Hiring a nanny in Belgium: the complete guide 2026

Nursery, grandparents, or a nanny? What suits your family?

The choice between nursery care, family help, and an in-home nanny is primarily about what fits your rhythm, priorities, and budget — not about which is "better" in absolute terms. Each option has clear strengths.

A nursery (crèche) offers social contact with other children, a stable pedagogical framework, and is usually cheaper. It works best when both parents have predictable schedules and rarely deal with overrunning meetings or business travel. A drawback: when the child or the carer is sick, the child usually cannot attend — leaving you without a solution.

Family help (grandparents, in-laws) is free and personalised but comes under pressure when parents are also very busy. It often works well in the first year and becomes tighter as the child grows or a sibling arrives.

An in-home nanny shines when you need flexibility and continuity: entrepreneurs with unpredictable hours, families with multiple children across different schools, parents who travel often, or situations where the child is better off in a familiar home environment (e.g. after illness). The nanny is also there when the child is sick. With multiple children, the per-child hourly rate also becomes more competitive vs. a nursery.

A rough rule of thumb: a nanny is usually the right choice from 20+ hours per week of care needs across multiple days, or with more than two children under 6. Below that, a nursery or a combination is usually more economical. For a detailed cost comparison, see [What does a nanny cost in Belgium?](/gids/wat-kost-een-nanny).

The four profiles we place

At Nanny's we distinguish four profiles, each tailored to a different family and context. Making the right choice here prevents disappointments later.

1. Nanny. Focus on child care and supervision. A warm, familiar figure who picks up children, organises activities, prepares meals for them, and handles light child-related household tasks. For: families with young children where the priority is child-focused.

2. Family assistant (gezinsassistent). Combines childcare with household support and organisation. Helps with family cooking, groceries, planning, laundry, light cleaning, and general logistics. For: families who want both childcare and household structure.

3. Personal assistant (executive level). The right hand of the entrepreneur or self-employed professional. Manages calendars, takes calls, arranges business and private appointments, organises events. For: entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers — busy professionals who want both business and private support.

4. PVB or PAB assistant. Accompanies a person with a disability in daily life, funded via the Flemish [Person-Following Budget (PVB) or Personal Assistance Budget (PAB)](/gids/verschil-pab-pvb).

Unsure which profile fits? Take our online [profile test](/welk-profiel-past) or schedule a free consultation. We prefer to listen before we propose.

The matching process in seven steps

Nanny's matching process is deliberately designed to reconcile two things: speed for the family and rigour in selection. Below are the seven steps with a typical timeline.

1. Intake (week 0). Free 30-minute consultation, online or at our office. We listen to your situation and explain our approach.
2. Questionnaire (week 0–1). You fill in our detailed family questionnaire: hours, profile preference, family context, children's personalities, deal-breakers, language preference. This document drives the search.
3. Search (week 1–4). We work through our active candidate pool and, if needed, post a targeted call. We screen interested candidates via interview, criminal-record extract, professional references, and a home visit at the candidate's place.
4. Proposal (week 4–6). We present 1 to 3 candidates with a detailed profile: experience, motivation, availability, language level, any specifics.
5. Meeting (week 6–7). A personal meeting between family and candidate — preferably at the family's home, so the candidate sees the environment and the children meet the candidate.
6. Trial period (week 7–10). A paid trial week or period to test the working relationship. If the chemistry doesn't fit, we return to step 4 at no extra cost.
7. Contract and onboarding (week 10–11). On mutual agreement, you handle registration and the white-collar contract under PC 318 via a payroll secretariat. Read [Payroll for a nanny in Belgium](/gids/payroll-belgie-nanny) for the practical steps. We remain available for follow-up.

A full journey typically takes 6 to 12 weeks. In urgent cases (e.g. an existing solution falling away), things can move significantly faster, especially if your requirements are flexible on hours or language.

Legal and financial framework

Anyone employing a nanny at home becomes the employer — bringing both obligations and protections. Below are the essential frameworks.

Joint committee. At Nanny's we use [PC 318](/gids/wat-is-pc-318) (joint committee for home help and elderly care services) as reference for nannies and family assistants in coordinating roles. It governs minimum wages, holiday rules, year-end bonus, and notice periods.

White-collar status. Most roles fall under the white-collar framework. Practically this means salary continues during leave (single holiday pay is built into the monthly wage), and there is a separate double holiday pay of about 92% of one monthly salary, paid in May or June.

Wage cost. Indicative gross from €44/hour. Employer NSSO contributions of about 25% on top of gross. Our [salary simulator](/loonsimulatie) shows live what this means for the nanny's net salary.

Tax benefits. For children under 14, the childcare-expense deduction in personal income tax applies. Caps and conditions change yearly — see [Tax benefits for childcare](/gids/fiscale-voordelen-kinderopvang).

No service vouchers. A nanny cannot be paid with service vouchers: those are strictly for household tasks. See [What are service vouchers?](/gids/wat-zijn-dienstencheques) for the distinction.

Payroll secretariat. We recommend every employer affiliate with a recognised payroll secretariat (Liantis, SD Worx, Acerta) — they handle Dimona, NSSO, withholding tax, and statutory documents for a small monthly fee.

What makes a match work or not?

After many hundreds of placements, we can pinpoint quite precisely which factors separate a thriving match from a stalling one. Here are the most important.

Realistic, explicit expectations. The biggest trap is implicit assumptions. What exactly do you expect on cooking? Can she turn on screens during free time? What if a child gets sick — do you expect her to stay home, or sick-bay duty? Write it down. Discuss it. Just like in any working relationship.

Good chemistry between candidate and children. Parents can be very enthusiastic about a candidate — if the children don't warm up during the trial, that is a strong signal to look again. Children feel energy sharply.

Communication cadence. What works well is a short weekly check-in (15 min, Fridays) about what went well and what could change. Plus a monthly evaluation about the bigger picture. Adjust this after a few months once running — don't stop.

Stable wage level. Wages kept artificially low to "make it cheaper" lead to turnover later. A nanny who feels correctly paid and sees growth (seniority, training, responsibility) stays long.

Mutual respect for the work-life boundary. The nanny is not a family member — even if it feels that way after a while. Don't structurally ask for unpaid overtime. Give the nanny room to be "client" of the family: breaks, lunch, no expectation of availability on days off.

From Nanny's side: we schedule evaluation calls at 1, 3, and 6 months with both parties. Reinforce what works, correct what grates — early, not only when someone is considering quitting.

Frequently Asked Questions