The FPS Economy informs you! The innovation bonus. A simple and fast way to reward a creative employee with a 100 % free bonus

Transcription

1 The FPS Economy informs you! The innovation bonus A simple and fast way to reward a creative employee with a 100 % free bonus

2 The mission of the FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy is to create the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. In this context, the Directorate-General Quality and Safety published this publication aimed at sensitizing all companies in the implementation of innovation bonuses to enhance their competitiveness. 2 Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy Rue du Progrès Brussels Entreprise no : Tel. : youtube.com/user/spfeconomie linkedin.com/company/fod-economie Publisher : Jean-Marc Delporte Président du Comité de direction Rue du Progrès Brussels Legal deposit : D/2017/2295/

3 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. Foreword Dear reader, Innovation in enterprises is more important than ever to support their competitiveness. It is also considered a key factor for sustainable economic growth within the European Union. In this context, the Federal Government intends to stimulate the culture of innovation in enterprises, including SMEs. R&D is a path that leads to innovation, but there are others. Indeed, any employee, whether scientist or not, whatever its function, its formation or hierarchical position, can contribute with its innovative proposals to the competitiveness of the business. Thus, innovation can include not only the products, processes and services, but also for example the efficient management of production or working conditions. 3 That is why the Government has decided to encourage the provision by the employer of a bonus innovation to its creative employees. Since 1 January 2006, this premium is in fact exempt from taxes and social security contributions. To benefit from this exemption, no lengthy administrative steps need to be undertaken. The procedure put in place is flexible and devoid of red tape. It is presented in this brochure. Geert De Poorter General manager

4 4

5 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. Table of contents Foreword What is the innovation bonus? What does the enterprise gain? What does the employee gain? For which enterprises? For which employees? For which innovations? From when and until when is it a novelty? What is the innovation about? What is the origin of the innovation? Which added value? Under which conditions? Number of employees Number of employees per project Amount per employer Number of bonuses per employee Amount per employee per year Examples...19

6 8. How to get the exemption? Inform the employees The FPS Economy form An to the NSSO What are the statistics? Useful addresses

7 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. 1. What is the innovation bonus? The innovation bonus is a 100 % free bonus granted and paid by an employer to his creative employees. The particularity of this bonus consists of its full exemption and the simplicity and fastness of the procedure What does the enterprise gain? The company does not pay social contribution on that bonus. In general, a company has to spend more than 3,000 euros allowing one of its employees to receive a bonus of 1,000 euros. With the innovation bonus, the company will pay 1,000 euros, which means a profit of more than two-thirds. 3. What does the employee gain? The employee does not pay social security contributions nor income tax on that bonus.

8 4. For which enterprises? Any company subject to the law of 5 December 1968 on collective agreements and joint committees can grant unique innovation bonuses. The statistics show that all employers can benefit from the exemption on innovation bonuses. 8 Figure 1. Sectors 1,5% 0,3% 0,9% 0,2% 0,4% 4,5% 0,1% 0,4% 16,3% 31,6% 0,7% 5,9% 9,5% 1,2% 0,9% 7,3% 1,7% 14,7% A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 0,7%

9 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. A Agriculture, forestry and fishing B Extractive industry L Real estate K Finance and insurance C Manufacturing industry M Professions, scientific and technical activities D E Production and distribution electricity / gas / vapour / air conditioning Production and distribution water / sanitation and waste management F Construction industry P Education G H Wholesale and retail / automoto repair Transportation and warehousing N O Q R Administrative and support activities Public administration, defence and compulsory social security Human health and social work Arts, entertainment and recreation I Accommodation and food S Other services J Information and communication 9 Source: FPS Economy.

10 10 Figure 2. Number of employees 4% 5% 16% 1 to 4 8% 5 to 9 11% 10% 13% 13% 10 to to to to to to % 1000 and more Source: FPS Economy. Figure 3. Legal form 3% 3% 1% 2% 18% 73% SA/nv SPRL/bvba Cooperative Non-profit Foreign Other Source: FPS Economy.

11 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. 5. For which employees? All employees bound by a contract with a company as defined in paragraph 4 can receive a premium for innovation, regardless of the type of work contract: indefinite term, fixed term, for a clearly defined work, student occupation, etc. To receive a bonus, an employee must have participated in the proposal or in the development of the innovation For which innovations? Innovation is a novelty that brings real added value to the normal activities of the company From when and until when is it a novelty? To allow the exemption of the innovation bonus, the project for which it is granted must either: be in the process of being implemented, be in test, have been implemented, definitively or on a trial basis, for less than 12 months, have led to the filing of a patent application or the obtaining of a patent in the last 12 months.

12 6.2. What is the innovation about? The innovation concerns products and services, production processes, other processes of work or the working environment. The innovation is radical or incremental. In other words, it may be a completely new concept or improve an existing concept. To allow the exemption of the innovation bonus, the improvement of an existing concept consists among others of: 12 a new realization; the addition of a new feature; the adaptation allowing the significant improvement of the performances; the application for not previously considered cases; the merger with other existing concepts. However, the improvement can t cover: the simple choice of the best solution on the market; the simple choice of the cheapest solution on the market; the simple application of solutions representing the state of the art; the complying with the state of the art, a standard or a regulation.

13 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. Table 1. Examples of innovations Type of innovation New concept New realisation of an existing concept New functionality Increase of the performances Merger with other existing concepts New application / new market Example The invention of the telephone The cordless telephone or the mobile text message 3G 4G 5G Camera on a smartphone The use of a smartphone as a tool for interactivity with the public of a seminar 6.3. What is the origin of the innovation? 13 The innovation must be developed and proposed by one or more employee(s) of the company, and not by a third party. Part of the implementation of the project can be outsourced if the required skills are not available internally.

14 Illustration 1. Internal innovations 14 Candy Ltd Chelsea develops a new product. Candy Ltd can grant an innovation bonus to Chelsea Lucy Ltd Lauren adapts the production lines for the fabrication of a product. Lucy Ltd can grant an innovation bonus to Lauren Illustration 2. Problem-solving by a supplier John Ltd Jack asks Mary Ltd, the manufacturer of a machine, to solve a problem for the fabrication of a product. John Ltd can t grant an innovation bonus to Jack Mary Ltd Martina modifies the machine and solves Jack s problem. Mary Ltd sells the modified machine to John Ltd and to other clients. Mary Ltd can grant an innovation bonus to Martina

15 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. Illustration 3. Adaptation requested by a customer Paul Ltd Peter improves the product s performance. The improvement concerns a part supplied by Georgia Ltd. Paul Ltd can grant an innovation bonus to Peter Georgia Ltd Gareth modifies the part according the precise indications of Peter. Georgia Ltd can t grant an innovation bonus to Gareth 15 llustration 4. Cooperation client-supplier Alec Ltd Albert improves a product s part, in collaboration with Scott of Susan Ltd, which supplies the relevant part. Alec Ltd can grant an innovation bonus to Albert Susan Ltd Scott improves a product s part, in collaboration with Albert of Alec Ltd, who integrates it into one of its products. Susan Ltd can grant an innovation bonus to Scott

16 6.4. Which added value? The added value relates to the normal activities of the company and is of all kinds: 16 technical, economics, productivity, environment, organization, well-being at work, etc. 7. Under which conditions? The bonus doesn t replace in any way the wages or other forms of remuneration. It is only granted to employees recruited under an employment contract. Thresholds can t be exceeded for the number of rewarded employees and the bonus amounts. They are described in points 7.1 to 7.5.

17 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium Number of employees Each calendar year, an employer can reward a maximum of 10 % of its employees. However, in companies with less than 30 employees, the maximum amount is 3 persons. In case of exceeding this number, the NSSO will refuse to apply the measure to all the employer s bonuses for the year in question Number of employees per project An employer can reward a maximum of 10 employees for the same innovation project. 17 In case of exceeding this number, the NSSO will refuse to apply the measure to all the bonuses related to the project in question Amount per employer Each calendar year, the total amount of bonuses paid by an employer may not exceed 1 % of the annual gross payroll of the employer, calculated on the basis of the same calendar year. In case of exceeding this amount, the NSSO will refuse to apply the measure to all the employer s bonuses for the year in question.

18 7.4. Number of bonuses per employee An employee can receive several bonuses. However, during a calendar year, the total amount of the received bonuses can t exceed the maximum amount per employee per year Amount per employee per year The total amount of the bonuses received by the same employee during one calendar year may not exceed his gross monthly salary. 18 In case of exceeding this amount, the NSSO will refuse to apply the measure to all the worker s bonuses for the year in question.

19 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium Examples Table 2. Examples of thresholds Number of employees in the enterprise Gross payroll of the enterprise Maximum number of employees Maximum number of employees per project Maximum amount per employee Maximum amount per employer Example 1 Example 2 Example ,000 1,500, euros 640, euros 60, euros Gross monthly salary Gross monthly salary Gross monthly salary 5, euros 6, euros 600, euros How to get the exemption? The procedure consists of three phases of information to: 1. the employees; 2. the FPS Economy; 3. the National Social Security Office (NSSO).

20 8.1. Inform the employees Firstly, the employer informs his employees about the criteria and internal granting procedures for innovation bonuses. Then, whenever an innovation project is rewarded, he informs his employees that a bonus is granted for this project. The employer is free to use the means he considers most appropriate to inform its employees, for example valves, intranet, company magazine, electronic or paper newsletter The FPS Economy form The employer communicates the information relating to the innovation to the FPS Economy, using a structured and user-friendly form that can be downloaded from the website primeinnovation. The FPS Economy analyses the validity of the application regarding aspects related to innovation. Where appropriate, additional information is being asked. It communicates promptly (2 weeks on average) its assessment, as well as a file number to forward to the NSSO. Enterprises using this measure are satisfied with the service of the FPS Economy, as shown by the results of the satisfaction survey of 2014.

21 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. Figure 4. Results of the satisfaction survey Service of FPS Economy 1% 0% Really not satisfied 41% Not satisfied 58% Satisfied Very satisfied Source: FPS Economy. 21 Figure 5. Results of the satisfaction survey Response time of the FPS Economy 1% 0% 3% Extremely bad 36% 29% Very bad Bad Good Very Good 31% Excellent Source: FPS Economy.

22 8.3. An to the NSSO On his own initiative, the employer communicates to the NSSO the following information: 1. the name(s) and the identification number for the social security (INSS) of the beneficiary(ies) of this bonus; 2. the amount(s) of this bonus; 3. the FPS Economy file number. This communication is done by at fgov.be, in the month following the grant of the bonus. 22 As soon as the NSSO has all the data relating to the calendar year, it calculates the thresholds and checks if they are respected. 9. What are the statistics? The first 11 years (2006 to 2016), the FPS Economy has received more than 12,600 applications. These applications were submitted by 993 enterprises. On average, 95 % of applications have been validated. In 10 years (2006 to 2015), more than 22,000 employees were rewarded with an innovation bonus with an average amount of about 1,500 euros.

23 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. Figure 6. Results of the assessment of the FPS Economy 5% 15% Directly validated 80% Validated after additional information Not validated Source: FPS Economy. 23 Figure 7. Scope of validated innovation projects 20% Products 38% 4% Services Production Organisation 38% Source: FPS Economy.

24 10. Useful addresses 24 Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy Directorate-General Quality and Safety Division Quality and Innovation Service Standardization and Competitiveness North Gate, 2d floor 16, Boulevard du Roi Albert II 1000 Brussels Phone: primeinnovation@economie.fgov.be Website: National Social Security Office Directorate Specific Applications 11, Place Victor Horta 1060 Brussels Phone: primesinnovation@onss.fgov.be Website: fr/latest/instructions/salary/particularcases/innovation_advantages. html

25 Creating the conditions for a competitive, sustainable and balanced operation of the goods and services market in Belgium. FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy Visit our websites Discover our statistic portals Agriculture Conjuncture Country Environment Health Labour market Mobility 25 FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy. Visit our website and visit us at our Infoshop. You will find all our publications there. City Atrium C 48, Rue du Progrès 1210 Brussels Phone:

26 Rue du Progrès, Brussels N d entreprise :