Temp vs freelancer vs payrolling: what's the difference

You need someone. A project manager for six months, an extra pair of hands in the warehouse during the busy season, or a specialist to reinforce your team for a while. But how do you take that person on? Through a temp agency? As a freelancer? Or through payrolling?

Three options. All three legal. All three with their own rules, costs and pitfalls. And the honest truth? The right choice depends on your situation. Anyone who won't tell you that straight is trying to sell you something.

In this article, we explain the difference between temporary agency work, freelancing and payrolling. No sales talk, just concrete figures and an honest decision guide.

First, let's get the terms straight

Most of the confusion starts with the words themselves. In Belgium, "freelancer" isn't a legal status: you're either an employee or self-employed. Full stop.

Temp work (temporary agency work): you work through a temp agency. That agency is your legal employer. You're an employee, with all the social protection that comes with it. The agency arranges the contract, pay, Dimona (immediate employment declaration) and holiday pay. The client pays an invoice to the agency.

Freelancer (self-employed): you work as a self-employed person, with your own VAT number. You send your own invoices. You arrange your own social security contributions through a social insurance fund. No holiday pay, no thirteenth-month pay, no unemployment benefit. But also: more freedom and often a higher net rate.

Payrolling: a hybrid. You, as the client, find the candidate yourself, but the payroll company takes that person on. They become the legal employer and handle all the admin. The difference with temp work? With payrolling, you recruit. With temp work, the agency does.

Want to know more about how temporary agency work actually works? Read our article on temporary agency work in Belgium.

The legal differences at a glance

This is where it gets legal. Not boring-legal, but important: the choice between temp work, freelancing and payrolling has far-reaching consequences for who carries which responsibilities.

Relationship of authority

With temp work and payrolling, there is always a relationship of authority. The worker works under the direction and supervision of the client, even though the temp agency or payroll company is the legal employer. This is laid down in the Act of 24 July 1987 on temporary agency work.

With a freelancer, that relationship of authority must not exist. The moment you tell a freelancer how, when and where to work, you move into false self-employment territory. We'll come back to that shortly.

Employment contract

Temp workers and payroll workers work under an employment contract. They fall under the social law for employees: notice periods, guaranteed salary during illness, holiday pay, and an end-of-year bonus (depending on the Joint Committee).

A freelancer has no employment contract. They work on the basis of a service agreement or cooperation agreement. No notice period in the classic sense, no guaranteed salary, no automatic holiday pay.

Legal framework

Temporary agency work falls under the Act of 24 July 1987 and is strictly regulated. Specific reasons apply (replacement, temporary increase in work, exceptional work, inflow), along with maximum durations and, in certain cases, the mandatory consent of the trade union delegation. You'll find more on this in our article on the temp contract in Belgium.

In Belgium, payrolling also falls under temporary agency work legislation. The payroll company must be licensed as a temp agency. This is an important difference from the Netherlands, where payrolling is regulated separately.

Freelancing falls under the self-employed status and the Employment Relationships Act of 2006.

Social security: the big difference

Here's the key point. The difference in social protection between an employee (temp or payroll) and a self-employed person (freelancer) is huge.

As a temp worker or payroll worker, you fall under the employee scheme of the NSSO (National Social Security Office). That means:

• Pension accrual as an employee
• Unemployment benefit at the end of the contract (provided you have enough days)
• Guaranteed salary during illness (up to 30 days)
• Occupational accident insurance through the employer
• Holiday pay and an end-of-year bonus
• Child benefit (Groeipakket)

The employer pays roughly 25% to 35% in employer contributions on top of the gross salary. The employee contributes 13.07%.

As a freelancer, you fall under the RSVZ (National Institute for the Social Security of the Self-employed). You pay quarterly contributions yourself, based on your net professional income. The coverage is more limited:

• Pension accrual (lower than for employees)
• Health and disability insurance (after a waiting period, unless you're a primo-starter, a newly self-employed person)
• Groeipakket
• Bankruptcy insurance (the bridging right)
• No unemployment benefit
• No guaranteed salary
• No occupational accident insurance (you have to arrange it yourself)

In our experience with thousands of temporary workers, we see that many employers underestimate this difference. They look at the rate but forget that a freelancer who falls ill simply stops showing up. And there's no replacement.

Cost comparison: what do you really pay?

Comparing costs is harder than it looks: the invoice amounts are built up in completely different ways. Let's try anyway, with a concrete example.

The scenario: you need an administrative employee for four months. Gross salary according to the JC 200 salary scale: an indicative €2,500 per month.

Through a temp agency (temp work)

The temp agency applies a conversion coefficient, typically between 1.8 and 2.2 for white-collar workers. That factor covers everything: gross salary, employer contributions, holiday pay, admin, recruitment costs and profit margin.

At a coefficient of 2.0, you pay: €2,500 x 2.0 = €5,000 per month to the temp agency.

Read more about this cost structure in our article on the cost of a temp agency.

Through payrolling

With payrolling, the coefficient is lower, typically between 1.65 and 1.82. That makes sense: you did the recruiting yourself, so the payroll company doesn't charge a recruitment margin.

At a coefficient of 1.75, you pay: €2,500 x 1.75 = €4,375 per month to the payroll company.

That's around 12% less than a temp agency. Over four months, that quickly adds up to €2,500 in difference. Curious about all the pros and cons? See our overview of the pros and cons of payroll.

Through a freelancer

A freelancer sets their own rate. That administrative employee as a self-employed contractor? Expect an indicative daily rate of €250 to €350, depending on experience and specialisation. At 21 working days a month, that comes to €5,250 to €7,350 per month.

More expensive on paper. But there's no social protection built into that price. The freelancer pays their own social security contributions, insurance and pension accrual. On top of that, as the client you pay no holiday pay, end-of-year bonus or guaranteed salary during illness.

In short:

• Temp agency: an indicative €5,000/month (all in, they recruit)
• Payrolling: an indicative €4,375/month (all in, you recruit)
• Freelancer: an indicative €5,250-€7,350/month (no social charges for you, but also no protection)

Note: these amounts are indicative (2026) and depend on the sector, Joint Committee and individual arrangements. The rules can differ per Joint Committee and sector.

False self-employment: the risk to avoid

Now the sore point. Some companies think: "I'll just take that person on as a freelancer, it's cheaper." You can, but only if the working relationship really is a freelance one.

In Belgium, strict criteria determine whether someone is an employee or self-employed. The Employment Relationships Act of 2006 looks at four criteria:

• The intention of the parties (though that alone isn't enough)
• The freedom to organise working time
• The freedom to organise the work
• The ability to exercise hierarchical control

If you impose fixed hours on a "freelancer", require them to be in the office, monitor their work the way you would an employee, and forbid them from working for others, then you're dealing with false self-employment.

In certain high-risk sectors (construction, cleaning, transport, security, agriculture), even stricter additional criteria apply.

The consequences? Not minor. If the social inspectorate establishes it, you as the client have to pay all the outstanding NSSO contributions, going back up to three years. In cases of fraud, up to seven years. On top of that comes a flat-rate increase of 10%, plus interest. And the "freelancer" suddenly gets employee status, with all the rights that entails: notice period, holiday pay, end-of-year bonus.

After more than 15 years in Belgian payroll, we know exactly which signals trigger the social inspectorate. Not sure whether your arrangement is set up correctly? Have it reviewed legally. It's cheaper to get it right upfront than to pay fines afterwards.

Which option should you choose?

No two situations are the same. Still, we can offer guidelines based on what we see every day among the employers we support.

Temp work suits you if:

• You need someone fast and don't want to recruit yourself
• You have to cover a peak and the profile is easy to find
• You want a replacement when the worker is off sick
• You have little experience with temporary hiring
• You want to outsource the entire admin and recruitment

Hiring a freelancer works better if:

• You're looking for a specialist for a clearly defined project
• The person can work autonomously without daily direction
• It's knowledge work (IT, consultancy, marketing, design)
• You're willing to pay a higher daily rate for expertise
• No relationship of authority is needed

Payrolling is ideal if:

• You find candidates yourself (through your network, applications or LinkedIn)
• You want to bring down the cost of a temp agency
• You want to outsource the admin but not the recruitment
• You want control over who works for you
• You're looking for flexibility without the complexity of being an employer yourself

Torn between payroll and a temp agency? Our article on the difference between payroll and a temp agency helps you weigh it up.

Pros and cons of each option

Let's be honest about what each option does well and where it chafes.

Temp work (temporary agency work)

Pros: quick availability, no recruitment costs, replacement in case of illness, and the temp agency knows the market. You have to do little yourself.

Cons: the most expensive option, because of the recruitment margin in the coefficient. Less control over who turns up. Quality can vary widely between temp agencies. And when the labour market is tight? Then they don't always have the right profiles either.

Freelancer

Pros: high expertise, quickly deployable, no social charges for you as the client, and a flexible collaboration. For specialised project work, often the best choice.

Cons: no replacement in case of illness or absence. A risk of false self-employment if the arrangement looks too much like an employment relationship. An expensive daily rate (though there's a reason behind that). And when the collaboration ends? All that knowledge walks out the door too, unless you've documented it well.

Payrolling

Pros: a lower coefficient than temp work, you choose the candidate, complete relief from admin, and proper social protection for the worker. With Recruit, you can create a temp contract in under 60 seconds, including automatic Dimona filing. That saves administrative headaches.

Cons: you have to recruit yourself. No replacement in case of illness (you arrange that yourself). And you're bound by temporary agency work legislation, so rules apply for reasons and maximum duration. You can read more about this in our article on what a payroll intermediary actually does.

Five common mistakes when choosing

We regularly see companies make the wrong choice. Not out of ill will, but out of a lack of knowledge. These are the mistakes that come up most often.

1. Hiring a freelancer when it's really an employment relationship

The cheapest option on paper, the most expensive when it goes wrong. If you have someone work permanently, give them fixed hours and exercise control over how the work is done, just hire a temp worker or use payrolling.

2. Looking only at the price

A freelancer costing €300 a day looks more expensive than a temp worker. But if that freelancer delivers in two months what an average worker takes six months to do? Then the picture looks different.

3. Forgetting that social protection has value too

As the client, with temp work and payrolling you contribute to your worker's social security. It feels like a cost, but it also protects you: guaranteed salary during illness keeps you from suddenly being short-handed.

4. Confusing payrolling and temp work

They look the same. But the difference in recruitment and cost is significant. Anyone who has a candidate and still goes through a temp agency pays a recruitment margin for nothing.

5. Not taking the law into account

Temporary agency work (and therefore payrolling too) is bound by strict reasons and rules. You can't extend temp contracts endlessly. For the reason "inflow", a maximum of three consecutive contracts applies, with a total duration of six months.

Frequently asked questions

Can I have the same person work first as a freelancer and later through payroll?

Yes, you can. But watch the timing and the reason. If you hire someone as a freelancer for months and then have them do exactly the same work through payroll, that can raise questions during an inspection. Make sure you can justify the choice.

Is payrolling the same as temporary agency work?

In Belgium, payrolling falls legally under temporary agency work legislation. The payroll company must be licensed as a temp agency. The difference lies in the recruitment: with temp work the agency recruits, with payrolling you do it yourself.

What if a freelancer falls ill?

Then you have a problem. A freelancer has no guaranteed salary. They can call on their health insurance through RIZIV (the national health and disability insurance), but you as the client have no right to a replacement. Your project comes to a standstill until they recover, unless you find a stand-in yourself.

How much NSSO do I pay if I have someone work through temp work or payroll?

That's included in the coefficient that the temp or payroll company invoices. You pay an all-in rate. The employer contributions (25-35%, depending on the sector and target-group reductions) are paid to the NSSO by the agency.

Can I use payrolling as a small business too?

Absolutely. Payrolling is in fact popular with SMEs that don't have the administrative capacity to be an employer themselves. You don't need your own HR department.

In short

The choice between temp work, freelancing and payrolling isn't about "what's cheapest" but "what fits my situation." Need someone fast and want to hand everything off? Temp work. Looking for a specialist for a clearly defined project? A freelancer. Have a candidate of your own and want to outsource the admin at a sharper price? Then payrolling is your best option.

Whichever form you choose: make sure the legal basis is sound. False self-employment isn't a theoretical risk, it's something the social inspectorate actively checks for. And the consequences aren't mild.

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How Recruit helps you

Taking on temporary staff without administrative headaches? That's exactly what we built Recruit for.

With Recruit:

• Contracts in under 60 seconds: create trial and temp contracts without the hassle
• Automatic payroll calculation: correct pay in line with current legislation and your Joint Committee
• Dimona and social documents: we handle all the filings, you focus on your business
• 24/7 personal support: always a dedicated contact who knows your company
• No fixed monthly costs: pay only for what you use

Try Recruit or get in touch with our HR experts for tailored advice.

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The information in this article is purely informational and does not replace professional legal or accounting advice. Labour legislation changes regularly. Always consult the current legislation or contact an HR expert for advice tailored to your situation. Note: the rules can differ per Joint Committee and sector. This article provides general guidelines. For specific advice adapted to your sector, contact our HR specialists.