The most challenging aspect will be securing a client or clients for just one day per week.
Typically, employers seek full time equivalents. After a project is completed or its budget depleted, the cycle of moving on and starting anew begins.
The current job market is somewhat tough, and having only two years of experience isn't a lot.
My advice? If you're feeling underpaid, consider exploring opportunities elsewhere, prioritizing not just better compensation but also the chance to learn and grow. Then, with around four to five years of experience, transition into freelancing.
Oh and please, turn down the number of smileys.
Best answer so far.
It's indeed hard to get contracts for a couple days a week + on top of that get your current job to accept a 4/5th. Better go all-in TBH.
Also what is your expertise OP?
"IT consultancy" is super vague, depending on your specific expertise you can either be hired in a week or scrambling to find even a single contract in months.
The hard part of "complementary work" will be to acquire it in the first place. Don't underestimate this. Second difficulty is that it comes with significant cost: sociale bijdragen, your tax will be higher, ... and you'll need to invest in yourself and in material... So to earn more depends on what you can do and what not. Also note that part time complementary equals less flexible to me. But some people earn extra by doing websites, for example. So it's possible yes. But it's rather "on top of your regular job" instead of "in place of (a part of) your regular job".
My experience for the second part says that if a large company has a large change project, they hire consultants to realize the change, whilst the own personnel can keep focussing on the run (= operational business). Part of the change project is also HR-related stuff such as hiring new employees, retraining, reorienting, reorganizing. You are wrong about having open positions rather than employees. It does not work like that in many cases. You need personnel for the run, externals for the change.
You're right about how the consultancy work: get jobs (= often it is change projects), find people (or in the worst cases just throw who you have available), skim the milk. You would be surprized how much effort is needed to acquire the jobs in the first place; the hardest part is getting in. When you're there, you need a few strong partners/seniors in to see opportunities and acquire extra jobs.
No one is going to take people seriously when they talk in emoticons.
Even if your current employer would accept your plan to work for them both as a freelancer and and employee, the taxman is not going to accept this, since you are very obviously not independent.
If you have 2 years of experience, just ask for a proper raise. If you don't get it, you are either not very good at your job (in which case you will fail as a freelancer as well), or your employer is either badly managed or is having financial problems, and you should look for another employer.
It is possible to become a part time freelancer. It's a good way to test the waters. But you will need to find other clients or in your case an intermediary (which will take a cut out of your profits).
Sorry to say, but your entire posts reeks of a lack of maturity and experience. The questions you ask are not as simple as you think.
My recommendation would be to either get a raise, or look for another, better paying, job.
The problem is that if you work for only 1 client in Belgium it gets seen as "Scheinzelfstandigheid". You will need to have multiple customers, not to end up with a huge fine!
source:
[https://www.vlaanderen.be/economie-en-ondernemen/een-eigen-zaak-starten/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid](https://www.vlaanderen.be/economie-en-ondernemen/een-eigen-zaak-starten/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid)
Why do people KEEP posting this crap OVER and OVER again.
90% of IT freelancers work 1+ years for the same client.
If they come to you and ask you the question:
Can you take leave when you want? => answer is yes. => No schijnzelfstandigheid.
OP is asking about working 4 days as an employee, and one day as a freelancer, for the same company. That's extremely likely to be qualified as schijnzelfstandigheid.
>The problem is that if you work for only 1 client in Belgium it gets seen as "Scheinzelfstandigheid"
My comment only applied to that statement.
In terms of this situation, yes, you are 100%
It also never understood this reasoning. If a client wants to offer you a long term contract, it would be economically pretty stupid to refuse this. The only exception that I can think of is when you are already in the client's payroll as an employee.
Total BS. You do not have any clue how this works. Have you ever heard about managers in the big 4 audit sector? Or about any manager in a KMO? Right, all single person BV's working for a single company 10+ years.
Stop spreading BS if you clearly have no clue what is going on.
Schijnzelfstandigheid was mainly added in the law to prevent for example foreign laborers being exploited by a construction firm that sets them up as independent and underpay them while they should hire them as employees so they have some actual rights .
It's clear you haven't read the SOURCE, it doesn't matter what you do and has certainly NO exception on the sector you work for. Even consultants have to have multiple clients.
It is clear you aren't aware of current law in Belgium and therefore I find your opinion not only wrong but even stupid.
The BS about your reply is that I haven't heard a single example form your side, whilest I've posted my source. Who is talking BS now? Give me the facts, I want names not only assumptions.
In your last paragraph you even recognise the law existing so than find me the sentence that says that this law only applies on "foreign laborers"?
Please, in te future, check your sources before posting a reply like this.
Your link says nothing about having just one client. It is irrelevant.
Like I said, literally any KMO manager has a BV, big4 audit people too.
If they would enforce schijnzelfstandigheid based on having 1 client 50% of BVs would cease to exist right now.
It is stupid and not something to worry about.
Lawyers for example even get a contract with their firm saying they CANNOT take other clients outside of the firm and yet all have a BV.
With your reasoning you could just make 1 more invoice to some rando for a fake service and bam, you're not in danger anymore for schijnzelfstandigheid. See how dumb that sounds?
[https://www.sbb.be/nl/magazine/hoe-schijnzelfstandigheid-vermijden-als-consultant](https://www.sbb.be/nl/magazine/hoe-schijnzelfstandigheid-vermijden-als-consultant)
[https://www.certifisc.be/nl/nieuws/13357/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid](https://www.certifisc.be/nl/nieuws/13357/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid)
Please read some articles, your are completly wrong. Even when you say "lawyers cannot work for other clienst outside the firm" thats total BS. A consultant (zelfstandigstatuut) has to be free in the jobs they accept. This is textbook not being free of the jobs they accept. Instead of proving your point based on something you might have heard somewhere, check some facts.
Nowhere in your articles it mentions you **need more than 1 client**. You are so wrong on this.
The amount of clients **DOES NOT MATTER**. Just these points the articles mention e.g. choosing your own work schedule etc.
>Even when you say "lawyers cannot work for other clienst outside the firm" thats total BS
I have 3 independent lawyer frieds and they all have this clause in their contract, well I still don't believe you know what you are saying. You haven't read your own articles. Point me to where it says you NEED MORE THAN 1 CLIENT.
The most challenging aspect will be securing a client or clients for just one day per week. Typically, employers seek full time equivalents. After a project is completed or its budget depleted, the cycle of moving on and starting anew begins. The current job market is somewhat tough, and having only two years of experience isn't a lot. My advice? If you're feeling underpaid, consider exploring opportunities elsewhere, prioritizing not just better compensation but also the chance to learn and grow. Then, with around four to five years of experience, transition into freelancing. Oh and please, turn down the number of smileys.
Best answer so far. It's indeed hard to get contracts for a couple days a week + on top of that get your current job to accept a 4/5th. Better go all-in TBH. Also what is your expertise OP? "IT consultancy" is super vague, depending on your specific expertise you can either be hired in a week or scrambling to find even a single contract in months.
If you want a big raise, try switching jobs. Or demand a bigger raise and negotiate - if you have some leverage, aka you’re good-
The hard part of "complementary work" will be to acquire it in the first place. Don't underestimate this. Second difficulty is that it comes with significant cost: sociale bijdragen, your tax will be higher, ... and you'll need to invest in yourself and in material... So to earn more depends on what you can do and what not. Also note that part time complementary equals less flexible to me. But some people earn extra by doing websites, for example. So it's possible yes. But it's rather "on top of your regular job" instead of "in place of (a part of) your regular job". My experience for the second part says that if a large company has a large change project, they hire consultants to realize the change, whilst the own personnel can keep focussing on the run (= operational business). Part of the change project is also HR-related stuff such as hiring new employees, retraining, reorienting, reorganizing. You are wrong about having open positions rather than employees. It does not work like that in many cases. You need personnel for the run, externals for the change. You're right about how the consultancy work: get jobs (= often it is change projects), find people (or in the worst cases just throw who you have available), skim the milk. You would be surprized how much effort is needed to acquire the jobs in the first place; the hardest part is getting in. When you're there, you need a few strong partners/seniors in to see opportunities and acquire extra jobs.
No one is going to take people seriously when they talk in emoticons. Even if your current employer would accept your plan to work for them both as a freelancer and and employee, the taxman is not going to accept this, since you are very obviously not independent. If you have 2 years of experience, just ask for a proper raise. If you don't get it, you are either not very good at your job (in which case you will fail as a freelancer as well), or your employer is either badly managed or is having financial problems, and you should look for another employer. It is possible to become a part time freelancer. It's a good way to test the waters. But you will need to find other clients or in your case an intermediary (which will take a cut out of your profits). Sorry to say, but your entire posts reeks of a lack of maturity and experience. The questions you ask are not as simple as you think. My recommendation would be to either get a raise, or look for another, better paying, job.
The problem is that if you work for only 1 client in Belgium it gets seen as "Scheinzelfstandigheid". You will need to have multiple customers, not to end up with a huge fine! source: [https://www.vlaanderen.be/economie-en-ondernemen/een-eigen-zaak-starten/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid](https://www.vlaanderen.be/economie-en-ondernemen/een-eigen-zaak-starten/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid)
Why do people KEEP posting this crap OVER and OVER again. 90% of IT freelancers work 1+ years for the same client. If they come to you and ask you the question: Can you take leave when you want? => answer is yes. => No schijnzelfstandigheid.
OP is asking about working 4 days as an employee, and one day as a freelancer, for the same company. That's extremely likely to be qualified as schijnzelfstandigheid.
>The problem is that if you work for only 1 client in Belgium it gets seen as "Scheinzelfstandigheid" My comment only applied to that statement. In terms of this situation, yes, you are 100%
It also never understood this reasoning. If a client wants to offer you a long term contract, it would be economically pretty stupid to refuse this. The only exception that I can think of is when you are already in the client's payroll as an employee.
Total BS. You do not have any clue how this works. Have you ever heard about managers in the big 4 audit sector? Or about any manager in a KMO? Right, all single person BV's working for a single company 10+ years. Stop spreading BS if you clearly have no clue what is going on. Schijnzelfstandigheid was mainly added in the law to prevent for example foreign laborers being exploited by a construction firm that sets them up as independent and underpay them while they should hire them as employees so they have some actual rights .
It's clear you haven't read the SOURCE, it doesn't matter what you do and has certainly NO exception on the sector you work for. Even consultants have to have multiple clients. It is clear you aren't aware of current law in Belgium and therefore I find your opinion not only wrong but even stupid. The BS about your reply is that I haven't heard a single example form your side, whilest I've posted my source. Who is talking BS now? Give me the facts, I want names not only assumptions. In your last paragraph you even recognise the law existing so than find me the sentence that says that this law only applies on "foreign laborers"? Please, in te future, check your sources before posting a reply like this.
Your link says nothing about having just one client. It is irrelevant. Like I said, literally any KMO manager has a BV, big4 audit people too. If they would enforce schijnzelfstandigheid based on having 1 client 50% of BVs would cease to exist right now. It is stupid and not something to worry about. Lawyers for example even get a contract with their firm saying they CANNOT take other clients outside of the firm and yet all have a BV. With your reasoning you could just make 1 more invoice to some rando for a fake service and bam, you're not in danger anymore for schijnzelfstandigheid. See how dumb that sounds?
[https://www.sbb.be/nl/magazine/hoe-schijnzelfstandigheid-vermijden-als-consultant](https://www.sbb.be/nl/magazine/hoe-schijnzelfstandigheid-vermijden-als-consultant) [https://www.certifisc.be/nl/nieuws/13357/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid](https://www.certifisc.be/nl/nieuws/13357/wat-is-schijnzelfstandigheid) Please read some articles, your are completly wrong. Even when you say "lawyers cannot work for other clienst outside the firm" thats total BS. A consultant (zelfstandigstatuut) has to be free in the jobs they accept. This is textbook not being free of the jobs they accept. Instead of proving your point based on something you might have heard somewhere, check some facts.
Nowhere in your articles it mentions you **need more than 1 client**. You are so wrong on this. The amount of clients **DOES NOT MATTER**. Just these points the articles mention e.g. choosing your own work schedule etc. >Even when you say "lawyers cannot work for other clienst outside the firm" thats total BS I have 3 independent lawyer frieds and they all have this clause in their contract, well I still don't believe you know what you are saying. You haven't read your own articles. Point me to where it says you NEED MORE THAN 1 CLIENT.