Conditions and inspections

Conditions and duties

Conditions for the approval of temporary employment agencies

• The agency is independent of the public authorities. It was not created by a public authority and no public authority holds either the majority of the shares in the agency or the majority of the votes at its general assembly.
• The agency offers sufficient guarantees of solvency and financial health.
• It respects the tax laws, labour law, social security law, collective employment agreements, company law and commercial law.
• None of its administrators, managers or representatives have been convicted of a crime or received a fine as a result of an infringement (Art. 8 - 6° of the Order of 14 July 2011).
• It does not owe any tax payments or social security contributions.

Obligations of all private employment agencies

• The agency respects the privacy legislation.
• It does not discriminate between job-seekers or workers. It does not deprive them of their right to freedom of association.
• It does not require any financial contribution from job-seekers or workers, whether directly or indirectly, in full or in part.
• It displays the text regarding the rights and obligations of workers and job-seekers (.pdf - in French) (45k) in an appropriate and easily accessible location.
• If the agency uses personality or psychological tests, these tests are carried out by or under the responsibility of a qualified psychologist.
• It does not perform or require the performance of genetic tests.
• It does not collect medical data that is not connected to a requirement of the job offer.

Conditions and sanctions

The regional employment inspectors check both the private employment agencies working in the Brussels-Capital Region and the businesses that use the services of these agencies. Any person who commits an offence may receive a fine or even a prison sentence.

The Regional Employment Inspectorate is at your disposal for any information you may require regarding the legislation. You can also make a complaint if this legislation is not correctly applied. However, anonymous complaints are not normally followed up.

In the event of problems, the Economic and Social Council of the Brussels-Capital Region (C.E.S.) may invite representatives of the private employment agency to explain the situation. If a private employment agency does not meet/no longer meets the approval (temporary employment agencies) or registration conditions (other types of agency), three scenarios may arise, after the Economic and Social Council has issued its opinion:

• the Minister for Regional Employment may set a deadline of a maximum of 3 months for the temporary employment agency to comply with the obligations of the Order or its implementing decree (suspension of approval);
• the Minister may withdraw the authorisation of the temporary employment agency;
• the Employment Policy & Plural Economy Department may cancel the registration, which means that the private employment agency cannot continue to perform its employment activities