Accredited social secretariat
When you do work as a self-employed person which requires you to take on staff, you must complete a number of administrative formalities required by employment law. You may find it very useful to have an accredited social secretariat perform these complex procedures for you.
Role of the social secretariat
You are not obliged to register with a social secretariat. However, should you decide to join one, you can rest assured that accredited social secretariats are recognised and monitored by the government. They are bound by certain obligations, one of their roles being to act as the employer’s representative in dealings with the National Social Security Office (NSSO). In practice, they perform a variety of tasks including:
- processing data relating to salaries and bonuses and the associated calculations;
- registering the employer with a child benefit fund and annual holiday fund;
- submitting wage tax declarations to the tax authorities and quarterly returns and payments to the NSSO;
- drawing up employment contracts, the payroll and various employment-related documents (payslips, individual accounts, holiday certificates, etc.);
- Etc.
More information about the accreditation and role of social secretariats.(French-Dutch)
New employers: NSSO provides financial assistance with membership costs
Belonging to a social secretariat will cost you between €15 and €20 a month. However, the NSSO can offer financial assistance in the following two cases:
- If you are hiring your first employee, you are entitled to assistance of€36.45 with the fees for the quarters in which you benefit from the target group reduction for the hiring of a first employee.
- If you are covered by the joint committee (commission paritaire/paritaire commissie) for the hotel, restaurant and catering (Horeca) sector, you are entitled to €10 per full-time equivalent per quarter.
This assistance is also awarded when hiring a second employee, on the same terms.
More information about assistance with social secretariat membership costs.(French-Dutch)