and specialists (up to 3 years); trainees (up to 1 year). The ICT permit includes EU intra-company mobility rights. Permit holders can work in other EU member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without an additional permit.

• EU/EEA free movement: citizens of EU/EEA member states and Switzerland have the right to live and work in Belgium without a work permit. They must register their presence with their local municipality within 8 working days and obtain a registration certificate, but no separate work authorization is required.

Short-stay work (under 90 days)

For assignments lasting under 90 days, non-EU nationals may be able to use their Schengen visa to work in Belgium without a separate work permit, depending on their nationality and the nature of the work.

However, LIMOSA pre-posting declarations are still required for short-stay posted workers from outside Belgium. This is a compliance obligation separate from visa requirements, and the penalties for LIMOSA non-filing apply equally to short stays.

Regional differences in processing

Because Belgian work authorization is administered at the regional level, processing times and documentation requirements vary between Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels.

Brussels-Capital Region applications sometimes run faster for highly skilled workers given the concentration of multinational employers familiar with the process; Flemish and Walloon applications can take longer if documentation is incomplete on first submission.

Deel's immigration team coordinates directly with the relevant regional authority and has experience across all three regions.

For a detailed walkthrough of how to get a visa and work permit in Belgium, including documentation checklists and timelines for each permit type, Deel's dedicated Belgium immigration guide covers the full process.

How Deel handles Single Permit sponsorship

Belgian Single Permit applications must be filed by an employer with a Belgian presence. A foreign company without a Belgian entity cannot directly act as the sponsoring employer in the application.

When Deel operates as EOR, Deel's Belgian entity may act as the sponsoring employer and support the Single Permit application for the client company's hire, coordinating required documentation and communications with the relevant regional authority, and supporting the employee through the visa and registration steps. The client company does not need to establish a local entity or manage Belgian immigration procedures directly.

Deel's immigration team manages the timeline and communicates status updates through the platform.

Termination, redundancy, and offboarding

Belgian employment law provides significant protection against arbitrary dismissal, and the financial exposure on termination is among the highest in Western Europe. Understanding the rules before hiring, not when a termination becomes necessary, is essential for HR and legal teams.

Fair dismissal grounds

Collective Bargaining Agreement No. 109 (CAO/CCT 109) gives every Belgian employee (from day one of employment, with no qualifying period) the right to request the written reasons for their dismissal.

An employer who doesn't provide reasons within the required timeframe owes the employee an additional 2 weeks' remuneration.

Under CBA 109, a dismissal is "manifestly unreasonable" when it is not based on the employee's conduct or the company's operational requirements, and when a reasonable employer in the same circumstances would not have dismissed.

Manifestly unreasonable dismissal triggers an indemnity of 3–17 weeks' remuneration, assessed by the labour court. The standard is objective and applies from the very first day of employment, unlike qualifying-period thresholds in many other jurisdictions.

Notice periods

Belgian notice periods are calculated based on continuous seniority, accruing at a fixed rate per quarter of service. A reform effective 1 June 2026 caps notice periods for new employment contracts at a maximum of 52 weeks once the employee reaches 17 years of seniority. This cap applies only to contracts commencing from 1 June 2026.

Existing employees with longer-accrued notice entitlements are not affected.

Unlike most EU countries, Belgium does not distinguish between "notice" as a procedural requirement and "severance" as a separate compensation obligation. The single notice period (or payment in lieu) is the primary termination financial exposure, but it accumulates to substantial amounts at high seniority levels.

A 12-year employee terminated today owes notice equivalent to 36 weeks of full remuneration. Base salary, benefits in kind, double holiday pay accrual, and any contractual variable pay components are all factored into the calculation.

Representative statutory notice periods for employer-initiated dismissal of white-collar employees under contracts starting from 1 June 2026:

Employers may choose to give notice and have the employee work out the period, or pay a termination indemnity (verbrekingsvergoeding / indemnité de rupture) equivalent to the gross remuneration (salary, benefits, and double holiday pay entitlement) that the employee would have earned during the notice period.

Outplacement

When an employee's notice entitlement reaches or exceeds 30 weeks (typically from around 9 years of seniority), the employer is legally required to offer a 60-hour outplacement support program within 15 days of dismissal. The cost, equivalent to 4 weeks of remuneration (statutory minimum €1,800, maximum €5,500), is deducted from the termination indemnity.

A separate outplacement regime applies to employees aged 45 or over at dismissal with at least one year of continuous service who do not qualify under the 30-week rule.

Redundancy and collective dismissal

Belgian law does not create a separate statutory redundancy payment beyond the notice period or payment in lieu. However, companies conducting collective dismissals affecting 10 or more employees over a 60-day period in companies with 100 or more workers must follow the Renault Act procedure, which requires formal information and consultation with recognized trade union delegations before the dismissals can proceed.

This process can take several months and cannot be shortcut. Employers must notify the regional employment authority and the trade union delegation simultaneously, and must complete two rounds of formal consultation: one on the economic grounds for the restructuring, and one on the social measures (outplacement, retraining, early retirement options) being offered.

Announcing individual dismissals before the Renault Act consultation is complete is a serious violation that triggers significant penalties and reinstatement obligations.

For smaller-scale restructuring below the collective dismissal thresholds, individual terminations still require full compliance with notice periods and CBA 109 procedural requirements. There is no simplified "redundancy" process for economic dismissals of individual employees. The same notice period and CBA 109 manifestly-unreasonable-dismissal framework applies regardless of the economic reason given.

Dismissal during protected periods

Belgian law prohibits or restricts dismissal during certain periods.

Employees cannot be dismissed during maternity leave, in the 15-week period following return from maternity leave, or while on birth leave (paternity leave).

Dismissal during a period of incapacity due to illness is not in itself prohibited, but the employer must pay the guaranteed wage for the first 30 days and must not dismiss the employee for reasons related to the illness itself (as that would likely constitute manifestly unreasonable dismissal under CBA 109).

Employees exercising parental leave are protected from dismissal from the date of their request until 3 months after the leave ends.

How Deel handles offboarding

Deel manages the legal-employer offboarding administration through its EOR solution, in coordination with the client, including:

• drafting termination documents compliant with CBA 109 notice requirements

• calculating and processing the final pay run (including pro-rated double holiday pay, outstanding statutory leave, and termination indemnity where applicable)

• filing the DIMONA OUT declaration with the ONSS

• coordinating outplacement placement if the notice threshold is met

• providing the employee with required end-of-employment documentation

Deel's offboarding workflow is designed around Belgium's specific requirements, not a generic template, and includes confirmation steps designed to support timely completion of required compliance filings.

More details on managing Belgian payroll costs are in Deel's Belgium payroll cost guide.

Hire in Belgium with Deel

Belgium's employment framework rewards employers who build their compliance infrastructure correctly from the first hire. It penalizes those who improvise or delay.

Deel's EOR service gives you compliant employment contracts in the correct regional language, automated ONSS and DIMONA filings, managed payroll with double holiday pay, meal voucher handling, and CBA monitoring across Belgium's 160+ joint committees.

Whether you're hiring one engineer in Ghent or building a team across Brussels and Antwerp, Deel manages allocated legal-employer, payroll, filing, and employment administration obligations, while your team retains day-to-day work management and its applicable responsibilities.

From Single Permit sponsorship for non-EU hires, to managed termination and outplacement when it's time to offboard, Deel connects hiring, onboarding, payroll, employment administration, and offboarding in one platform, without requiring you to establish a Belgian entity or track every sectoral CBA renegotiation yourself.

Book a demo below to see how Deel's EOR service can help you start onboarding an eligible Belgian employee quickly, depending on documentation and right-to-work requirements.