Payroll Leuven: an advisory meeting with an employer at Business Centrum in Ghent

For employers in Leuven

Payroll in Leuven: your staff administration with Business Centrum

Looking for payroll in Leuven? Business Centrum takes over your staff administration from Ghent, with Acerta as the recognised social secretariat. We handle salaries, Dimona, contracts and absences for knowledge firms, care and shops. You always call the same contact. Our office is 89 km away, but nearly everything is settled by phone.

What we take over

Employers in Leuven and their joint committee

Leuven has 10,788 VAT-registered businesses. Education, with 26,394 jobs, is the largest sector in the district. For private employers, three sectors matter most:

  1. Research and spin-offs

    Research and development account for 3,684 jobs in the district, in 53 workplaces, and 1,237 Leuven businesses work in information and communication. Their white-collar staff often fall under JC 200.

  2. Care

    Human health care employs 16,404 people in the district, and 897 businesses in Leuven work in health and social care. Private hospitals and other care institutions fall under JC 330.

  3. Food and brewing

    The food industry has 4,395 jobs in the district. Blue-collar workers fall under JC 118, white-collar staff under JC 220.

Leuven in figures: employers and distance to our office

The official figures on Leuven and its district, and how far our office is. Each figure links to its source.

Leuven in figures: employers and distance to our office
FigureValueReference dateSource
Population of Leuven105,357Statbel: Statbel, Structuur van de bevolking: bevolking per gemeente op 1 januari 2026
VAT-registered businesses with head office in Leuven10,788Statbel: Statbel, open data: btw-plichtige ondernemingen volgens rechtsvorm en gemeente, 2025
Workplaces with employees in the Leuven district10,876NSSO: RSZ, Verdeling van de arbeidsplaatsen naar plaats van tewerkstelling, 31 december 2024
Employee jobs in the Leuven district165,266NSSO: RSZ, Verdeling van de arbeidsplaatsen naar plaats van tewerkstelling, 31 december 2024
Road distance from the Grote Markt in Leuven to our office in Ghent, in km89OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap, routeplanner OSRM, route met de auto
Driving time without traffic from the Grote Markt in Leuven to our office, in minutes69OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap, routeplanner OSRM, route met de auto
Fastest train journey from Leuven station to Gent-Dampoort, changing at Gent-Sint-Pieters, in minutes76iRail: iRail, NMBS-dienstregeling

What Business Centrum takes over for your business in Leuven

From payroll administration to switching providers, this is what we take over:

  • Determining the right joint committee
  • Salaries every month, with indexation and sector bonuses
  • Every Dimona on time, also for students and flexi-jobbers
  • Contracts for blue-collar and white-collar staff, in Dutch
  • Holidays, sickness and absences
  • The quarterly return and NSSO contributions, through Acerta
  • The switch from your current social secretariat

What is left for you

You tell us who works and what changes. We call you if something does not add up.

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.

What counts for an employer in Leuven

Three rules that come up often in a knowledge city:

  1. Researchers and withholding tax

    An employer paying researchers may, under conditions, keep part of their withholding tax. Since 1 August 2023, only a project notified to Belspo before the research starts qualifies. Notifying late loses the exemption for that project.

  2. Dutch in the documents

    Even for a foreign researcher, contract and payslip are in Dutch, as the Flemish language decree of 19 July 1973 requires. A document in another language is void.

  3. Year-end bonus in JC 209

    In Flemish Brabant, white-collar staff in metalworking get a year-end bonus of 8.33% of their annual salary, after at least 1 year of service.

How we work with you from Leuven

You do not need to drive to Ghent to work with us:

  1. Remotely, and by appointment in Ghent

    You send hours and absences by email or phone; Acerta files the NSSO returns. To meet in person, you come to Doornzelestraat 23-25: 69 minutes via the E40 without traffic, or 76 minutes by train, changing at Gent-Sint-Pieters.

How to start from Leuven

  1. Get acquainted

    By phone or at our office: how many people, which joint committee, what is in place today?

  2. Set up

    We open your file with Acerta and handle the switch.

  3. Every month

    You pass on the hours worked, we do the rest.

Payroll in Leuven: frequently asked questions

Does Business Centrum have an office in Leuven?

No. Our office is in Ghent, at Doornzelestraat 23-25. We work for you by phone and email; for a meeting at the office, you book an appointment.

Which joint committee covers a spin-off?

That follows from its activity. A spin-off that sells research or software and has no sector committee of its own falls under JC 200 for its white-collar staff.

Does a foreign researcher's contract have to be in Dutch?

Yes, the Dutch version is required for a workplace in Leuven. For an employee exercising freedom of movement within the European Union, a legally valid version in an EU language may be added.

Read more

Sources

Every amount and deadline on this page was checked against these official sources, last consulted on .

How we check

Payroll for your business in Leuven

Hand over the staff work of your business in Leuven?

Call us or request a call back. We look at your situation and prepare a tailored quote.

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