Costs proper to the employer, meaning expenses which are incurred by employees in the context of their employment agreement and then reimbursed by the employer, has become a “hot topic” recently due to a legislative change. In practice, the reimbursement of such costs can be made on the basis of actual expenses or on basis of monthly lump sum allowances that cover these expenses. If settled correctly, this kind of reimbursement is advantageous for both the employee and the employer. For the employee the reimbursment is in principle free of tax and social security contributions. For the employer, as the reimbursement does not qualify as “salary”, no employer social security contributions are due.  Due to the recent legislative change, we can expect more audits (from the tax and the social authorities) of these reimbursement of costs “proper to the employer”. Therefore, it is essential to be prepared in case of an audit and to assess, as an employer, the quality of the internal cost policy.During this podcast our experts Olivier Chapelle, Ingrid Kinet and Gauthier Vael  will tackle the different aspects to be taken into consideration when implementing such a costs reimbursement policy. Indeed, as the social security authorities and the tax authorities sometimes have different positions on the same question, it is essential to adopt a pluridisciplinary approach.A well-implemented costs reimbursement policy reduces the risk of rejection of reimbursement as “costs proper to the employer”. In case of rejection, the rejected costs have to be considered as salary, with consequences for social security and tax.Therefore, to prevent this risk, our experts share with you their analysis and recommendations to safeguard your remuneration policy and practice. More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

The European Unequal Pay Day is set this year on November 15th. As from this day, women will work “for free” in comparison to men until the end of the year. But what are the main challenges if we speak about the gender pay gap and how can companies deal with it?During this podcast, you can join our experts, Bart Van den Bussche (PwC) and Vera Claes (Zijkant) to learn more about the still relevant issues of Equal Pay. They will discuss the important difference between Pay Inequality and Gender Pay Gap, the factors causing it,  the impact of parental responsibilities & gender biases on women's pay,  the way companies can prepare for the upcoming directive on pay transparency and how PwC Equal Salary certification can assist with this. More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

ESG plays a key role in the employee value proposition of companies, to attract talent, and retain employees. In this context, ESG is an important topic for human resources (HR) and reward practitioners to consider. It also matters because HR and reward directors have a key role to play in successful delivery of a company’s ESG strategy. This can happen in different ways, such as:aligning the the overall reward strategy with the business objectivesdeploying the right benefitschoosing appropriate KPIsensuring that fair pay practices are applied within the organisation but also towards third parties. Our experts will guide you through the relevance of ESG for HR professionals, through discussing various issues, including: driving the ESG strategy via KPIs in variable pay, investing in fair pay practices in your value chain, implementing new ways of working, and more. Listen to this podcast episode to understand the challenges for HR when dealing with ESG.More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

The Chamber of Representatives has voted the Belgian government’s 2022 Labour Deal into law: a set of labour market reforms that introduce increased flexibility and redeployment measures. The goal of these reforms is twofold: improve employees’ work-life balance and increase the employment rate in Belgium to 80% by 2030. Listen to our podcast to find out how the Labour Deal takes an employee-centric approach, without losing sight of companies’ organisational needs.More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

Personal income tax returns for 2022 will see some changes. Listen to our podcast to hear what the most significant changes are compared to 2021 and what remains the same, but shouldn't be forgotten. We’ll also talk about the impact of Covid 19 and hybrid working on tax returns, deadlines and the different ways to file a tax return.More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

During the past year, most immigration updates were usually linked to the Covid-19 travel restrictions.  In this podcast, we try to focus on the recent and upcoming changes in the Belgian and EU landscapes, which are not related to Covid-19.We have chosen two topics, which we find relevant for Belgian employers and international organizations to know, that will be discussed in this podcast.  The first topic is the implementation of the Belgian search year residence card.  As a second topic, we have chosen to discuss the Entry and Exit system and the European Travel Information and Authorisation system.  These are new systems that will be operational in 2022 and have been introduced in order to strengthen the security checks on people crossing the Schengen borders.The podcast will allow the listeners to better understand these upcoming changes, and eventually plan and organize their immigration and travel policies accordingly.More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

The culture and purpose of your organisation can be a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining people. It is important to know that copying a culture from another high performing company simply does not work, every company’s cultural situation is as unique as a fingerprint.But how can you proceed? There is a way: by building on your own company’s cultural strengths, within its unique cultural situation, and finding the factors that will bolster and draw forth the commitment and emotional energy that employees are willing to give. Start proactively managing culture, which will likely involve building new capabilities to ensure that you’re firing up all the relevant culture enablers — both formal and informal — for your organisation.More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

Public pressure and changing norms are paving the way for business leaders to be paid based on a new set of criteria. Including ESG metrics in executive pay packages is a tangible way to close the say-do gap for a skeptical audience, but is not without its challenges.In this podcast Bart and Aurore share some findings based on published research within the broader PwC network as well as input based on their own experience, helping you to find answers whether linking executive pay to ESG should be done, and if so how?More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website

The world of work is developing rapidly. The digital revolution had already increased the pace of change, and the impact of COVID-19 has only added fuel to fire. The pandemic showed us that companies are ready and willing to truly embrace flexible and remote working. Indeed, across industries and geographies, people have proved that we can drastically change the way in which we get work done, irrespective of workplace and time.This has created an opportunity that should not be wasted. Now is the time to innovate and define a new path. It’s the time to take the decision to experiment and embrace change.A successful business requires a balance between its triangular ecosystem of workplace, work type and workforce, with the employee experience at the centre. The future way of working will be hybrid, digital, inclusive and fair. The future of work is now. Are you ready?More information on this podcast, and others, can be found on our website