The India Employee Benefits Stack for Belgian companies

What changes when you come from Belgium

What you call it in Belgium, and what it is called in India

In Belgium every employee has compulsory health insurance through a mutualité or ziekenfonds, and the employer's hospitalisation insurance tops it up. In India there is nothing underneath. A salaried employee earning more than ₹21,000 a month has no statutory health cover, and below that line sits ESI, a government scheme. The employer's Group Health Insurance (GHI) is not a supplement to a public scheme: it is the first layer, and often the only one. That difference shapes most of a Brussels or Antwerp HR team's first-year questions about India.

This edition maps each Belgian benefit to its Indian counterpart, from group insurance and double holiday pay to meal vouchers, then covers what Belgian companies get wrong, how the two systems compare and how to cover seconded staff. Around 175 Belgian companies operate in India, according to the Embassy of India in Brussels, and Belgium is the 18th largest source of foreign direct investment into India.

What Belgian companies get wrong when they set up in India

None of these is a knowledge gap. Each is a reflex from home, applied to a country that works differently.

1. 01

   What they assume: Hospitalisation insurance tops up public cover, so the base is covered.

   What India doesAbove ₹21,000 a month India has no public base. Group Health Insurance is the whole safety net up to its sum insured. India's median is ₹5,00,000; global startups in India carry ₹10,00,000. Size the cover as primary, not as a top-up.

2. 02

   What they assume: Double holiday pay is statutory, so India will have an equivalent.

   What India doesIndia has no holiday pay or holiday bonus law. Leave is set by state Shops and Establishments Acts or the Factories Act, and only employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month are owed a statutory bonus, of 8.33% to 20%.

3. 03

   What they assume: A modest base with many extras is the efficient structure.

   What India doesSince 21 November 2025, if allowances excluded from 'wages' exceed 50% of total remuneration, the excess is added back for EPF, gratuity and other statutory calculations. A Belgian-style package of extras can raise the statutory bill rather than lower it.

4. 04

   What they assume: Group insurance is a voluntary extra, so India's pension is too.

   What India doesEPF is statutory at establishments with 20+ employees: 12% of basic plus DA from the employer and 12% from the employee. Most MNC subsidiaries contribute on full basic rather than the ₹15,000 statutory wage ceiling.

5. 05

   What they assume: Long-service payouts are contractual and can be decided later.

   What India doesGratuity is statutory at establishments with 10+ employees: 15 days' last drawn salary per year of service after five years, one year for fixed-term staff, capped at ₹20 lakh. Provision it from the first payroll and insure it through a gratuity scheme.

6. 06

   What they assume: Family cover means spouse and children.

   What India doesIn India, parents are the largest claims category by relationship, about 40% of claims in Plum's data. Decide early whether parents are covered and who pays that share of the premium.

7. 07

   What they assume: Maternity pay comes from the health insurance fund, as at home.

   What India doesIn India the employer pays 26 weeks of full pay for the first two children and 12 weeks from the third, unless the employee is in ESI. GHI then covers the hospital bill: about ₹1 lakh for a normal delivery, ₹1.25 lakh for a C-section.

8. 08

   What they assume: Seconded staff stay on Belgian social security automatically.

   What India doesOnly with a certificate of coverage under the India–Belgium agreement, for up to 60 months. Without it they are International Workers and join EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling.

Belgium vs India, benefit by benefit

Benefit	Belgium	India
Statutory health cover	Compulsory health insurance through a mutualité or ziekenfonds for all employees.	ESI for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month. Nothing above that line.
Employer social security	Around 25% of gross pay, plus 13.07% from the employee.	EPF at 12% of basic plus DA; ESI at 3.25% below ₹21,000 a month; gratuity provision.
Private health cover	Hospitalisation insurance tops up public reimbursement, often with family cover.	GHI is the base layer, not a top-up. Not legally required; minimum group size 7 with most insurers.
Supplementary pension	Group insurance (second pillar) under the Supplementary Pensions Act.	No second pillar required. EPF and EPS are the statutory pension layer.
Death cover	Usually built into group insurance.	EDLI up to ₹7 lakh; Group Term Life at 3 to 5 times CTC is common for white-collar staff.
Long-service lump sum	Group insurance capital, paid at retirement.	Gratuity, statutory after five years: 15 days' last drawn salary per year, capped at ₹20 lakh.
Holiday pay	Double holiday pay of 92% of monthly gross for white-collar staff.	None. Leave is paid at normal salary.
Annual leave	20 days a year for a full-time five-day week.	Earned leave typically 12 to 18 days a year, plus casual and sick leave.
Year-end bonus	13th month or year-end premium where the joint committee or contract provides it.	Statutory bonus of 8.33% to 20% up to ₹21,000 a month; otherwise contractual.
Meal vouchers	Up to €10 per working day from 2026, exempt from tax and social charges within limits.	No statutory equivalent; meal cards or canteens are voluntary perks.
Maternity	Paid through the health insurance fund.	Employer pays 26 weeks of full pay (12 from the third child). No statutory paternity leave under central law.
Work accidents	Compulsory employer-paid insurance with a private insurer.	Employees' Compensation Act for employees not in ESI, insured by the employer; GPA voluntary.

What MNCs and GCCs offer their teams in India

From The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27, Plum's report on 15,312 benefit plans, 5,20,100 claims and 74,543 checkups from Plum's FY26 book.

• 1.6×MNC and GCC benefits spend per employee in India, against a funded Indian startup (nearly 3× a local Indian business).
• 43%of MNCs and GCCs in India are Holistic Leaders: deep insurance plus real breadth of healthcare beside it.
• ₹7,50,000median MNC/GCC sum insured, covering parents or in-laws, with ₹1,00,000 maternity cover and no copays or sub-limits.
• ~2%of payroll buys India's top-quartile plan, against roughly 15% in the US, 10–25% across Europe and 8–15% across APAC.

Staff seconded from Belgium

Seconded staff usually keep a Belgian or international health plan, but an India-admitted GHI is still worth adding: it gives cashless admission at network hospitals without an advance deposit. Under the India–Belgium agreement, in force since 1 September 2009, a secondee with a certificate of coverage stays in Belgian social security for up to 60 months and is exempt from EPF. Belgians hired locally in India are International Workers and join EPF from day one on full salary.

Where Belgian companies set up in India

Hospital networks, claim costs and state leave rules differ by city. These are the places Belgian companies concentrate.

• Mumbai and Thane

  Maharashtra

  India offices of Solvay, UCB, Umicore, Puratos and Ageas Federal Life Insurance. The Bharat Diamond Bourse ties Mumbai to Antwerp's diamond trade.

• Pune and Satara

  Maharashtra

  Umicore's automotive catalyst plant at Shirwal and Bekaert's steel wire plant near Pune. Plant workforces mean ESI up to ₹21,000 a month and the Employees' Compensation Act above it.

• Bengaluru

  Karnataka

  AB InBev's global capability centre and other technology teams. White-collar hiring at ₹8 LPA and above, where candidates expect GHI in the offer.

Belgian companies with operations in India include AB InBev, Solvay, UCB, Umicore, Bekaert, Barco, Ageas, Puratos.

Everything else applies to every foreign employer

Statutory benefits, group insurance, tax, leave and CTC work the same whichever country you come from. Each part is covered in full in the India guide.

1. Part 1 – Employee BenefitsWhat employee benefits are legally mandatory in India?These are not optional.
2. Part 2 – Group Health InsuranceGroup health insurance for MNCs in IndiaNone of these are legally required.
3. Part 3 – Business Insurance (Non-EB)What business insurance does a new India entity need?This stack is separate from EB and is often the one India-entry teams leave until last.
4. Part 4 – Beyond InsuranceThe benefits your team will actually noticeInsurance is the foundation, not the programme.
5. Part 5 – Setup StageIn what order should a new India entity buy insurance?The most expensive insurance mistake isn't buying the wrong policy.
6. Part 6 – Sector NotesWhat your sector adds to the universal stackThe policies in Parts 1–3 apply to every MNC.
7. Part 7 – City GuideHow do employee benefit benchmarks differ across Indian cities?The same ₹5L GHI plan means different things in different cities.
8. Part 8 – ChecklistThe pre-operations checklistBefore your India entity goes live, each item below should have a policy number, a renewal date, and a named contact.
9. Part 9 – Tax GuideIs group health insurance taxable for employees in India?India runs two parallel income tax regimes simultaneously, and the tax treatment of almost every benefit differs between them.
10. Part 10 – Leave & PoliciesLeave entitlements and what global MNCs typically add on topIndia's statutory leave framework is state-governed and more fragmented than most MNCs expect.
11. Part 11 – Allowances & CTCHow should an MNC structure India CTC under the new labour codes?India's cost-to-company (CTC) structure is more complex than most countries your payroll team has operated in.

Questions Belgian HR teams ask about India

More from Plum for Belgian companies in India

• How MNCs structure health insurance for Indian subsidiariesGlobal programmes, local policies and who signs what.
• Do you need to match headquarters' benefits in India?Where to mirror the parent plan, and where India needs its own design.
• Insurance for expatriate employees in IndiaCovering seconded staff alongside the local plan.
• Group insurance vs ESI: a guide for employersWho must be in ESI, and where group health insurance takes over.
• How to calculate gratuity in IndiaFormulas, worked examples and a free calculator.
• The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27Benchmarks from 4,500+ Indian employee health plans.