Additionally, from 1 July 2006, employers will be also able to register those employees made redundant by electronic forms.
Belgium's Employment and E-Government Minister Peter Vanvelthoven said the new changes are part of a fourth phase in the government's e-social security program.
"Employees now face fewer risks that their files, which are required for them to receive payments, get lost or are incorrect. There is also less need for employees to run from one social security department to another. As for employers, this is a drastic reduction of administrative bureaucracy," said Vanvelthoven in a joint press statement with Social Security Minister Rudy Demotte
Vanvelthoven noted some 380 million electronic messages are exchanged annually amongst Belgium's various social security departments and private companies.
"This process will be much faster and less prone to error from 2006," added Demotte and Vanvelthoven. "This will not only be of benefit to the employer but also to the employee. Now, when an employee gets sick, he or she does not have to play at being postman between the employer and the health insurance office. The employer, too, can now deal directly with the health insurance office."
According to the Belgian government the administrative changes have reduced the total number of paper forms by some 7 million each year. This has also increased the speed at which administrative cases can be handled.
A study by the Planning Office indicates that administrative bureaucracy for companies in Belgium may have decreased by 25 per cent since 2002.
Quelle: Brussels Review , 19.12.2005