Employing a foreigner in Flanders: changes after obtaining a permit

A fixed-term work permit refers to one employer, one foreign employee, one place of employment and one job(category). Changes to one or more of these elements have consequences for the work permit.

Change of employer

For applications for a work permit for “a maximum of 90 days or 90/180 days with a Schengen visa” and applications for a single permit, several scenarios are possible: the employee resigns, the employee is dismissed by the employer, or the employee changes employers.

Employee resigns and has no new employer

Employee changes employer

For all categories, with the exception of seasonal work and the European Blue Card

If an employee changes employer, the new employer must apply for a work permit for the new employment. The employee cannot do this themself.

Employment with the new employer is only allowed once the foreign employee has obtained a new fixed-term work permit for a single permit from the Flemish Economic Migration Department through the employer and if the employee still has a valid residence permit in the form of a valid electronic residence card or in the form of an Annex 49.

If the previous employment has already ended, the employer must report this via the digital portal(opens in new window) by pressing the “stop” button in the ex-employee’s file. If the “stop” button is not available, the employer must send an email to arbeidskaart@vlaanderen.be(opens in your email application). The employee then only has to wait for the new work permit in order to be able to start with the new employer.
If the previous employment is ongoing, the previous work permit will remain valid until the previous employment:
- actually ends (due to the end of the employment contract)
- is terminated after a notice period
- is terminated by mutual agreement between employer and employee. In that case, the employee may continue to work with the ‘old’ employer during the application for the new work permit (and during the notice period) provided that that employment is still covered by that ‘old’ work permit (either work permit or single permit).

The employer or employee does not have to return the original work permit. The ‘old’ employer only needs to report the effective end date of the previous employment via the digital portal(opens in new window) by pressing the “stop” button in the ex-employee’s file. If the “stop” button is not available, the employer should send an email to arbeidskaart@vlaanderen.be(opens in your email application). The employee concerned may therefore keep their previous work permit: the validity of that permit will expire anyway when a new work permit is issued.

Required documents

A change of employer is a renewal of an existing work permit. And so with the new application, all ‘renewal documents’ must be submitted, except for the payroll records of the previous employment as that is not the responsibility of the new employer submitting the application for renewal. Proof of payment of the fee, a medical certificate and an extract from the criminal record are therefore not required.

Only for seasonal work and the Blue Card

Blue Card: during the initial 12-month period, a new work permit is not necessary. Written notification of the Economic Migration Department is sufficient, you can use this document for this purpose: pdf-version (in Dutch)(PDF file opens in new window) or word-version (in Dutch)(Word file opens in new window);
Seasonal work: Within the period of validity of the single permit, the new employer notifies the Economic Migration Department in writing and takes over the seasonal worker. This can be done with this document: pdf-version (in Dutch)(PDF file opens in new window) or word-version (in Dutch)(Word file opens in new window);

Employer dismisses the employee

In the event of dismissal of the employee for whom a work permit has been granted, the employer must immediately report the dismissal and the effective end date via the digital portal(opens in new window) by pressing the “stop” button in the ex-employee’s file and uploading the corresponding document (letter of dismissal, C4, etc.). If the “stop” button is not available, the employer must send an email to arbeidskaart@vlaanderen.be(opens in your email application).

The employer also has a duty to report the employee to Dimona.

On the basis of that notification, the Economic Migration Department will have the single permit revoked after the statutory notice period. Because there is no longer any employment, the work permit is no longer valid. And as a result, the single permit is also no longer valid.

In practice, the Immigration Office will only effectively revoke the single permit three months after the termination of employment, so that the employee still has three months of temporary residence to possibly find new employment. If the employee does not find new employment within that three-month period, they must return to their country of origin.

As the single permit is only effectively revoked after three months, the employee’s residence permit remains valid during that period, even though their work permit is no longer valid. The latter makes it a bit difficult for new employers who see the single permit on which it is stated: ‘Labour market: restricted’. As a result, some employers think that the employee concerned can start working for them immediately, which is not the case: they must first apply for a completely new work permit. The employee cannot do that themself.

All ‘renewal documents’ must be submitted with that new application, except the payroll records of the previous employment as that is not the responsibility of the new employer submitting the new application. Proof of payment of the fee, a medical certificate and an extract from the criminal record are therefore not required.

Employee in the ‘Other’ category changes employer

Place of employment changes

If the place of employment changes, the employer must apply for a new work permit.

For applications for a work permit for “a maximum of 90 days or 90/180 days with a Schengen visa” and applications for a single permit: the competent region is the region in which the establishment unit where the foreign employee will be employed is located. If the employer owns several establishment units, the region where the employee is mainly employed is competent.

If the main place of employment cannot be determined, for example because the employee is employed 50% in one region and 50% in the other, the region competent is the one where the company’s registered office is located and is therefore registered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE).

If the employer does not own any registered office or establishment unit in Belgium, the region where the employee will carry out their activities is competent.

Employment conditions change

If the employment conditions change (e.g. number of hours of employment changes), BVR (Taxpayer Database) 7/12/2018 Article 9 applies.

“During the validity of the fixed-term work permit, the employer shall notify the competent authority:

1° in the event of termination of the employment contract;
2° in the event of any significant change in the employment conditions which may affect the validity of the permit.

The competent authority informs the employer whether a new work permit must be applied for, and does so no later than 15 days after the notification referred to in the first paragraph, 2°.”

You report this via arbeidskaart@vlaanderen.be(opens in your email application).

Job (category) changes

If the type of work that the foreigner will perform changes, the employer must apply for a new work permit via the digital portal (Uniek Loket).

The type of work that the foreigner will perform determines whether they will be admitted to the labour market.

New employer in the context of an acquisition/merger/takeover

The employer is obliged to inform the Economic Migration Service of any significant change in a file (e.g. change of position, working hours or place of employment).

In the event of a transfer of undertaking on the basis of an agreement (such as a merger, takeover or absorption, in accordance with collective labour agreement 32 bis (in Dutch)(opens in new window), whereby all assets and liabilities on the balance sheet are transferred to the acquiring entity, including the employees’ employment contracts, the existing work permit remains valid. This means that employees retain their rights and obligations, including their employment contract, under the new employer.

From a practical point of view (e.g. an inspection), it is advisable to apply for a new work permit no later than the renewal of the existing work permit. In the meantime, the employee may continue to be employed on the basis of the current work permit.