Now that most companies have resumed their activities and are gradually trying to get back up to cruising speed, the social inspection services are also on the road again to carry out checks, announced or otherwise. Not only are there the usual checks on the declaration of each employment and the correct application of the wage and working conditions of your personnel, there are also specific checks on how your company handles the required measures regarding safe and healthy working in the workplace and whether your company meets the conditions for certain Corona grants that your company has applied for.
Social inspections are primarily intended to inform employers and to raise their awareness, but they are also intended to ensure that employers comply with social legislation. As an employer, it is best to be as prepared as possible because if serious violations are found, the (administrative) fines and the price tag of a possible regularization of wages and social security contributions can be considerable.
The Inspectorate for Supervision of Welfare at Work carries out inspections to check that companies have taken the necessary measures to ensure that their employees who have returned to work have healthy working conditions. Therefore, be sure to check whether 'social distancing' and protective measures are guaranteed to be maximum and effective in all of your company's workplaces. In doing so, let yourself be guided by the guidelines that the FPS Employment has published on its website in its 'generic guide' on "corona proof" work.
If your company applies for support measures relating to personnel costs (e.g. postponement of payment of social security contributions), have the conditions and any justification for your application checked by the social inspectorate, since it examines whether a company is rightly claiming the support applied.
Your company also has every interest in having a pre-screening of your staff's work rules, working time arrangements, employment contracts and payroll documents.
This type of screening can also be the opportunity to take a closer look at measures to reduce labour costs (e.g. making use of exemptions from the payment of withholding tax and social security reductions) for which your company is eligible with respect to its employees.
Finally, do not forget that as an employer it is best to cooperate actively with a social inspection. On the other hand, you should not provide more information than the social inspector explicitly requests.
Are you interested in a screening of your company's obligations and opportunities in this area? Or does your company need assistance with a social inspection? Contact one of our specialists via e-mail sociaal@titeca.be or by phone at 051 69 19 53 or 051 43 16 30 for advice and guidance (advice is eligible for the SME portfolio).
