Teaching English in Belgium

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Humphries
Member
Posts: 9
Joined: 07 Mar 2015, 15:33
Status: Teacher

Teaching English in Belgium

Unread post by Humphries »

I"ve been teaching in Brussels, Belgium for the last couple of years and want to explain how things work around here.
I like it here in 'Triple B' (Bloody Boring Belgium) 8) but getting started as an English teacher is not so easy.
Rule nr 1: IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO WORK AS AN EMPLOYEE FOR A LANGUAGE SCHOOL. You have to accept work as a freelancer. (Different for secondary schools, but they hire people with a Belgian degree.)
Rule nr 2: Make sure you are an European. I tell my American and Australian friends honestly that they have almost no chance of getting a permanent work permit. (They could marry a local, sure!)

Here, freelancing is called 'working as an independent'.
There are two things to be done before you can start invoicing your clients:
1. You pay your own social contributions (once every 3 months)
2. You get a VAT number for your activities (some schools claim that they don't have to pay VAT because they are non-profit. Don't trust them: if you don't add VAT to your invoice, YOU will get into trouble later, not them.

The VAT offices are organised locally. Find your own office (and contact person) on this website
You pay your social (medical, pension, etc.) contributions to one of the organisations on this exhaustive list exhaustive list of ‘caisses d’assurances sociales’.

But then there is still the income tax to be paid, up to half of what you earn, depending on the tax bracket you’re in. Yes, welcome to Belgium!
If you don’t do this, you’ll get in trouble after two years. If you intend to move to Tasmania and never come back to Europe, you could get away without paying any contributions and taxes, but I don’t recommend it.

I’ve been working as a freelance English teacher for several organisations simultaneously. I work mostly for one good English language school in Brussels and for a few others when I want to diversify. There are a very large number of small language schools. Franchise schools are hardly present and are not very successful.
Belgian language schools teach Dutch and French next to English. Only a few of them offer evening group lessons (because of fierce competition of free language lessons, organised by the government) but they all teach private English lessons, intensive courses, in-company, etc.

I know a few of my (ex-)colleagues did not pay their taxes nor their social security contributions. They either got the taxman knocking on their door or left the country without leaving a trail.

I hope this is helpful! ;)
Polvo
Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 19 Mar 2015, 16:48
Status: Teacher

Re: Teaching English in Belgium

Unread post by Polvo »

Thanks for the info. Could you give an idea of the monthly costs involved?
Humphries
Member
Posts: 9
Joined: 07 Mar 2015, 15:33
Status: Teacher

Re: Teaching English in Belgium

Unread post by Humphries »

A freelancer will pay around € 700 to € 1,200 at the end of every 3-month period, depending on your total income. So you will already have earned money to pay this fee. If your income is low, you can ask for a reduction, especially at the beginning of your activity as an English teacher.
But the calculations are not easy. It is best to master French or Dutch if you want to know everything about it. Check this website (in French) for more details.
But there is another solution! An organisation called Smart can invoice your client (language school) and pay you a fee, deducting contributions and taxes and also takes care of the hassle with the VAT. They take care of the red tape. I recommend this organisation to new teachers.
But it will be difficult to convince your own corporate clients to use this system. My favourite language school, the English Academy agrees to work with Smart (Several of my colleagues use Smart) but some schools don’t. You have to ask the school(s) when you apply. There are many, many language schools in Brussels. Berlitz is one of them but the fees they pay are below average. CLL is the largest school in town, nicknamed 'the factory', but not my favourite.

I recommend to start with Smart and switch to a freelance status once you see you can make ends meet as a teacher.
Sandy199
Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 13 Aug 2016, 17:19
Status: Teacher

Re: Teaching English in Belgium

Unread post by Sandy199 »

I have been working as an English teacher in Greece for the last 3 years and I intend to move to Belgium in the next couple of years. I'd like to ask what are the common qualifications as far as teaching English concerned in order to work as an English teacher in Belgium. I am holding a Bachelor's (English Language and Literature) and I have a CELTA. Do English teachers in Belgium need a Master's on Education or TESOL? Also, I found that SLO is a useful diploma for teachers, but I have not understood exactly what is about, as the information is in Dutch (I know only English and French). Thank you!!
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