Social inspection 2026: how does an audit unfold?
Last updated: August 2026
Two people turn up at reception on a Tuesday morning. Identification card, no appointment. They ask to see the contracts of the workers on site, the attendance records and the Dimona declarations, the immediate employment declaration, for the past three months. Your HR manager is on leave.
There is nothing exceptional about that scenario. Social inspectors enter freely, at any hour, without prior warning. That is not an abuse: it is what the law allows them.
You cannot stop an inspection. What you can do is know what is going to happen, what the inspector may demand, and what is at stake in the weeks that follow. That is often where the file is decided, not during the visit itself.
In short: five federal services can inspect you. The inspector arrives unannounced, questions, consults and seizes. At the end of the visit they choose between a warning, a period to put things right and a formal report. If they draw up a report, precise deadlines then apply for your response.
Who inspects what in Belgium?
Belgium has five federal social inspection services: the NSSO inspectorate, the Labour Inspectorate of FPS Employment, the NEO inspectorate, the administrative control service of NIHDI and the Fair Competition directorate of NISSE. They share some powers and each keeps its own (SIRS, the Social Information and Investigation Service, accessed 31 August 2026).
The shared powers are the ones that concern you most directly: the Dimona declaration, the Limosa declaration covering workers posted to Belgium, and social documents. Any one of the five services can therefore ask you for these, whatever brought them to your door.
Their own powers vary. The Labour Inspectorate covers employment law: contracts, working time, pay, work regulations. The NSSO looks at contributions and declarations. The NEO looks at unemployment rules, for instance where a dismissed worker did not receive their C4. That is the end-of-contract document allowing them to claim their entitlements from the NEO.
A sixth player coordinates the whole: SIRS, which organises cooperation between the services and publishes the penalty scales.
Do you need to know all five by heart? No. It is enough to remember that your Dimona declarations and social documents fall under all of them, and that a visit from one gives you no shelter from any other.
What triggers an inspection?
An inspection always has a trigger. It arises from a complaint, a judicial request, an administrative query, a sector-wide campaign, an accident at work, or simply the service's own initiative. Inspectors also act within the district units led by the labour auditor (FPS Employment, accessed 31 August 2026).
You will not find out who reported you: inspectors are bound to secrecy about the origin of complaints and reports. They may not tell you who spoke, except with the complainant's express authorisation, and not even before a court. So do not count on identifying the source of an inspection by asking for it.
One trigger often goes unnoticed: applying for an authorisation or a derogation. Requesting a derogation means opening your file to the administration that handles it. Does that mean you should give up on it? No. But make sure the file is in order before you submit it.
What may a social inspector do?
Their investigative powers are set out in articles 22 to 49 of the Social Criminal Code. They are broad, and deliberately so: entering, questioning, consulting, copying, seizing, photographing, sealing. On a workplace, the inspector meets almost no legal obstacle.
Entering, at any hour and unannounced
Carrying their identification card, the inspector may enter freely, at any hour of the day or night, without prior warning, in all workplaces subject to their supervision, or where they have reasonable grounds to believe that people are working.
The exception concerns inhabited premises: there they need the prior authorisation of the investigating judge, or the express, prior and written consent of the occupant. That is the only real barrier, and it protects the home, not the business.
Questioning, consulting, seizing
The inspector may verify the identity of those present and question them, alone or in the presence of witnesses: the employer, the workers, the union representatives, the committee members. Anyone questioned may be accompanied by a person of their choosing.
They may also have any useful information carrier handed over, examine and take away documents or IT media, take photographs and video recordings, apply seals and exchange data with other services. In practice the request very quickly turns to contracts, declarations and attendance registration.
One risk is systematically underestimated: the five services talk to each other. An irregularity spotted by one may therefore attract the interest of another, on ground you were not expecting.
The limits of their powers
The inspector does not act as they please. They have a framed discretion: their choices must remain consistent with their service's internal guidelines and be justified in writing. Professional secrecy applies to them, including on the personal data they collect.
Warning, correction period or formal report?
An inspection does not automatically end in a penalty. After making their findings, the inspector chooses between three outcomes, and that choice falls within their discretion (FPS Employment, accessed 31 August 2026). That is precisely why your attitude during the visit genuinely counts.
| Possible outcome | What it means | What you must do |
|---|---|---|
| Warning | The shortcoming is recorded, no proceedings follow | Correct it, and keep proof of the correction |
| Correction period | You are given a set time to put things in order | Put it right within the period and document it |
| Formal report | The offence is recorded and sent to the public prosecutor | Respond within the deadlines set out below |
What you may not do, on the other hand, is obstruct the inspection. Refusing access, concealing documents, preventing an interview: that is a separate offence, added to any that may be found.
The room for manoeuvre you do have
Letting them in and producing what is asked for is not negotiable. Anyone questioned, however, may be accompanied by a person of their choosing, whether or not the inspection was announced. Nor does anything oblige you to improvise a figure you do not have in front of you: better to send the accurate information later than an approximation that will stay on the file. The difference between a warning and a formal report sometimes comes down to very little, so put that little on your side.
What happens after the formal report?
This is the least understood stage, and yet it is where the file is decided. Three deadlines set its rhythm: fourteen days for notification, six months for the public prosecutor's decision, thirty days for your defence. Each opens a concrete possibility.
The fourteen days for notification
The formal report must be sent to the presumed offender and, where applicable, to their employer, within fourteen days starting the day after the finding. That deadline is not decorative: it conditions the special evidential value the Social Criminal Code attaches to the report, namely that it stands until proven otherwise (articles 65 and 66 of the Social Criminal Code).
In other words, a report notified out of time loses its privileged status. So always check the date of the finding and the date it was sent.
The public prosecutor's decision
The report goes to the public prosecutor, who decides whether to prosecute. If they decline, or if they have taken no decision within six months of receiving the report, the file switches to the administrative route and goes to the Administrative Fines Directorate.
Your thirty days to make your case
Once you receive the notification by registered post, you have thirty days to submit your defence. Nothing obliges you to. But it is your only chance to bring in elements missing from the file and to put forward what may weigh on the amount of the penalty.
The Directorate then examines whether the offences are properly established, and notifies its decision by registered post. Those thirty days are short: which is why a formal report does not go into a folder to wait and see.
What does a shortcoming cost?
The Social Criminal Code classes offences in four levels. Two recent changes have made the bill heavier: the Act of 15 May 2024 doubled level 3 fines on 1 July 2024, then the surcharge coefficient rose from 8 to 10 for offences committed from 1 February 2026. Here are the amounts after surcharges (SIRS, accessed 31 August 2026).
| Level | Criminal fine | Administrative fine | Imprisonment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | none | €100 to €1,000 | none |
| Level 2 | €500 to €5,000 | €250 to €2,500 | none |
| Level 3 | €2,000 to €20,000 | €1,000 to €10,000 | none |
| Level 4 | €6,000 to €70,000 | €3,000 to €35,000 | 6 months to 3 years |
The Act of 19 December 2025, in force since 1 February 2026, added a floor: where an aggravating factor is retained, the fine cannot fall below half the maximum, meaning €35,000 criminally and €17,500 administratively for level 4 (FPS Employment for the measure, Securex for the figures, accessed 31 August 2026). The measure targets intentional level 4 offences in particular.
The factor that really tips a file, though, is not the level: it is the number of workers. Where the article punishing the offence expressly provides for it, the fine is multiplied by the number of workers concerned, up to a limit of one hundred times the maximum.
Take the most familiar shortcoming: the missing Dimona. For this offence the NSSO refers to article 181 of the Social Criminal Code, which places it at level 3 and moves it to level 4 where it is committed knowingly and deliberately. The fine is also multiplied by the number of workers concerned (Securex, accessed 31 August 2026). Here is what a file covering 4 undeclared workers represents.
- Level 3 criminal fine, lower limit per worker: €2,000, so €8,000 for the four
- Level 3 criminal fine, upper limit per worker: €20,000, so €80,000 for the four
- Solidarity contribution to the NSSO, due for each omitted declaration: three times the basic contributions on the guaranteed minimum monthly income, with an indexed statutory minimum of €3,674.09 in 2026
- For 4 workers, at the very least: €14,696.36
- Total for the file, excluding repeat offences: €22,696.36 to €94,696.36
- If the omission is judged intentional, level 4 applies and the fine alone runs from €24,000 to €280,000
For a single worker, the level 3 fine would run from €2,000 to €20,000, contribution excluded. A repeat offence can double the bill. So the number of workers often weighs more heavily than the nature of the shortcoming itself. The most common mistakes when registering a temporary worker are precisely those that repeat from one worker to the next. The real lever is not reacting well on the day of the inspection: it is preventing one shortcoming from replicating across a whole team.
How do you prepare?
Preparing does not mean anticipating everything, but being able to produce quickly what will be asked for and knowing who answers. What turns an inspection into a bad memory is rarely the substance of the file: it is not knowing where the documents are, nor who has authority to speak for the company.
Appoint a contact and a deputy. The inspector may turn up on a day when the competent person is away. Without a designated contact, it is the vague answers of an unprepared colleague that will end up on the file.
Know where the documents are, and how fast you can produce them. How long would it take you, right now, to produce the contracts for the past three months? Contracts, Dimona, work schedules, attendance, work regulations: our overview of the mandatory social documents gives the full list and the retention period for each.
Note everything during the visit. Who came, from which service, what was asked, what was handed over, what was said. That record will be your basis if a formal report arrives fourteen days later.
Check your legal set-up in advance. An inspection that starts on documents can slide towards the employment relationship, especially if workers from a third party are present on your site. That is the territory of unlawful provision of personnel.
What employers should remember
- Five services can inspect you, and Dimona, Limosa and social documents fall under their shared powers: any one of them may demand these.
- The inspector enters unannounced, at any hour. Only inhabited premises are protected, by the authorisation of an investigating judge or your prior written consent.
- An inspection does not necessarily lead to a penalty: warning, correction period or formal report all fall within the inspector's discretion.
- Three deadlines govern what follows: fourteen days for notification of the report, six months for the public prosecutor's decision, thirty days for your defence.
- The cost depends on the number of workers involved more than on the seriousness of the fault, with a ceiling at one hundred times the maximum and possible doubling for a repeat offence. A missing Dimona falls under level 3, level 4 if judged intentional, and comes with a solidarity contribution owed to the NSSO.
How Recruit helps you
An inspection is prepared for before it arrives, and what matters most rests on data that has to be accurate at all times. That is exactly what Recruit keeps up to date for you.
With Recruit:
- Dimona and social documents - Immediate employment declaration and social documents managed end to end, available at any moment
- Contracts in one click - Every contract archived and retrievable during the inspection, not after it
- Centralised time registration - Schedules and attendance aligned with the work actually paid for
- Accurate payroll - Pay aligned with your Joint Committee and the legislation in force
- Personal support 24/7 - A dedicated contact who knows your file and your sector
Try Recruit or contact our HR experts for tailored advice.
Frequently asked questions
May I refuse entry to a social inspector?
No, except for inhabited premises, where authorisation from the investigating judge or your prior written consent is required. For workplaces, an inspector carrying their identification card enters freely, at any hour. Obstructing the inspection is a separate offence, added to any that may be found.
Am I warned before an inspection?
Not necessarily. The law expressly allows visits without prior warning. Some inspections are announced, however, particularly where they concern an ongoing administrative file. Announced or not, anyone questioned may be accompanied by a person of their choosing.
May the inspector take my documents away?
Yes. They may have any information carrier useful to the investigation handed over, examine and take away documents or IT media, and apply seals. Always ask for a written inventory of what is taken.
What should I do if I receive a formal report?
Check the date of the finding and the date it was sent first: beyond fourteen days, the report loses its special evidential value. Then prepare your defence, which you will have thirty days to submit after notification from the Administrative Fines Directorate.
May I know who reported me?
No. Inspectors are required to keep the origin of complaints and reports secret, except with the complainant's express authorisation, including before the courts. That is a legal protection for the complainant, not opacity on the part of the administration.
Does putting things right wipe out the offence?
That depends on the outcome the inspector chooses. If you are given a correction period and you put things in order within it, the matter stops there. If a formal report has already been drawn up, correction does not cancel it, but it is an element to put forward in your defence.
The information in this article is provided for general guidance only and does not replace professional legal advice. Labour legislation changes regularly. Always consult the legislation in force or contact an HR expert for advice suited to your situation.