Eurofound has taken a multipronged response to the pandemic, adapting its research focus in a variety of ways. See full list on vdab. University cities such as Ghent and Louvain offer student accommodation during summer.
Interesting links: 1. Check the orange-black posters on available residences announcing ‘For rent’ or ‘For sale’. Go to an estate agency, look in the papers or surf the internet. Working abroad is not always a success. Adjustment problems of the partner and children are the main cause of failure. It is therefore important to prepare well.
Some links that may be useful: 1. Practical information about the school system. This company helps partners find a job through multicultural training, career guidance, application training. Additionally, property tax and gift and inheritance tax may be relevant. Getting used to living in a new country is always a challenge.
First, you will require a work permit. This is not required if you are a citizen of one of the European Union states, the states of the European Economic Area, or Switzerland. Under EU laws, EU citizens are entitled to live and work in any of the EU states. The employer must justify your position is one that cannot be filled by a local person.
There are three types of work permit: 1. Permit C – year validity, unlimited employers, non-renewable – typically issued to foreign nationals with a limited residency status (e.g. refugee, students, etc). Permit B – year validity, single employer, renewable – this is the most common work permit. Belgium as an expatriate destination. If you change employers, your new employer must apply again for a work permit.
You are entitled to renew this permit every ye. Did you know there are 13. In the spring, usually May, you will get an extra of a month’s salary, as vacation pay (pécule de vacances) and at the end of the year, you will get an extra month’s bonus (the 13thmonth).
Salaries are paid monthly, which is less of an issue for other Europeans, but likely a surprise for North Americans. This means you will need to budget your spending across the entire month. Salaries are also indexe meaning they are automatically increased each year, based on the health index (consumer price index minus tobacco, fuel, diesel and alcohol). Compared to North America, Belgians enjoy more vacation time during a year.
An employee working days a week for a year is entitled to days of annual leave, plus public holidays. If any of the public holidays fall on a weeken that day becomes a floating holiday, which the employee is entitled to use like any vacation day. Your annual leave is provided all at once at the start of the year, based on the number of months worked in the previous year.
Therefore if you join a company on January 1st, you will need to work for a whole year, before you get your vacation days. Annual leave does notcarry over if you don’t use it. Employees are also entitled to sick leave. There is no maximum number of days, but each incidence must be accompanied by a doctor’s sick note. The way annual leave is earned has been subject to criticism.
Fathers are entitled to days off, which must be taken within the first month after the baby arrives, but they are only paid of their salary. Of course, this kind of information changes over time, as new rules take effect. To get more information, here are some useful links: 1. Information is provided in English, French, Dutch, and German. A site dedicated to providing imm.
Vind de job van je dromen op StepStone en solliciteer in enkele kliks. Structure of Belgian society and the influence of language, traditions and customs. Your employer must apply for your work permit at their local commune.
Insight into the cultural differences between Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. Expats who do require a work permit will benefit from applying for a job before arriving in the country, as many employers will help their employees with this process. Those of us, who have been expats here for a while, forget just how strange it can seem to newcomers.
Today, our guest contributor, Laura, shares her observations, after a year of living in Brussels. After a year of being Brussels-base I thought it was time to reflect (light-heartedly) on life in this Low Country… 1.