Author: ibizz

Belgium and the neighbouring countries

Since 2007, the Limosa-notification has been introduced in Belgium. This notification applies for employees who usually work or have been hired in another country than Belgium and who temporarily and / or partially perform activities in Belgium. The Limosa-notification allows the Belgian government to monitor foreign workers in the fight against social fraud and dumping.

For self-employed persons who are not a permanent resident or are not established in Belgium, this prior notification obligation only applies for certain well-defined sectors (construction, cleaning, meat industry).

The Limosa -notification is filed electronically by using the online portal from the National Social Security Office and needs to be done prior to the start of the activities in Belgium.

The prior notification of foreign workers is already applied in different countries of the EU. In our neighbouring countries, France, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Germany have a similar obligation.

As from 1 March 2020: notification obligation in the Netherlands!

As from 1 March 2020 onwards, employers within the European Economic Area (EU-countries, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) or Switzerland who are temporarily posting employees to the Netherlands will have to make a prior notification. Activities that started before 1 March 2020 do not need to be notified, unless they are extended after 1 March 2020.

This notification is only applicable for the posting of employees who perform temporary activities in the Netherlands and does not apply for employees who perform a part of their activities on a structural and regular basis in The Netherlands. Apart from that, the obligation is only applicable in a European context and does not seem to apply on employers based outside the EEA or Switzerland.

The notification also applies on the foreign self-employed persons who perform a temporary mission in the Netherlands in some well-defined sectors (amongst others construction, cleaning, agriculture and horticulture, health care sector, …).

Only in a limited number of cases – in case of temporary or occasional activities – like employees coming to the Netherlands to attend conferences or business meetings, no notification is required.

The notification obligation must be done through the online portal of the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs: Online portal

Other obligations and sanctions in the Netherlands

• The existing obligation to have certain documents available at the premises where the posted worker is employed (amongst others employment contract, payslips, A1-certificate or similar document, proof of payment of the salary and an overview of the working hours).
• The existing obligation to appoint a contact person who will be the point of contact for the Dutch government and inspection services.
• Finally, the Dutch client where the posted employee performs his activities must ensure within 5 working days that this notification is made correctly (an automatic message is sent to the Dutch client when the notification is made online).

The foreign employer who does not comply with this notification obligation, can be fined. The basic amount of this fine is set at 12.000 EUR per infringement. A fine may also be imposed on the Dutch client who did not check the notification.

Points of action!

• Map the international mobility within your company;
• Check for every country of employment whether the prior notification applies, if exemptions exist and which procedure needs to be followed to apply the notification;
• Apply for the A1 certificate at the National Social Security Office prior to the assignment in order to ensure that your employees will remain subject to the Belgian social security.

Do not hesitate to contact us for more information through legal@pro-pay.be.

Since 2008, employers in Belgium may grant their employees a non-recurring, result-related benefit, also referred to as a bonus plan, based on the act of 21 December 2007 and collective labour agreement n° 90 (CLA n° 90).

If the benefit does not exceed a certain threshold and fulfills a number of conditions, the bonus system enjoys favourable treatment with regard to tax and social security. Thus the allocated benefit is not subject to withholding tax up to the threshold, is tax deductible as a business expense and is not, for example, included in calculations of an indemnity in lieu of notice and holiday pay. It is, however, subject to a special employer’s social security contribution of 33% and a solidarity contribution of 13,07% for the employee.

The aforementioned main conditions are the following:

• It’s a collective benefit, subject to achieving certain collective results or goals that have been determined in advance;
• The results or objectives must apply to a company, a group of companies, or a well-defined group of employees;
• The results or objectives must be clearly outlined, transparent, determinable/measurable and verifiable. Examples of objectives are: achieving an actual turnover during the reference period, decreasing the error range, decreasing the number of complaints from customers, obtaining an ISO-norm or another license, … ;
• At the time of introducing the bonus plan, it should be uncertain whether the results or objectives will be achieved;
• The bonus plan should meet certain formalities, such as drafting an act of adhesion or concluding a collective labour agreement and the approval of the CLA or the act by the competent authorities. As from January 1, 2019, a new to be used mandatory model document has been published.

The yearly threshold is adapted to the health index every year on January 1st. Hence as from January 1, 2020, the new thresholds are the following:

Social threshold
The limit that is applied by The National Social Security Office amounts to 3.413 EUR gross in 2020 (= 2.968 EUR net + a solidarity contribution of 13,07%), per calendar year and per employee.

Fiscal threshold
For the tax authorities, the amount is exempt of taxes for a maximum of 2.968 EUR net per calendar year and per employee in 2020.

Feel free to reach out to your Payroll Business Partner if you want to check whether your collective goals for 2020 are eligible for the advantageous system provided by CLA n° 90.