Companies are increasingly faced with the need for flexibility in how they organize their activities. This trend is not new and continues to grow. There are many situations where alternatives to the traditional open-ended employment contract are required, and the law follows these developments by adapting to the new realities of the market.
In January 2025, the government agreement announced an expansion of the “existing possibilities” regarding temporary and/or flexible staff transfers. The summer agreement of July 2025 confirms this objective of flexibility with numerous measures to modernize the labour market. In the following sections, we take a snapshot and briefly review the current situation through a few key questions.
Is it really forbidden to use staff from a third-party company?
The rule is unambiguous: in principle, making staff available (or lending them) to another company is prohibited. However, this prohibition more specifically targets the situation where an employee of employer A is placed under the authority of employer B.
Some clarifications:
- Instruction vs authority. Not every instruction amounts to exercising employer authority.
- Instruction clause. Companies may conclude a contract containing an explicit clause allowing staff of company A to give certain listed instructions to staff of company B, within a clearly defined framework.
- Authorized secondment. There is an exceptional possibility of staff secondment for a limited period, subject to prior authorization from the labour inspectorate. This option is rarely used. However, no prior authorization is required when the secondment is intra-group or for the execution of specific specialized tasks.
- Temporary agency work. A widely used option is to hire temporary workers through an employment agency. This is particularly useful in cases of replacement or temporary workload increases.
Is it possible to share staff?
Staff sharing is currently possible through two alternatives:
- Employer grouping. This mechanism is rarely used in practice, mainly due to the administrative formalities it requires, such as setting up a non-profit association, following a specific procedure, and preparing an activity report. Furthermore, the number of employees employed by such a grouping is usually limited to fifty.
- Joint employment contract. This practice consists of concluding a “global” employment contract between an employee and two or more employers. With some creativity and efficient organization, this option can prove very attractive!
Is it possible to hire personnel for a fixed period or a specific job?
Of course. This refers mainly to the more traditional forms of fixed-term employment contracts or contracts for clearly defined work.
Less traditional, though increasingly popular, is the flexi-job contract. The current Minister of Employment’s policy note confirms what had already been announced in the government agreement: extending the possibility of using flexi-jobs to all sectors, while taking into account certain access-to-profession rules. The summer agreement, however, did not yet contain any concrete measures in this regard.
As we can see, the current rules already provide for multiple possibilities of flexible recruitment, each with its own conditions of application. Nevertheless, the government has announced even more flexibility for the labour market in the future. We will keep a close eye on any developments in this respect.
To be continued...
Sacha Henet and Ambre Vranckx, Eubelius
To find out more, attend the Beci seminar on Tuesday, 25 November 2025: Flexible staffing – secure your choices, broaden your options.