Connecting time registration to your sociaal secretariaat (social secretariat) means one thing: approved hours flow into payroll without anyone retyping them. To get there, your time system must send the data your provider needs (employee ID, hours per type, absences and premiums) in a format it accepts. That is a file export, an API link, or a route through your payroll or HR software. Which route works depends on your social secretariat and your contract. So agree the codes first, test one month in parallel, then automate.
Suivo’s API integrations connect the Suivo platform with the system of your social secretariat or other HR tools. Below: what your provider needs, the integration options, and a month-end checklist.
Why do hours still get retyped at month end?
Many companies rely, at least in part, on a social secretariat for payroll. The hours, however, are collected somewhere else: on paper timesheets on site, in a spreadsheet at the depot, in a planning tool, or in a time registration app. At month end someone copies them over.
Typical causes:
- Different employee IDs in the time system and at the social secretariat.
- Different codes. The site foreman writes “ADV” or “rain”, the social secretariat expects its own absence code.
- Premiums outside the system. Mobility allowances, travel time or surcharges are kept in a separate list.
- Two entities, one person. A worker helps out at a sister company for two days. The hours must land in the right payroll.
- Late corrections. A change after the export is sent by e-mail and typed in again.
Each retyped line is a chance for a pay error. And with a general working-time registration obligation planned for 2027 (still a draft law as of September 2026), the hours in payroll and the hours in your registration should match.
What does a social secretariat need from your time system?
Your social secretariat prepares pay and often files your declarations to the RSZ for you. According to the RSZ, the DmfA (the quarterly multifunctional declaration) is where the employer declares the wage and working-time data of its employees. Health insurance, unemployment, pensions, occupational risks, child benefit and annual holidays all use it. So the hours you record end up far beyond the payslip.
In practice your provider needs, per employee:
| Data | Why | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Identification: INSZ (national register or BIS number) | The RSZ identifies workers by INSZ | Foreign workers without a valid BIS number |
| Employer entity | Hours must land in the right payroll | Staff working for two entities |
| Joint committee and worker category | Rules and codes depend on it | Construction workers are declared with worker type BCW and joint committee 124 in Dimona |
| Date, and start and end or hours per day | Basis for pay and the working-time data | Breaks deducted consistently |
| Hour type code | Normal hours, overtime, night, weekend | Use the provider’s code list, not your own |
| Absence codes | Holiday, sickness, ADV days, small leave | ADV is its own code (see our guide to ADV days in Belgium) |
| Premiums and allowances | Mobility, travel time, surcharges | Agree who calculates them: you or the provider |
| Cost centre or project | Cost allocation and invoicing | Optional for payroll, useful for your ERP |
The RSZ Dimona instructions list the joint-committee numbers that must be given explicitly, including 124 (construction) and 140 (transport). Other joint committees can be declared as “XXX”.
Some groups need daily times. According to the RSZ instructions, occasional workers in agriculture, horticulture and hospitality are declared in Dimona per day, with the start time and, in most cases, the end time. The RSZ also requires employers who declare flexi-workers for a period to register their start and end times every day, through a registered cash system or the daily registration in the staff register. If you employ these groups, your time system must deliver exact times, not just totals.
Suivo’s time tracking brings hours, absences, mobility fees and surcharges together in one validation dashboard, so the data is checked before it leaves.
Which integration types exist?
| Type | How it works | Good for | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| File export | The time system produces a file (for example CSV or XML) in the layout your provider accepts. You upload it. | Most companies. Simple, transparent, easy to check before sending. | Someone must upload it. Layout must match exactly. |
| API link | The two systems exchange data directly, on a schedule or on approval. | Larger volumes, weekly or daily pay runs, fewer manual steps. | Depends on what your provider opens up, and often on your package. Needs monitoring. |
| Via your payroll or HR software | Hours go to your own HR or ERP system, which talks to the social secretariat. | Companies that already have a central HR system. | One more link in the chain. |
No type is “best”. A clean file with the right codes beats an API that sends the wrong ones. Start with what your provider supports today, and move to an API when volumes justify it.
What should you ask your social secretariat and your time registration vendor?
Ask your social secretariat:
- Which import formats do you accept for hours, and is there a technical specification?
- Is an API available for our package, and at what cost?
- Can you send us your list of hour-type and absence codes for each joint committee we use?
- How do you want corrections after the cut-off: a new full file or only the differences?
- What is the monthly deadline for receiving hours?
- Which declarations do you file for us (Dimona, DmfA), and what data do you need for them?
Ask your time registration vendor (including us):
- Can you export in our provider’s format today, or is that still to be built?
- Is it a file export or an API link?
- Can we map our own codes to the provider’s codes once, per joint committee?
- How are staff who work for two entities handled?
- Is there an approval step before export, and a log of what was sent?
- How are corrections after export handled?
On responsibility: you can mandate an approved social secretariat to file your Dimona declarations, but according to the RSZ the employer remains ultimately responsible. For flexi-workers, the RSZ adds that a Dimona filed by your social secretariat does not mean the daily attendance registration has been done as well. The same logic applies to the hours you send. Our Dimona guide explains the deadlines.
Which social secretariats does Suivo connect to?
Belgium has several large social secretariats, such as SD Worx, Securex, Acerta, Partena, Liantis and Group S, plus smaller ones. Which connection is possible depends on your provider, your package and whether the link is a file or an API.
What we can say:
- SD Worx: Suivo produces an eBlox-compatible payroll file, or sends the hours through a direct connector, with a log of each transfer. See our SD Worx guide.
- Suivo exports approved hours for payroll, with a complete digital trace of every hour.
- Suivo’s API page describes integration with the system of your social secretariat or other internal HR tools, including hours worked, loading and unloading information, and travel time.
- For other social secretariats, ask us which format and route we support for yours today. We will tell you if it is a file, an API, or not yet available.
For examples of what an export needs, see our step-by-step guide to exporting hours to payroll, and the payroll integration guide for construction companies. Our time tracking software page shows how registration by app, badge, site pole or vehicle feeds the same record.
What does a good month-end look like?
Use this checklist at every close:
- All registrations complete. No open days, missing check-outs or unknown badges.
- Absences entered with the right codes: holiday, sickness, ADV, small leave.
- Premiums checked: mobility, travel time, surcharges.
- Entity split checked for staff who worked for more than one company.
- Approved by the team leader, then locked for the period.
- New starters and leavers match the Dimona declarations.
- Export or sync run, and the log shows what was sent.
- Totals compared with the social secretariat’s import report.
- Corrections after the cut-off sent the agreed way, never by retyping.
Setting it up for the first time? Run one month in parallel: keep your current method, send the new export as well, and compare the payslips. Fix code mismatches before you switch.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time registration tool?
The one that fits where your people work and exports clean data to your social secretariat. For construction and field teams, look for registration by app, badge and vehicle, one approval flow, and an export that uses your provider’s hour and absence codes.
What is a time registration system?
A system that records when employees start and stop work, their breaks and absences, and turns that into approved hours. A good system keeps a trace of every correction and sends the hours to payroll without retyping.
What is employee time registration?
It is the recording of the hours each employee actually works. In Belgium a general obligation is planned from 1 January 2027, but as of September 2026 it is still a draft law. Specific duties already apply, for example on construction sites.
Can my social secretariat file the Dimona for me?
Yes. According to the RSZ, an employer can mandate an approved social secretariat or service provider to file Dimona declarations, but the employer remains ultimately responsible.
Stop retyping hours
One approved record, the right codes, and one export per month: that is what saves time and prevents pay errors. Tell us which social secretariat you use, and we will show you honestly how your hours can reach it today.
