Scheduling flexi-jobs and students in Belgium, the rules since 1 July 2026

Since 1 July 2026 almost every employer in Belgium may use flexi-jobs, so a surf school, sports school, outdoor business or workshop studio can too. A flexi-worker worked at least four fifths elsewhere three quarters earlier or is retired, and you pay a 28 percent employer contribution. A student works 650 hours a year at a solidarity contribution of 5.42 percent, and for both you file a Dimona declaration no later than the first working hour.

What is the difference between a flexi-job, student work and an ordinary part-time job?

	Flexi-job	Student work	Ordinary part-time job
Who	worked at least 80 percent of a full-time job elsewhere three quarters earlier, or is retired	a student aged 15 or over in education who is no longer in full-time compulsory schooling	anyone with an employment contract
How much	flexi pay free of withholding tax up to 18,440 euros a year; that ceiling does not apply to retirees	650 hours per calendar year at the solidarity contribution	as agreed in the contract
Employer contribution	28 percent; the worker pays no social security contributions	5.42 percent; the student pays 2.71 percent	normal social security contributions
Contract	written framework agreement plus a flexi employment contract, oral or written	signed student contract	employment contract
Dimona	type FLX, per day or per quarter, before the first working hour	type STU, planned hours per quarter, at the latest at the start	at the latest at the start

You declare every employee in Dimona, the Belgian start-of-employment declaration. It must be in no later than the moment they start work. Students are always declared, even when an exemption would otherwise apply.

May your school or studio use flexi-jobs?

Most likely yes. According to the RSZ, the scheme was in principle extended to the whole private and public sector on 1 July 2026. A few sectors stay excluded: domestic staff, funeral directors, agriculture, horticulture (apart from laying out and maintaining parks and gardens) and sea fishing. The royal decree with these exclusions was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 9 September 2026 and applies from 1 July 2026 (interim instruction of 16 September 2026).

Three things to check:

• The list can change. Sectors can ask to be excluded, every quarter in 2026 and every year from 2027. Check the current list before you hire.
• Artistic functions are out. A flexi-worker may not hold an artistic, artistic-technical or artistic-support function as defined by the law that set up the Belgian Arts Work Commission. When in doubt whether an instructor in your creative workshop falls under it, ask your social secretariat.
• Pay has a floor and a ceiling. Outside hospitality, the flexi hourly wage is at least the hourly equivalent of the pay scale for the job or of the guaranteed average minimum monthly income. That floor applies to the base pay. The RSZ also mentions a cap on the maximum wage.

Who may take a flexi-job?

The RSZ names two groups. The first worked at least 80 percent of a full-time job for one or more other employers three quarters earlier (quarter T-3). For a flexi-job in January, the second quarter of the year before counts, April to June. The second group is retired. The T-3 condition does not apply to them. Since July 2026 the Dimona response shows “retired” when they are in the pension register.

A person cannot take a flexi-job with an employer they already work or worked for in the current quarter. Your own part-time instructor cannot become your flexi-worker in the same quarter.

Before you sign, you can check whether a candidate qualifies in the online service Burgergegevens raadplegen (consult citizen data). Then you sign a written framework agreement that states, among other things, the job, the flexi pay and whether the flexi employment contract will be oral or written. That choice decides how you file the Dimona.

How do you file the Dimona for a flexi-worker?

With type FLX and joint committee XXX. The declaration is always filed before the first working hour. According to the RSZ, a timely Dimona with the response “OK” is an absolute condition for declaring someone as a flexi-worker in the quarterly DmfA return.

• Oral flexi employment contract: a daily Dimona for each working day, with start and end time. When a lesson starts earlier or later, you change the start time no later than the moment the flexi-worker starts. When a lesson ends early, you have until midnight to change the end time; when it runs late, you have eight hours.
• Written flexi employment contract: a Dimona for a period of at most one quarter, plus attendance registration, so the RSZ knows when the flexi-worker works.

The Dimona is filed per quarter, IN and OUT, even when the contract runs across quarters. The earliest moment is one month before the quarter starts: for a flexi-job from 1 April, from 1 March. The “OK” only covers T-3 or the pension. Whether someone meets every condition in the current quarter is your responsibility as the employer. You also transfer the pay data through the online service Flexi at work.

How many hours can a student work?

For the first 650 hours per calendar year, you and the student pay a solidarity contribution: 5.42 percent for the employer, 2.71 percent for the student. Those 650 hours count across all employers together. From the 651st hour, normal social security contributions are due. On 1 January the counter resets to 650.

You see how many hours a student has left in Student at work. The student downloads a certificate there with an access code, and with that code you look up their balance. The code stays valid in the month of the certificate and the two months after.

The employer must be able to show that the person really is a student. The RSZ accepts a certificate of enrolment for the current school or academic year. A student card or a sworn statement is not enough.

What should you know about the Dimona for students?

The Dimona of type STU is based on the signed student contract. For each quarter you declare the number of planned hours, so there are as many Dimonas as quarters in which the student works. With a late Dimona, the solidarity contribution is lost for all hours of that period.

Plan those hours as precisely as you can. Declaring too few hours means another employer may use up the student’s balance in the meantime. Declaring too many takes hours away from the student and from their other employers. You can change the hours up to the last day of the month after the quarter. So after each quarter, compare the hours worked with what is in the Dimona.

Three more rules that often come up in a seasonal business:

• A student contract is required where possible. When you can sign a student contract with a student, you must.
• Twelve months is the limit. A student who works for the same employer for more than twelve months without a break cannot sign a student contract. The same student every summer is fine, as long as there is a real break in between.
• Graduated in June. A student who graduates in June can keep working at the solidarity contribution until 30 September, as long as the work has the features of student work.

How does Superota help with scheduling and hours?

Your social secretariat files the Dimona and calculates pay. Superota provides the schedule and the hours they work from.

Season planning shows the whole season as a calendar, with the lessons per day that still need an instructor. Let Superota propose instructors for a day or a week. Whoever has time off or already teaches at that moment is left out; whoever holds the required skills comes first. You decide. For each staff member you record the employment (full time, part time or on call) and the rate per hour, half day, day or month. The internal note, which the staff member does not see, is a good place for “flexi, framework agreement signed” or “student, Student at work certificate checked”.

Instructors see their lessons in the staff app on their phone and report time off there, at least seven days ahead and only for a moment when they are free.

Generate hours turns the schedule into one time entry per lesson day of each assignment, with the rate at that moment. You approve the hours and filter on a staff member and a period, for example one student and one quarter. The CSV gives the date, start and end time, lesson, hours and rate per day. The monthly overview in Excel adds up the hours per staff member. Your social secretariat gets what it needs, and you see quickly whether a student’s hours still match their Dimona.

What do you ask a candidate before their first working day?

• Student: a certificate of enrolment for this school or academic year, a Student at work certificate with access code and a signed student contract.
• Flexi-worker with a job elsewhere: whether they already worked for you this quarter, a check in Burgergegevens raadplegen and a signed framework agreement.
• Retired flexi-worker: a signed framework agreement; the Dimona response shows whether they are in the pension register.
• Everyone: a Dimona with the right code, filed before the first working hour.