Belgium offers a multilingual, highly productive workforce with automatic wage indexation and strong protections. All-in employer cost runs around 1.27x the gross salary. Here is what to know before your first Belgian hire.
Employment runs under statute and sector collective agreements (via joint committees), with automatic indexation that raises wages as prices rise. A 13th month and double holiday pay are widespread, and probation periods were abolished in 2014.
Employer social-security contributions come to roughly 25% of gross salary after structural reductions, with sector funds sometimes adding more.
Belgian wages are automatically indexed to a price index, so payroll rises during inflation without renegotiation.
Employees pay a social-security share plus income tax on a steeply progressive scale, withheld at source. Withholding is the employer's responsibility, which under EOR means ours.
*All figures are estimates from public sources (2025-26), pending ops verification - same basis as the EOR cost calculator. Not tax or legal advice.
Compliant Belgian employment contract, indexed payroll, social security, and benefits, handled. One invoice, flat $699 per month.