Belgium - living and working conditions
1. How to find a job
Job offers are advertised in different ways:
The press
* in daily newspapers (Le Soir, La Dernière Heure, De Standaard,Het Laatste Nieuws, etc.).
* advertising papers (Vlan, etc.) and regional newspapers.
* temporary employment agencies.
The media
On the Internet, teletext, etc.
Selection and recruitment agencies
Selor (the civil service selection bureau).
Public employment services
FOREM for the Walloon Region
VDAB for the Flemish Region
ACTIRIS for the Brussels Capital Region
The ADG for the German-speaking Community
On top of this there are also a great many hidden vacancies: a large number of vacancies are never advertised. This means you should also apply spontaneously. The Yellow Pages, company lists, newspaper articles, the employment network and specialist journals all offer access to the ‘hidden’ job market. However, careers in the police, law, the army or finance are not available to people from other countries.
2.Registration procedures and residence permits
All EU citizens may spend three months in Belgium as a tourist without registering.
As a worker: anyone wanting to work in Belgium must register within eight days of arrival. To do this you must go to the aliens registration department of the local council in your place of residence.
There you must:
* produce identity documents
* provide details of your address
* if married, produce a marriage certificate.
The local council:
* drafts documents for the local police
* provides an employer’s certificate (appendix 19a).
After verification by the local police, you will receive an invitation to present yourself again at the aliens registration department, with the following:
* four passport photos
* employer’s certificate
* EUR 5
* identity documents
* if married, your marriage certificate.
Once registered, you will receive a temporary residence document, valid for five months. The local council will submit a residence application. If all the documents are in order and failing any indication to the contrary from the aliens registration department in Brussels, after one month, you will be able to obtain a five-year residence permit.
To work in Belgium you must have a full EU/EEA passport or identity-card. EEA nationals are free to enter Belgium for up to three months to look for work or set up in business. Even if you are visiting Belgium to look for work, you may be asked to prove that you have adequate means for the duration of your stay and that the cost of your return journey is secured.
Residence permit
If you are intending to live in Belgium for longer than three months, for any purpose, or you have the intention to work, you are required to register at the local town hall (‘maison communale/gemeentehuis’) within eight days of arrival. Here you can also obtain your number for registration in the national pension register. You will also need this registration number when you enter Belgium to look for work with an E-303 form.
While looking for work, you will be issued with a registration certificate that is valid for three months. It can be renewed for one year or until you receive permanent resident status. When applying, you will need to produce three passport-sized photographs as well as your current passport/identity card. Your name and details will be entered on the aliens register (‘Registre des Entrangers/Vreemdelingenregister’). You will have to pay a small charge and may be asked to produce evidence of your financial resources. Once you have a fixed address and a regular income, you should then apply for a blue card (EU residence card), which is valid from one to five years and renewable indefinitely. You can apply for a blue card as soon as you have permanent employment (which may be at the outset if you have evidence of a contract from your employer for one year or more).
When you receive your residence card (blue card), your name and details are entered in the population register of the relevant administrative district. You must notify any change of address or of personal status.
3. Recognition of diplomas and qualifications
The importance of transparency and mutual recognition of diplomas as a crucial complement to the free movement of workers
The possibility of obtaining recognition of one’s qualifications and competences can play a vital role in the decision to take up work in another EU country. It is therefore necessary to develop a European system that will guarantee the mutual acceptance of professional competences in different Member States. Only such a system will ensure that a lack of recognition of professional qualifications will become an obstacle to workers’ mobility within the EU.
Main principles for the recognition of professional qualifications in the EU
As a basic principle, any EU citizen should be able to freely practice their profession in any Member State. Unfortunately the practical implementation of this principle is often hindered by national requirements for access to certain professions in the host country.
For the purpose of overcoming these differences, the EU has set up a system for the recognition of professional qualifications. Within the terms of this system, a distinction is made between regulated professions (professions for which certain qualifications are legally required) and professions that are not legally regulated in the host Member State.
Steps towards a transparency of qualifications in Europe
The European Union has taken important steps towards the objective of achieving transparency of qualifications in Europe:
- An increased co-operation in vocational education and training, with the intention to combine all instruments for transparency of certificates and diplomas, in one single, user-friendly tool. This includes, for example, the European CV or Europass Trainings.
- The development of concrete actions in the field of recognition and quality in vocational education and training.
Going beyond the differences in education and training systems throughout the EU
Education and training systems in the EU Member States still show substantial differences. The last enlargements of the EU, with different educational traditions, have further increased this diversity. This calls for a need to set up common rules to guarantee recognition of competences.
In order to overcome this diversity of national qualification standards, educational methods and training structures, the European Commission has put forward a series of instruments, aimed at ensuring better transparency and recognition of qualifications both for academic and professional purposes.
1. The European Qualifications Framework - The European Qualifications Framework is a key priority for the European Commission in the process of recognition of professional competences. The main objective of the framework is to create links between the different national qualification systems and guarantee a smooth transfer and recognition of diplomas.
2. The National Academic Recognition Information Centres (NARICs) - A network of National Academic Recognition Information Centres was established in 1984 at the initiative of the European Commission. The NARICs provide advice on the academic recognition of periods of study abroad. Located in all EU Member States as well as in the countries of the European Economic Area, NARICs play a vital role the process of recognition of qualifications in the EU.
3. The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) - The European Credit Transfer System aims at facilitating the recognition of periods of study abroad. Introduced in 1989, it functions by describing an education programme and attaching credits to its components. It is a key complement to the highly acclaimed student mobility programme Erasmus.
4. Europass - Europass is an instrument for ensuring the transparency of professional skills. It is composed of five standardised documents
1. a CV (Curriculum Vitae),
2. a language passport,
3. certificate supplements,
4. diploma supplements, and
5. a Europass-Mobility document.
The Europass system makes skills and qualifications clearly and easily understood in the different parts of Europe. In every country of the European Union and the European Economic Area, national Europass centres have been established as the primary contact points for people seeking for information about the Europass system.
4.Working time
In Belgium, working hours (the time during which the worker is at the disposal of the employer) must not exceed eight per day or thirty-eight per week. It is forbidden in principle to work more than the legal working hours, outside the applicable schedules, on Sundays, bank holidays and at night.
Exemptions with and without prior authorisation: it is possible, however, to derogate from the principle of eight hours per day and thirty-eight per week. In some cases, exemptions are possible with prior authorisation and provided that the work does not exceed either eleven hours per day or fifty hours per week. The employer must ask for this authorisation. Exemptions without prior authorisation are also possible. The daily working hours can thus be extended to nine hours in the context of a five-day week when the regulation on working hours provides for a half-day, one day or more than one day of rest per week, other than on Sunday. Working hours cannot exceed twelve hours per day in the case of work that cannot be interrupted. In most cases of force majeure, there is no limit.
If work arrangements include nightwork, a collective labour agreement must be concluded with the organisations represented in the trade union delegation. These work arrangements can be introduced by amending the labour regulations.
Flexible working time: you should not confuse flexible working time and variable working time. The latter allows workers to choose their arrival and departure times more freely. Flexible working time is set by collective agreement or, in the absence of this, by the labour regulation. It can authorise work that goes beyond normal working hours, without however exceeding nine hours per day and forty-five hours per week, and the application in the company of working hours that differ from the normal ones, with the worker being informed by notice displayed seven days beforehand.
Compensatory rest times and overtime: in most cases where working beyond the statutory working hours is authorised, either in the context of regular work regimes or in the context of overtime, compensatory rest times are compulsory. They must be granted in such a way that normal weekly working hours are respected on average during a reference period. Overtime is paid at 50% above the normal rate, or 100% in the case of work on Sundays or public holidays.
Sunday work: working on Sundays is forbidden by the law. Some activities may be performed on Sundays, however: when the normal work of the company does not enable these activities to be performed on another day of the week, and for work in certain undertakings (hotels, catering establishments, and health care establishments and services). Workers who work on Sundays are entitled to compensatory rest during the six ensuing days.
Nightwork: nightwork is forbidden between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., however exemptions may be obtained. They apply indifferently to male and female workers, provided that they are at least 18 years of age. Nightwork is authorised provided that the nature of the work or activity justifies it. Thus nightwork is permitted for instance in hotels, entertainment and public gambling undertakings, newspaper firms, health care, prophylactic and hygiene establishments, chemists, for agricultural work, in bakeries and traditional pastry-shops, and in education centres and undertakings providing accommodation, etc.
5. Incomes and taxation
In Belgium, salary levels are determined by collective bargaining, not by the law or by rules issued by the State. Collective agreements vary according to sector and job. The agreements apply to all workers. It has happened that the law has imposed limits on pay rises in order to preserve the international competitiveness of Belgium. Wages are linked to standards, and there are fixed minimum wages.
The Inspection des lois sociales (Social Acts Inspectorate) monitors these agreements to protect employees. Trade unions and the Internet can provide information on wages and other matters concerning labour law and contracts of employment. The public labour services will provide you with the addresses of trade unions.
Wages are expressed as gross salaries per hour or per month (occasionally per 28 days).
There are two types of deductions on gross income for employees: the social security contribution, and wage tax. The social security contribution is always 13.07% of the total income for everyone. To obtain the net amount (cash in your pocket), you must deduct the social security contribution and income tax, the amount of which varies according to family situation (depending on whether or not the spouse works and how many children there are.) NB: child benefit is a nominative amount that is paid independently of other information. It is not taxed. The amount of child benefit depends on several factors: family situation, number of children, etc.
Taxpayers are entitled to a tax-free allowance: this means that part of the taxable income is not in fact taxed. If the income exceeds the tax-free allowance, it is taxed. Taxation is progressive, which means that the percentage of tax rises as the income increases. The tax table consists of five income brackets and hence five taxation brackets.
For the 2008 tax year (income from 2007), the brackets are as follows:
Taxation rate of 25% for the 1st income bracket up to EUR 7 420 net per year, taxable
30% for the 2nd bracket (from EUR 7 420 to EUR 10 570).
* 40% for the 3rd bracket (from EUR 10 570 to EUR 17 610).
* 45% for the 4th bracket (from EUR 17 610 to EUR 32 270).
* 50% for the 5th and last bracket (portion of income exceeding EUR 32 270).
The difference between the income tax and the tax on the tax-free allowance does not represent the amount of tax owed. In fact, the law provides for various reductions and surcharges depending on the type of income, expenditure during the taxable period, elements that may reduce the amount of taxation, such as pension savings schemes, etc. To find out more, speak to a specialist (tax authorities, bank, tax adviser, etc.).
Grounds for paying tax in Belgium include: residence in Belgium, you work in Belgium (not for cross-border workers from France and Germany), are seconded to Belgium and exceed the limit of 183 days. Discuss your personal situation with the tax service where you live or work.
The tax-free allowance depends on the family situation.
Are you working for a short period? In this case check whether you might fall within a special tax scheme, e.g. for students. During the fruit-picking season, ordinary tax rates are used, but with a reduced social security contribution per day.
The procedure for declaring tax, if you are resident in Belgium, is as follows:
Anybody who has a residence in Belgium is assessed for tax purposes. As a rule, tax returns have to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for your place of residence in the year following the year worked. One year later, a timely and valid assessment is produced before the end of June. If you live in Belgium, you will also pay local taxes. There are two types: the additional municipal taxes and the purely municipal taxes. They vary from place to place.
Each country has its own double-tax treaty with Belgium. This is of interest if your place of residence is elsewhere, you are a cross-border worker from France or Germany or you are seconded to Belgium.
6. The social security system in this counrtry
General considerations
When you start work in Belgium, you pay contributions to the social security system. It is your employer who must complete the necessary formalities for your affiliation, except for health insurance, for which you must choose a mutual benefit association or register with the auxiliary health insurance fund.
The amount of social security contribution is equal to 13.07% of your gross salary. It is deducted from your salary by your employer.
The traditional social security system consists of three regimes: one for salaried employees, a salaried employee being a person bound to his employer by means of a contract. Some categories of workers are regarded as similar to salaried employees for social security purposes, and conversely some are excluded from the scope of social security. Second, a regime for the self-employed: a self-employed worker is a person engaged in professional activity without being bound by an employment contract. Here, too, certain categories of people are excluded, while others are regarded as similar to self-employed workers. Lastly, a regime for civil servants: a civil servant is a person working for the public services.
The traditional social security system comprises seven branches:
* retirement and widow’s/widower’s pensions
* unemployment benefit
* occupational accident insurance
* occupational illness insurance
* family benefit
* sickness/invalidity insurance
* annual holidays.
Source: EURES