For self-employed sole traders
Social secretariat for a sole trader: employer in your own name
A social secretariat for a sole trader runs the wages, the Dimona and the returns for your employee, while you stay self-employed. As a sole trader you are the employer, in your own name and with your own assets. Business Centrum takes that staff work off your hands, with a fixed contact in Ghent and Acerta as the recognised social secretariat.
What changes when a sole trader takes on staff
A sole trader can perfectly well employ staff in Belgium. It does work differently than in a company:
Your private assets are on the line
As a sole trader, your private belongings and your business are one. Wages, NSSO contributions and fines of the business are therefore also your personal debts.
You stay self-employed
You are not on the payroll yourself. Your own contributions go to your social insurance fund: as a main occupation 20.5% of your income, with a minimum of € 890.42 per quarter. That fund is not a social secretariat, which processes your employee's wages.
Employer under your enterprise number
You become an employer with the NSSO under the enterprise number of your sole trader business. After that the Dimona can go out.
What Business Centrum takes over for your sole trader business
You do your trade, we do the work around your employee:
- The right joint committee and the wage that comes with it
- Your employee's contract
- The Dimona before the first working day
- The [payroll](/diensten/loonadministratie/) every month, with payslip
- The quarterly return with the first-employee reduction, via Acerta
What is left for you
You pass on the days worked and tell us what changes. Your own self-employed contributions stay with your social insurance fund.
Business Centrum is a payroll and HR office and your fixed contact in Ghent. Returns to the NSSO go through Acerta, a recognised social secretariat.
Where it can hit you personally
Three things you feel directly as a private person:
No workplace accident insurance
Fedris then enrols you automatically and you pay a flat fee of € 124.66 to € 297.74 per employee per month. Read whether that insurance is compulsory.
The first-employee reduction
If you had nobody employed in the previous 12 months, you get up to € 2,000 per quarter. If you later move to a BV and your employee moves with you, that does not count as a new first hire.
Wage mistakes
A wage that is too low or a forgotten premium, your employee claims it from you, and you pay it with your own money.
How Business Centrum takes over
Get acquainted
A conversation about your business: what do you do, who are you hiring and when does that person start?
Start
We set up your file with Acerta and go through with you what has to be in place before the first working day.
Every month
You pass on the hours worked, we do the wage and the payslip.
Social secretariat for a sole trader: frequently asked questions
Can a sole trader employ staff?
Yes. A sole trader can hire employees in Belgium, with the same obligations as a company: contract, Dimona, wages under the joint committee and workplace accident insurance.
What does a social secretariat cost for a sole trader?
That depends on the number of employees and what you hand over. Business Centrum does not publish rates: you get a quote tailored to you. With a recognised social secretariat, the NSSO contributes € 36.45 per quarter to the membership costs, in the quarters in which you receive the first-employee reduction. A social secretariat is not compulsory, [see why](/vraag/sociaal-secretariaat-verplicht/).
Is my social insurance fund the same as a social secretariat?
No. The social insurance fund collects your own self-employed contributions. The social secretariat processes the wages and returns of your employees.
Do I have to set up a company when I hire staff?
No, that is not required. But as a sole trader you remain liable with your private assets. That is a choice best made with your accountant.
Sources
Every amount and deadline on this page was checked against these official sources, last consulted on .
Social secretariat for your sole trader business
Your first employee, without worrying about the paperwork?
Call us or request a call back. We go through what needs to happen and what we take over.