Your employee is temporarily working in another country

Employees who are posted to work in Belgium will remain insured in the Netherlands for the temporary period they work in Belgium. They will still be able use the Dutch social insurance schemes. This includes employees who are working temporarily in construction. 

Apply for an A1 certificate

Your employee will need an A1 certificate. This will show that your employee is still insured in the Netherlands and does not have to pay social insurance contributions in Belgium. You can apply to the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) for an A1 certificate. 

Please bear in mind that:

• you must register any temporary work activities in Belgium with Limosa
• you are not permitted to hire out employees as temporary workers to another company
• your employee is subject to Belgian employment law. For example, there are official Belgian bank holidays when working is not permitted in Belgium
• you may need to show proof of your professional ability or a basic knowledge of how to run a business
• you may have to pay VAT in Belgium, in which case you will need a Belgian VAT number

You have a temporary employment agency

If you have an agency that arranges postings or temporary employment, and you do not have an office based in Belgium, you will have to apply for recognition (erkenning) in Belgium before you can start posting employees. You can find out more about this (in Dutch or French) on the website of the Belgian Federal Public Service: Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (FOD WASO).

You have a construction company

In Belgium, the ‘construction sector’ covers a much wider array of activities than in the Netherlands, that is all activities covered by the Parity Commission for construction companies (Paritair Comité voor het bouwbedrijf; PC124). If you are going to do any work in construction, please bear in mind that:

• you must register your work activities via the digital platform of the National Office for Social Security (RSZ)
• you must record the attendance of your employees on the construction site
• you must apply for a ConstruBadge for each employee
• you must register your business with the Employers’ Office for the Organisation and Control of Welfare Schemes (PDOK/OPOC)
• you are jointly and severally liable for social security and tax debts
• you may have to pay VAT in Belgium, in which case you will need a Belgian VAT number
• you will have to file a corporation tax return

Employees who are posted to work in Germany will remain insured in the Netherlands for the temporary period they work in Germany. They will still be able use the Dutch social insurance schemes.

Apply for an A1 certificate

Your employee will need an A1 certificate. This will show that your employee is still insured in the Netherlands and does not have to pay social insurance contributions in Germany. You can apply to the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) for an A1 certificate.

You have a temporary employment agency or you are a contractor or sub-contractor

Special rules apply in your case. You can find these rules in the German Act on Temporary Work (AÜG), Posted Workers Act (Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz; AEntG) and Minimum Wage Act (Mindestlohngesetz).

As a Dutch employer, you can register with the Meldeportal. This is an online portal where you can make all the necessary arrangements in connection with the Mindestlohngesetz and the AEntG.

You have a construction company

If you work in the construction industry, special rules apply to posted workers. You can find these rules in the German Posted Workers Act (Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz; AEntG). 

If your company is classified as a construction company by SOKA-BAU (paritarian social funds of the German construction industry), or if your employee works on a German construction site, you should register this with the Holiday and Wage Compensation Fund of the Building Industry (Urlaubs- und Lohnausgleichskasse der Bauwirtschaft; ULAK). For more information about the fund, call SOKA-BAU on telephone number +49 611 707 1000.

Employees who are posted to work in the Netherlands will remain insured in Belgium for the temporary period they work in the Netherlands. They will still be able use the Belgian social insurance schemes.

Apply for an A1 certificate

Your employee will need an A1 certificate. This will show that your employee is still insured in Belgium and does not have to pay social insurance contributions in the Netherlands. You can apply for an A1 certificate via socialsecurity.be.

Please bear in mind that:

• you have to register temporary work activities in the Netherlands in the Posted Workers Notification Portal
• you are not permitted to hire out employees as temporary workers to another company
• your employee is subject to Dutch employment law. For example, there are official Dutch bank holidays when working is not permitted in the Netherlands
• you may have to pay VAT in the Netherlands, in which case you will need a Dutch VAT number

You hire in temporary workers

If you hire in people to work in the Netherlands temporarily, you are legally required to register your company with the Trade Register (Handelsregister) of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel; KVK). If you hire workers in from a Dutch company, check first to see if that company is also registered with the KVK.

Employees who are posted to work in the Netherlands will remain insured in Germany for the temporary period they work in the Netherlands. They will still be able use the German social insurance schemes.

Apply for an A1 certificate

Your employee will need an A1 certificate. This will show that your employee is still insured in Germany and does not have to pay social insurance contributions in the Netherlands.

If your employee has compulsory or voluntary German health insurance, you can request an A1 form from the Krankenkasse your employee is insured with. If your employee has private health insurance, the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (DRV) will issue the A1 form.

Please bear in mind that:

you have to register temporary work activities in the Netherlands in the Posted Workers Notification Portal.

You hire in temporary workers

If you hire in people to work in the Netherlands temporarily, you are legally required to register your company with the Trade Register (Handelsregister) of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel; KVK). If you hire workers in from a Dutch company, check first to see if that company is also registered with the KVK.