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Testimonial CFE’s experience

‘Interfisc is a great sparring partner'

If we proved that we already paid these premiums in Belgium, we would be exempted.

Gabriel Marijsse,

Director of Human Resources CFE

“I met Robert Mahieu and André Hamulyák more than twenty years ago. Robert was Belgian, so that immediately created a bond. Shortly after, Interfisc took care of the payroll administration for our staff in the Netherlands and advised the CFE on pension matters.

At that time, our Belgian company had won a number of tenders for major construction projects in the Netherlands. We were involved in the construction of the locks in Helmond and Schijndel, the Piet Hein tunnel in Amsterdam, and the Erasmus bridge and the Wilhelminaplein metro station in Rotterdam. It was my responsibility to make sure all these projects ran smoothly with regard to the payment of social insurance contributions.

At some point during that year, Interfisc alerted us to an unexpected decision by the Dutch government. From now on, foreign construction companies would be obliged to pay premiums for their workers in the Netherlands. The problem was that we already paid similar premiums in Belgium for our employees. This meant double premiums. We had not included these costs in our tenders. We would not be able to stay within the cost range this way. This was a big problem for us.

Fortunately, Interfisc, together with the trade unions and employers’ organisations, provided a solution. If we could prove that we already paid premiums for our employees in Belgium, we would be exempt from paying them in the Netherlands.

We have always maintained cordial relations with Interfisc. Although I do remember some remarkable differences between us Belgians and you Dutch. Once, for instance, one of the Dutch supervisors of the building site had brought large croissants for everyone with a slice of cheese inside. The Dutch workers were happy and said: ‘Great, we get to eat too’. The Flemish and Walloon colleagues were unpleasantly surprised: ‘Yuck! Are we supposed to eat thát?’

And sometimes the Flemish versus the Dutch language variants led to a Babylonian confusion of tongues. One of my Flemish colleagues said during a meeting that our workers’ henchmen would be there too. ‘Huh, what?’, the Duth said. We didn’t know that in the Netherlands the Flemish word for henchman, handlanger, means something like a partner in crime and has a negative connotation. In Belgium, we use it to refer to mates and helpers.

Also when we used the word afdanken, when we had to lay off a number of people, which in English would be to discard  or to ditch someone, we were corrected by Interfisc. ‘In the Netherlands’, they said, ‘we use the word ontslaan.’

We could always speak frankly with Interfisc, in our own Belgian way.

We very much enjoyed the pleasant cooperation with Interfisc. They provided us with realistic advice and we could always speak frankly with them, in our own Belgian way. We felt we were always on safe ground with them. Interfisc is a good sparring partner. Moreover, for Belgians it is nice that the people at Interfisc can speak French. And fortunately you down-to-earth Dutchmen also know when it’s time for a joke and a pintje.”

Gabriel Marijsse,

Director of Human Resources CFE

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Together, solution-oriented and caring

Since 1972, Interfisc has offered international HR & Payroll solutions in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. We do this from our offices in the Netherlands and Belgium, and with an international team of around 45 committed and caring employees. 

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