Belgium is becoming an increasingly popular destination of posting workers. Before a seconded employee starts working in Belgium, the employer must complete a number of formalities. One of them is the obligation to declare posted workers to Limosa.

1. What is Limosa?

Limosa constitutes an electronic system for declaring workers who are to be seconded to Belgium. The notification takes the form of an electronic declaration submitted via the website: https://www.limosa.be/. It should be made each time before the start of the posting period of the employee.

The system was introduced in 2007. It constitutes a tool to facilitate the verification and control of posting information by the competent authorities. The Belgian Labour Inspectorate, among others, has access to it.

Failure to comply with the obligation to register a posted worker with Limosa may result in administrative and criminal sanctions imposed on the employer. Criminal sanctions may also be imposed on entities in which or for whom services are provided in Belgium. It occurs if they don’t report to the competent authorities that the seconded employee doesn’t have confirmation of his/her declaration to Limosa. For this reason, Belgian counterparties are usually very interested in the posting employer’s obligation to notify the posted worker to Limosa and to have a document proving the notification.

2. Who shall be declared to Limosa?

The obligation to register with Limosa concerns employed persons posted to Belgium to provide work there temporarily or partially.

Self-employed who come to Belgium to perform temporary or partial self-employment activities in the high-risk sector (e.g. construction), but who don’t reside permanently or aren’t established in this country are also subject to notification.

3. Who is exempt from Limosa?

The obligation to declare posted employees to Limosa isn’t absolute. There are exceptions to it. They depend on the reason for arrival in Belgium and the length of stay.

The exemption from this obligation takes place in the following cases:

  • employees and self-employed persons, participating in limited meetings (e.g. contract negotiations), where each such meeting may last a maximum of 20 consecutive calendar days, and participation in closed sessions throughout the year can’t exceed 60 days;
  • participants of scientific congresses taking place in Belgium who are employees or self-employed;
  • scientists participating in research programmes at their host university in Belgium or in a Belgian research institution, but their stay in Belgium can’t exceed 3 months in a calendar year;
  • persons working in an international institution whose statute is regulated by a ratified treaty;
  • staff of a public administration;
  • diplomats;
  • self-employed businessmen, as well as managers and independent representatives of companies who participate in works councils and general meetings taking place in Belgium, if their stay doesn’t exceed 5 days per month;
  • internationally renowned artists and persons accompanying the artists who are their employees and whose assistance is needed for the performance, with a maximum stay in Belgium of 21 days per quarter;
  • athletes who come to Belgium to take part in international sports competitions, as well as referees, official representatives, staff members and any other persons recognised by national or international sports federations, provided that their stay on Belgian territory covers the duration of a given competition, but not more than 3 months per calendar year;
  • international passenger and freight transport, except cabotage in Belgium;
  • • employees and self-employed persons, if they carry out the initial assembly or/and first installation of goods in Belgium – this type of work may last a maximum of 8 days and must be performed by specialised or/and qualified employees of the company responsible for supplying the goods in question, either by persons conducting an economic activity under which the goods were delivered; this exemption doesn’t concern the construction sector;
  • specialised technicians (employees and self-employed persons) who have to carry out urgent maintenance or repair work on machinery or equipment in Belgium, but their stay in Belgium can’t last more than 5 days per month – the condition for the application of the exemption in question is delivery of machinery or equipment to the company where the repair or maintenance takes place by technicians sent by the employer or a self-employed person.

4. Creation of user account

In order to comply with the obligation to report a posted worker to Limosa, a user account must be created. The account is created only once. Indeed, it allows to submit and manage declarations for many employees.

The user account is created using the personal data of a natural person – the account user, and not company data. For this purpose, the following information is required:

  • e-mail address and telephone number of the user (landline or mobile),
  • if held, the Belgian social security number (NISS),
  • in the absence of a NISS – the user’s identification data concerning his/her identity, i.e. surname and first name, date of birth, gender, home address, the user’s identification number in his/her country of residence (national number, possible passport number, social security or pension one),
  • company number or ONSS identification number, if available.

The user account is created via the website: https://www.limosa.be/. After sending the request to create an account, a confirmation e-mail will arrive at the e-mail address provided in the application. It contains an activation link that must be clicked on within 72 hours. Declarations can only be made after account activation.

5. Declaration to Limosa

The notification should include data concerning: posted personnel, foreign employer and contact person (so-called liaison person). It’s possible to divide them into two categories:

  • general data – provided in the case of an employee or self-employed person – includes: place of supply of services in Belgium (up to 5 workplaces in the declaration), identification of the Belgian client or principal (up to 10 Belgian clients in the notification), period of secondment (maximum 24 months per declaration), identification data of the worker or self-employed person (up to 10 employees in the declaration), work schedule;
  • additional data for the employee – this includes, among others, data to identify the employer, contact and identification details of the liaison person, in the case of temporary work – the approval number of the foreign temporary employment agency, the nature of the services provided, and in the case of activity in the construction sector – whether the employer pays workers a bonus comparable to the system of “fidelity stamps” in Belgium.

It should be clarified here who the liaison person is. This is an individual representing the posting employer who can be contacted by the Belgian Labour Inspectorate about the employment of seconded workers and the work carried out. This role can be performed by both the employer and an employee of the employer’s company or a third party. This person doesn’t need to be resident in Belgium, but must be able to communicate in French, Dutch, German or English.

There is a penalty for failing to designate a permanent liaison person.

6. Limosa -1

The Limosa-1 certificate constitutes the document confirming the application. It will be generated immediately after submitting the declaration.

Each employee should be able to present the Limosa-1 certificate to the Belgian counterparty of the employer before starting work. If this is not possible, the Belgian counterparty must notify the competent authorities.

7. Benefits of making a Limosa declaration

The fact that an employee posted to Belgium is registered with Limosa brings benefits to the employer. As a first one, it’s necessary to mention the exemption of the employer from the obligation to draw up certain Belgian social documents for a given task, i.e. work regulations, staff list, applicable control rules for part-time employees. Another benefit is the lack of the need to prepare an individual account and a salary statement for each payment period. However, the condition for benefiting from this facilitation is that the employer provides equivalent documents relating to the remuneration, drawn up in accordance with the legislation in force in the country of origin and translated into one of the official languages of Belgium or into English. The employer also receives the advantage of improving its own position on the Belgian market. Thanks to the fulfillment of the obligation to notify an employee to Limosa, it becomes credible in the eyes of Belgian counterparties.

8. Legal notice

The study is a work within the meaning of the Act of 4 February 1994 on Copyright and Related Rights (OJ 2006, No. 90, item 631, consolidated text, as amended). Publishing or reproducing this study or its part, quoting opinions, as well as disseminating in any other way the information contained therein without the written consent of Crede sp. z o.o. is prohibited.

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