Brussels runs the European Union, and much of Europe’s logistics and chemicals run through Belgium. World Bank data counts 11.94 million people in 2025. The workforce is educated and routinely trilingual. What foreign employers underestimate is the administration behind a Belgian payslip. Employment costs here are also among the highest in Europe. Roughly nine in ten Belgian companies hand payroll to an accredited social secretariat rather than run it themselves. That’s most of what you need to know. Anyone researching PEO Belgium options meets joint committees, automatic indexation, and Dimona and DmfA filings on day one.
Why Belgian Employers Outsource Payroll, and Where a PEO Fits
Start with the money. Employer social security costs around 27 percent of gross for white-collar staff, with small extra levies on top. The employee pays 13.07 percent, with no ceiling. Then come two payments that surprise almost every foreign employer. A year-end premium, commonly a thirteenth month, is set by sectoral agreement. Double holiday pay (dubbel vakantiegeld, double pecule de vacances) adds roughly 92 percent of a month’s salary alongside the statutory 20 days off. Statbel put the average full-time gross wage at EUR 4,076 a month, measured in October 2022. It says plainly that the figure excludes both of those items. Payroll services in Belgium have to model them from the start.
Then the structure. Every employer sits in at least one joint committee (paritair comite, commission paritaire), and more than 100 exist. The committee number is the foundational payroll parameter. It fixes minimum scales and the timing and formula of indexation. It also sets the year-end premium, shift and night premiums, meal voucher and eco-cheque levels, and holiday beyond the statutory minimum. Automatic indexation then lifts pay with the health index, with no employer discretion involved. A 2026 reform limiting full indexation above a monthly gross threshold is phasing in as this is written in August 2026. Payroll outsourcing Belgium buyers must also respect language rules. Employment documents follow the region of work: Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, German in the eastern cantons.
Now the distinction that matters most, and that much writing on this market gets wrong. An accredited social secretariat (erkend sociaal secretariaat, secretariat social agree) is a Belgian institution formally authorized to sit between an employer and the RSZ/ONSS. It runs gross-to-net payroll, files Dimona and DmfA, remits contributions, prepares withholding tax returns, and answers for what it files. You stay the legal employer, with your own Belgian entity and employer registration. A professional employer organization Belgium companies buy from abroad is a different animal: the provider becomes the legal employer through its own BV or SRL.
That second model is where Belgium is unusual. The federal employment service states the rule. Lending staff to a third party that exercises part of the employer’s authority is prohibited, except where the law allows it. The rule sits in the Act of 24 July 1987. Belgian law does not define the EOR model. Licensed temporary agency work is one exception. Article 32 is another, permitting limited-term lending between regular employers with prior authorization from the labor inspectorate. EOR providers do operate here. They handle it by structuring the service agreement so that holiday approval, absence, discipline, and pay decisions stay with the legal employer. My employer of record Belgium write-up covers them individually. Whichever you approach, have them walk you through the structure, and take Belgian advice before signing.
I reviewed 10 providers: seven accredited social secretariats for companies already employing here, and three that can act as legal employer. A Belgian PEO decision rarely stands alone, so read this beside PEO Netherlands and PEO France.
Top 10 Belgian Social Secretariats and PEO Providers
This list separates the two models rather than blurring them. Accreditation as a social secretariat is the closest thing Belgium offers to a compliance guarantee, and seven of the ten hold it. Those seven administer payroll for a registered Belgian employer; they cannot employ staff for you. The remaining three sign as employer themselves. Anyone comparing payroll outsourcing services in Belgium should first decide which of the two they are buying.
I checked each on the same points. Correct joint-committee classification, and indexation on the sector’s own formula. Dimona and quarterly DmfA filing, year-end premium and double holiday pay. Meal vouchers, eco-cheques, company car and CO2 handling, and documents in the right regional language. A payroll services provider in Belgium should also offer self-service and quote transparently per head.
All ten providers appear in A-to-Z order. The sequence says nothing about quality, preference, or ranking.
Acerta
Company Description:
Acerta is an accredited Belgian social secretariat and HR group that administers payroll for companies already registered as employers here. It does not become the legal employer. Its English site runs separate tracks for starting a business, payroll, and international employment.
Key Specialty Area:
Accredited social secretariat with English support
Pricing and Service Models:
Per head, plus an affiliation fee and a monthly floor.
Key Advantages:
- Full English site, unusual among Belgian secretariats
- Joint committee scales and indexation applied automatically
- Start-up and self-employed practice under the same roof
Scope of Services:
- Gross-to-net payroll with compliant payslips
- Dimona declarations and quarterly DmfA filing
- Social security remittance and withholding tax returns
Our Verdict
My pick for a foreign-owned Belgian entity that wants to work entirely in English.
Attentia
Company Description:
Attentia pairs an accredited social secretariat with an external service for prevention and protection at work, so payroll and occupational health arrive together. It administers payroll for registered Belgian employers and does not employ staff on a client’s behalf.
Key Specialty Area:
Social secretariat plus occupational health
Pricing and Service Models:
Per-head monthly, sized with the prevention service.
Key Advantages:
- Payroll and workplace health from one provider
- Absence management handled alongside the payroll file
- Sector consultants assigned by joint committee
Scope of Services:
- Payroll administration with statutory filings
- Dimona and DmfA declarations to the RSZ/ONSS
- Prevention, protection and wellbeing services
Our Verdict
Worth shortlisting where absenteeism is the problem you are actually trying to fix.
Besox
Company Description:
Besox is a small accredited social secretariat that says it stays small deliberately, to keep service personal. It administers payroll only for registered Belgian employers. The site runs in Dutch, French, and English, and insurance and finance arms sit alongside.
Key Specialty Area:
Deliberately small-scale social secretariat
Pricing and Service Models:
Free quote by headcount; a public wage-cost calculator.
Key Advantages:
- A named contact rather than a service desk
- Wage-cost calculator open before you make contact
- Model contracts published for employees and students
Scope of Services:
- Payroll administration with payslips and filings
- Dimona and DmfA declarations handled directly
- Online payroll platform and HR analytics
Our Verdict
Best for a smaller Belgian employer that wants to know who is running its payroll.
Deel
Company Description:
Deel is a global platform that acts as Employer of Record, becoming the legal employer so a foreign company can hire without its own Belgian entity. It is not a social secretariat. Its Belgium page publishes both the fee and the employer cost.
Key Specialty Area:
Signs the Belgian contract in its own name
Pricing and Service Models:
A management fee from $599 a month, printed on its country page.
Key Advantages:
- Country fee and employer cost both published openly
- Employer cost modeled at 28.38 percent of salary
- Joint Committee 200 applied as its default scale
Scope of Services:
- Legal employment through its own Belgian entity
- Payroll, social security and withholding tax handling
- Compliant contracts and benefits administration
- Global payroll where a client entity already exists
Our Verdict
Useful when you need one person employed fast and have no Belgian entity yet.
*As pricing is subject to change, we are listing prices as they stand in August 2026
Liantis
Company Description:
Liantis is an accredited social secretariat and HR partner with an unusually large self-employed and start-up practice. Belgium payroll services here go to companies that already hold employer registration; Liantis does not act as legal employer.
Key Specialty Area:
Secretariat built around first-time employers
Pricing and Service Models:
Per head, normally with a floor below which it does not go.
Key Advantages:
- Strong support for first-time employers
- Child benefit fund and prevention services in-house
- Wage calculation tools published on the site
Scope of Services:
- Payroll administration and statutory declarations
- Dimona and DmfA filing to the RSZ/ONSS
- Guaranteed pay, family benefit and pension handling
- Prevention and workplace safety services
Our Verdict
A sensible first call for a founder hiring an employee in Belgium for the first time.
Partena Professional
Company Description:
Partena Professional is one of the largest accredited Belgian social secretariats, with a full English site and separate paths for small, medium and large employers. It administers payroll for registered employers rather than employing anyone on their behalf.
Key Specialty Area:
Large accredited secretariat, trilingual delivery
Pricing and Service Models:
Per head, sliding with volume and the tier chosen.
Key Advantages:
- Guidance published in Dutch, French and English
- Legal advice on joint committees and employment law
- Dedicated onboarding for first-time employers
Scope of Services:
- Payroll management with gross-to-net and payslips
- Dimona, DmfA and withholding tax declarations
- Legal consulting and global employment advice
- Digital tools and accountant desk access
Our Verdict
My pick where the payroll file is complex and you want legal depth behind it.
PEO Management Support
Company Description:
PEO Management Support, trading as Belgium Management Support, is a small Brussels-area firm run by two directors that employs staff in Belgium on behalf of a foreign company. It works with Le Cheminant International and is an EOR, not a social secretariat.
Key Specialty Area:
Small Belgian employment company for foreign firms
Pricing and Service Models:
On request, and pitched below the big Belgian bureaus.
Key Advantages:
- Direct contact with the employees on its payroll
- Keeps staff employed after a branch closes
- Split payrolls and expatriation handled in-house
Scope of Services:
- Employment of staff on a foreign company’s behalf
- Payroll administration and employment contracts
- Tax, audit and Belgian labor law advice
- Expatriation support and split payroll arrangements
Our Verdict
Worth a conversation if you need to employ one or two people without a Belgian branch.
Remote
Company Description:
Remote signs Belgian employment contracts in its own name, so hiring can begin before you have a company here. It is not an accredited social secretariat. Its pricing sits in public on the site.
Key Specialty Area:
Legal employer role, bought off a price page
Pricing and Service Models:
One figure, published: $699 per employee per month.
Key Advantages:
- Price visible without speaking to sales
- Equity and stock options administered for local hires
- Onboarding handled through a self-service platform
Scope of Services:
- Legal employment through its own local entity
- Payroll, contributions and withholding tax
- Benefits, leave and termination administration
- Contractor management alongside employment
Our Verdict
Reasonable for a first Belgian hire, provided the authority question is settled upfront.
*As pricing is subject to change, we are listing prices as they stand in August 2026
SD Worx
Company Description:
SD Worx is the largest Belgian social secretariat and a major European HR group, reporting more than 100,000 client companies. Payroll services Belgium employers come with workforce technology attached. It does not become a legal employer.
Key Specialty Area:
The biggest secretariat, with software attached
Pricing and Service Models:
Per head, on separate SME and enterprise scales.
Key Advantages:
- Scale and sector coverage across Belgian joint committees
- Multi-country payroll for employers beyond Belgium
- Time registration and workforce planning integrated
Scope of Services:
- Payroll administration for SMEs and large employers
- Dimona and DmfA filing with contribution remittance
- Time, attendance and workforce management tools
- Reward policy, legal and tax advisory services
Our Verdict
The default choice for a large Belgian workforce or a multi-country payroll footprint.
Securex
Company Description:
Securex is an accredited social secretariat with broad HR and prevention coverage, delivered in Dutch, French and English. It administers payroll for registered Belgian employers and publishes an open legal knowledge base rather than employing staff for clients.
Key Specialty Area:
Accredited secretariat with open legal library
Pricing and Service Models:
Per head, with affiliation and minimum charges on top.
Key Advantages:
- Lex4You legal library free to consult
- Index list and forecasts published for employers
- Occupational health delivered alongside payroll
Scope of Services:
- Payroll administration with statutory declarations
- Dimona and DmfA filing to the RSZ/ONSS
- Prevention, health and wellbeing services
- Employer self-service through MySecurex
Our Verdict
Good where you want to check the rules yourself rather than wait for an adviser.
PEO and Payroll in Belgium: What Employers Ask Most
What exactly is a social secretariat, and is it a PEO?
An accredited social secretariat is a Belgian institution authorized to act as an intermediary between an employer and the RSZ/ONSS. It runs gross-to-net payroll and files Dimona and DmfA declarations. It remits contributions, prepares withholding tax returns, and is legally responsible for what it files. You remain the legal employer and need your own Belgian entity. About nine in ten Belgian companies use one. A PEO or EOR is different: the provider itself becomes the legal employer, so the two are not interchangeable.
How much do employer costs run here?
Belgian employer costs sit among the highest in Europe. Employer social security runs at roughly 27 to 28 percent of gross for white-collar staff, with small additional levies on top. Employees pay 13.07 percent, with no ceiling. Budget separately for the year-end premium, commonly a thirteenth month, and double holiday pay at about 92 percent of a month’s salary. Meal vouchers, eco-cheques and any sectoral benefit set by the joint committee come after that.
Will an EOR let me employ someone here with no Belgian company?
This deserves a careful answer rather than a quick yes. The Act of 24 July 1987 restricts making employees available to a third party that exercises part of the employer’s authority. The federal employment service states that prohibition plainly, and Belgian law does not define the EOR model. Licensed temporary agency work is one statutory exception, and Article 32 permits limited-term lending between regular employers with prior inspectorate authorization. Providers do operate here. Ask exactly how the relationship is structured, and take local advice before you sign.
What is a joint committee, and why does it drive payroll?
Every Belgian employer belongs to at least one joint committee, determined by sector, and more than 100 exist. The committee number is the parameter everything else hangs off. It sets minimum pay scales and the formula and timing of indexation. It also sets the year-end premium, shift and night premiums, meal voucher and eco-cheque levels, and extra holiday. Classify a company incorrectly, and every salary in the business is mispriced. That risk is a major reason payroll outsourcing in Belgium is so common.
Is there a minimum wage, and how does indexation work?
Belgium sets a guaranteed average minimum monthly income of roughly EUR 2,154 gross, among the highest in Europe. In practice, the joint committee matters more, because sectoral scales frequently sit above the national floor. Indexation is the other half of the picture: pay rises automatically with the health index, on a formula set sector by sector rather than nationally. A reform limiting full indexation above a monthly gross threshold is phasing in during 2026. As of August 2026, confirm the current figure with your provider.
Which language must employment documents be in?
The language of the region where the employee works. Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, German in the German-speaking cantons, and Dutch or French in Brussels depending on the circumstances. This is not a formality. Documents drawn up in the wrong language can be set aside, and the Flemish rules in particular are applied strictly. Any provider running Belgian payroll should issue contracts, payslips and statutory documents in the correct regional language without being asked.
Helen is Anywherer’s Market Analyst & Content Researcher, with extensive experience in analyzing global employment markets and HR technology trends. She is skilled at turning complex market data into clear, well-researched insights that inform every piece of content. With a strong grasp of the EOR, PEO, and international hiring space, Helen plays a key role in keeping Anywherer’s research accurate, up to date, and genuinely useful for readers.
