Belgium: Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SRL) / Besloten Vennootschap (BV): Limited Liability Company: Number of partners: Minimum one shareholder.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: Partners' liability is limited to the amount contributed.
Société Anonyme (SA) / Naamloze Vennootschap (SA/NV): Public Limited Company: Number of partners: Minimum two shareholders.
Capital (max/min): EUR 61,500 totally subscribed and released.
Shareholders and liability: Partners' liability is limited to the amount contributed.
Société Simple / Maatschap: Partnership: Number of partners: Minimum two shareholders.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: A partnership may acquire legal personality and become a general partnership (Société en nom collectif / Vennootschap onder firma) or a limited partnership (Société en commandite / Commanditaire vennootschap), depending on whether all or only certain partners will be jointly and severally liable.
Société Coopérative (SC) / Coöperatieve Vennootschap (CV): Cooperative Company: Number of partners: Minimum 3 partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: Partners' liability is limited to the amount contributed.

Setting Up a Company	Belgium	OECD
Procedures (number)	5.00	5.21
Time (days)	5.00	9.47

Source: The World Bank - Doing Business, Latest data available.

The Competent Organisation: Business.belgium.be provides all information needed to invest in, set up or manage a business in Belgium.
For Further Information: Doing Business: Belgium, to learn about procedures to start a business in Belgium
Belgian Companies Register (BCE/KBO)

Dun & Bradstreet - Worldwide directory with financial information on businesses

Kompass - Belgian Business Directory

	2018	2019	2020
Labour Force	5,089,752	5,137,174	5,114,000

Working Rest Day: 2
Paid Annual Vacation: As far as holidays are concerned, there is a difference between workers and employees. The National Holiday Allowance Office (ONVA/RJV) provides holiday allowance for the former and the employer provides it for the latter. The number of days of paid holiday depends on the number of days worked during the previous year.
Retirement Age: 66 years old from 2025. 67 years old from 2030.
Child Labour and Minimum Age For Employment: 16

Minimum Wage: The national statutory minimum wage in Belgium is about €2,112 per month gross, set by the Belgian National Labour Council and enforced under Belgian labour law.
Average Wage: €3,800 - €4,000 ; Brussels averages are higher (approx. €4,400).

The Areas Covered: Old age, sickness and maternity, unemployment, work injury and social assistance including family allowance
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: The employers’ standard social security contributions are equal to 25% of gross salaries (including the base rate of 19.88% and the wage moderation of 5.12%). However, additional general contributions should be calculated (Asbestos Fund, Closure Fund, sector-specific fund for subsistence, etc.), thus the average employers’ contribution for white collar workers generally goes up to 27.5%.
Contributions Paid By the Employee: Withholding tax is estimated at 13.07% of gross salary.
Competent Organization: National Office of Social Security

Recruitment Agencies: Sam Headhunting
Russel Reynolds associate
Michael Page (en inglés)
Le Forem
Recruitment Websites: Stepstone
Xpatjobs

Type of Contract: There are several types of employment contracts commonly used in Belgium. There are different contracts for manual workers, white-collar workers, domestic workers, student workers, professional sports people and home workers. More info is available at Angloinfo.

Labour Laws: Anglo info
Doing Business: Belgium, to obtain a summary of labour regulations that apply to local entreprises

Procedure: Notice must be given in writing and indicate the start and duration of the period of notice. This period differs according to whether you are a manual worker or a white-collar worker, whether the employee hands in his or her notice (resignation) or whether the employer gives notice (dismissal). It is possible for the notice not to be worked, in which case it is replaced by a one-off payment, the amount of which is equivalent to the salary, which would have been paid or received during this period.

In Belgium, conciliation of collective labor disputes relies on the principle of voluntary conciliation. It is conducted by joint commissions, which are statutory bodies under public law, generally chaired by social conciliators, civil servants from the Department of Collective Labor Relations Service, in the Federal Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: Belgian workers are highly unionised. A national bargaining process covers inter-professional agreements that the trade union confederations negotiate biennially with the government and the employers' associations.
Unionisation Rate: 60%
Labour Unions: Syndicat Liberal
Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond / Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens -
Nationale Bondsstaat van de Kaders / Confédération Nationale des Cadres -
Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond / Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique

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