Flemish service vouchers - Which employees are you allowed to hire?

You can hire anyone who wants to work as a service-voucher employee. They may also be foreign employees, provided they have a valid work permit.

You must declare your service-voucher employees in DIMONA (in Dutch).

Certain categories of employees may not be recruited through a service-voucher employment contract.

• People undergoing individual vocational training (IBO) in your company may work in your company and be paid with service vouchers, but not for the same hours. Thus, they may work part-time within your company through the service-voucher system and take individual vocational training in your company outside those hours.
• If you run a recognised service-voucher business yourself, you may not pay yourself with service vouchers.
• You may not pay an intern in your service-voucher business with service vouchers.
• People who work under the Gesco statute or the social Maribel system may not combine it with a service-voucher job.
• People recruited through Article 60, §7 of the Act on Public Social Welfare Centres are not allowed to work with service vouchers

Your employee may not work:

• for themselves (doing your own domestic work with service vouchers is never allowed);
• for family members or relatives up to the second degree.
  • family members: anyone you live with
  • relatives up to the second degree:
    • in the first degree:
      • partner
      • parent(-in-law)
      • son(-in-law)
      • daughter(-in-law).
    • in the second degree:
      • grandchild
      • grandparent
      • brother(-in-law) or sister(-in-law).

The terms of recognition explicitly state that you may not discriminate against your customers or your staff. Moreover, you must not expose your staff to a dangerous work environment or the risk of discrimination.

The law provides penalties for discrimination in service-voucher companies:

• a criminal fine of EUR 125 to EUR 1,250;
• and/or imprisonment from 8 days to 1 year;
• and/or the withdrawal of recognition.

If the prosecutor’s office does not follow up on a complaint, the Department of Work and Social Economy shall impose an administrative fine of between EUR 250 and EUR 2,500.

Whether an employer was aware of discriminatory practices and, if so, responded appropriately shall be examined on a case-by-case basis.