Why are Brussels SMEs more willing to let staff work from abroad?

Nearly one in two Brussels SMEs is prepared to let employees work temporarily from abroad, according to an SD Worx survey published on 7 August, placing the capital well ahead of Flanders and Wallonia. The poll found that 44% of small and medium-sized businesses in Brussels were open to such arrangements, compared with 18% in Flanders and 11% in Wallonia. Nationwide, the proportion was 19%.

That matters particularly in Brussels, where internationally recruited staff, multilingual households and organisations operating across borders make requests to work near family abroad more plausible. The finding concerns Brussels as an employment market, however, not the EU institutions themselves: the survey covered Belgian SMEs with up to 250 workers, rather than the European Commission, Council or Parliament and their separate staff rules.

Interest has not yet translated into widespread use. SD Worx said 22% of Brussels SMEs had received a request to work from abroad, against 7% in both Flanders and Wallonia. Across Belgium, fewer than one SME in ten had received one. The survey questioned 448 Belgian SMEs between 2 and 22 June 2026 and reported a 4.63-percentage-point margin of error for the full sample; SD Worx did not publish a separate margin for the smaller Brussels subgroup, so the regional figures should be treated as indicative rather than exact.

Brussels employers also appear further ahead in turning openness into policy. Thirty-eight per cent said they had established formal rules, compared with 24% in Flanders and 15% in Wallonia. Laura Bertrand, an SME consultant at SD Worx, framed clear rules as the dividing line between a manageable arrangement and an avoidable risk: employers should specify eligible roles, permitted countries, duration, availability and prior approval.

This is not simply ordinary homeworking with a sunnier address. Once an employee performs work in another country, the employer may have to examine social-security affiliation, income tax, employment law, insurance, immigration status, data protection and workplace safety. One third of Belgian SMEs in the survey anticipated fiscal, legal or practical difficulties; the proportion was 28% in Brussels and 39% in Wallonia.

Belgium's National Social Security Office illustrates why location and frequency matter. Under the ordinary EU coordination rule described by the ONSS, an employee who performs at least 25% of their work in their country of residence is generally insured there. A European framework agreement offers a route for certain cross-border teleworkers to remain under Belgian social security when they work less than 50% in their state of residence and at least half their time in Belgium, subject to agreement and an application. That framework is principally designed for recurring work from an employee's residence across a border; it does not automatically settle every short workation or any stay outside participating European countries.

Belgian labour obligations do not disappear at the border either. The Federal Public Service Employment says employers remain ultimately responsible for teleworkers' safety and health, while regular and occasional telework must be covered by the appropriate Belgian framework. An overseas location can make risk assessment, equipment, working-time controls and insurance more difficult to administer.

The contrasting regional responses reveal two legitimate readings. Brussels SMEs may regard international flexibility as a recruitment and retention tool in a mobile labour market; Walloon employers, with much lower support and greater concern about complications, appear to give more weight to compliance costs and uncertainty. Both differ from the frictionless image of the digital nomad: employer permission is not equivalent to a legal right to work from any country.

The European Commission has acknowledged the structural obstacle. In a March 2026 communication on a proposed 28th legal regime for innovative companies, it said it would explore allowing 100% cross-border telework for start-ups and scale-ups while retaining the employer state's social-security law. That is an exploratory policy direction, not a rule available to Brussels SMEs today.

For now, workers should ask before travelling and employers should assess each destination and duration rather than rely on a blanket promise. The next test will be whether Brussels firms convert their comparatively high willingness into workable written policies—and whether Belgian and EU authorities simplify cross-border administration without weakening tax, insurance or worker protections.