Time to prepare for the social balance sheet 2021!

A lot of companies will have to forward their social balance sheet to the National Bank of Belgium after the close of the financial year.

The social balance sheet is an instrument through which companies have to report on their employment situation and on the training activities in which workers have participated.

Mind that the employer who does not observe his obligations with regard to the social balance sheet will be punishable by terms of a criminal fine or an administrative fine.

What does the social balance sheet contain?

The social balance sheet holds the following information:

• a statement of the employed persons;
• a table of the personnel movements during the financial year;
• a statement containing information on the training activities attended by the workers, of which the cost is borne by the employer.

Since 1 January 2017, the training efforts consist of an inter-professional objective of an average of 5 days training per year per full-time equivalent. This is an objective that will have to be achieved inter-professionally as part of a growth path.

The produced social balance sheets are the basis of the annual assessment of the training efforts. Therefore, the employer will have to keep on registering the training efforts in the social balance sheet.

Which companies have to produce a social balance sheet?

Mainly the following companies are obliged to produce a social balance sheet:

• the Belgian companies which are required to publish their annual account and the social balance sheet (and which employ staff); the annual account and the social balance sheet must be deposited with the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) within 30 days after the approbation of the annual account and no later than 7 months after the close of the financial year;
• the companies which, in principle, are required to produce a social balance sheet and forward this to the NBB, within 7 months after the close of their/the financial year:
  • hospitals which have not taken the form of a private limited company with limited liability or of a great or very great non-profit institution;
  • other companies under private law (e.g. NPA, foundation), which employ at least 20 workers (in full-time equivalents);
  • foreign companies which have a branch office or an activity centre in Belgium; their social balance sheet only contains the data concerning the branch offices in Belgium and the activity centres (of the foreign company) in which case the common branch offices and activity centres are regarded as a whole.

How can Partena Professional help you to fulfil this obligation?

Like every year we will supply a balance sheet on which the data are stated on the status of the employed persons (sections 1001 and following) and the personnel turnover during the financial year (sections 205 and 350).

You will receive this document in the course of March 2022.

You may forward this document to your accountant if he deals with the annual account and the social balance sheet of your company.