Organising

What are the possibilities?

When you start, what legal status will you assume? In Belgium we have three work statuses:

• Employee (also temporary)
• Civil servant (teacher in part-time art education, for example)
• Self-employed (main or secondary occupation)

Everyone who works has one of these statuses. For artists who opt for employee status, it is possible to take advantage of a number of “benefit rules”. These are known as “the artist status”.

Choose a status that suits you

Each status is subject to conditions and has consequences. Choose the status that suits you. 

• As an employee, everything is arranged for you. But there is a hierarchical relationship with your employer. Less freedom, less risk. And less administration. Temporary employment contracts are often used in the sector. Article 1bis allows you to be an employed artist and still work autonomously. There is no employment contract, but you still accrue social security benefits. More info can be found at Cultuurloket! 
• A civil servant works for the government. There are different types, depending on the level (federal/Flemish/municipal, for example), the public sector (police, education…) and the type of appointment (statutory or contractual). This status is rather rare for artists. You see it sometimes in part-time art education. 
• As a freelancer you have a lot of freedom: you have everything in your own hands, including the headaches, the risks and the administration. For example, you have to arrange everything regarding social security, insurance, pension, etc. You must already have a secure income to really take advantage of this.

Make good arrangements

Whatever status you work with, you need good arrangements. These can be put into a contract. In the case of employees, we’re talking about employment contracts. In the case of the self-employed, were talking about contracts for services.

Are you an employee? Then there must always be a contract! Otherwise you are not protected and your status is even subject to sanction. As a freelancer, you may work on an informal basis and make verbal agreements. These are also valid, but if you want to be sure and avoid problems, it’s best to put everything in writing.

You can use model contracts and checklists: 

• Sample contracts  and other info from Cultuurloket

• You can find wage calculators, pay scales and contract modules at Juist is Juist

Organisational forms

There are many forms of collaboration between artists, for example:

• You can share resources: knowledge, contacts, space, materials, advice, technology,… some even experiment with a shared income 
• You can share a story: A group of people with a shared artistic/substantive story starts as a company, ensemble or collective 
• You can share a structure: Some makers find funding for their own supporting structure, e.g. a studio with assistants or the support of a (group of) composer(s) or performing artist(s).

If you want to collaborate in such ways, it can be interesting to bring common costs and income together into a single legal entity. But how you are going to organise yourself requires a custom approach. There are many organisational forms and a non-profit is not necessarily the best choice. 

• The non-profit is an obvious organisational form, but comes with a lot of administrative obligations, e.g. in the form of an administrative body and a general meeting.

• A limited partnership and a general partnership (VOF)  do not have that obligation to the administrative body and general meeting, but then come with more liabilities and risks.

• A cooperative company requires at least three partners and a detailed financial plan at the start, but it is possible to distribute the proceeds through shares.

• Maybe a de facto association is sufficient for what you need?