Status & contributions

ONSS

Office National de Sécurité Sociale (National Social Security Office, NSSO)

By the Finances Indépendants editorial teamUpdated on 3 min readAlso known as: NSSO, Employee social security, RSZ

Contents
  1. What is the NSSO?
  2. Does the director of an SRL/BV fall under the NSSO?
  3. When a self-employed person does come across the NSSO
  4. Two schemes, two levels of protection
  5. Not to be confused with
  6. Further reading
  7. Frequently asked questions

What is the NSSO?

The NSSO, the National Social Security Office (Office National de Sécurité Sociale), is the public body that collects and distributes social security contributions for employees. It is the NISSE's counterpart for the employee scheme, and the two schemes do not overlap.

NSSO contributions are deducted at source by the employer: a personal share withheld from gross salary, and an employer's share added to the employer's costs. Self-employed people, by contrast, pay their own contributions to a social insurance fund.

Does the director of an SRL/BV fall under the NSSO?

No. A company director is subject to the self-employed social security status, and so to the NISSE, even if paid by their own company. The company form does not change the director's social security status.

The distinction has practical consequences. A director does not benefit from the employee unemployment scheme, pays contributions at different rates and has their pension calculated under the self-employed scheme. It is also what gives them access to the PLCI/VAPZ (free supplementary pension for the self-employed) and the IPC (individual pension commitment, EIP/IPT), reserved for the self-employed.

When a self-employed person does come across the NSSO

As soon as the company hires employees, it becomes an employer and deals with the NSSO for those workers. The director, for their part, stays with the NISSE: the two schemes coexist in the same business.

A self-employed person can also fall under both schemes personally, if they have a salaried job alongside. They are then an employee with the NSSO for their job and self-employed as a secondary occupation with the NISSE for their own activity, with the reduced contribution thresholds that go with it.

Two schemes, two levels of protection

The employee scheme has historically offered broader cover: unemployment benefit, a higher pension for the same career, more generous incapacity benefits. The self-employed scheme has caught up in recent years, notably with the bridging right, but the gap remains.

It is precisely this gap that justifies the second pillar. A self-employed person's statutory pension averages around €1,243 a month for a full career, which no amount of contribution optimisation will fix.

Not to be confused with

The terms close to ONSS and what sets them apart.

ONSS and NISSE
The NISSE manages the social security status of the self-employed, the NSSO that of employees. A company director falls under the NISSE, whatever the legal form of their company.
ONSS and the social insurance fund
The fund is the self-employed person's day-to-day contact for contributions. The NSSO has no equivalent intermediary: the employer declares directly.

Further reading

ONSS: frequently asked questions

  • No. A company director is subject to the self-employed social security status and pays contributions to the NISSE through a social insurance fund, even if paid by their own company.

  • The NSSO collects social security contributions for employees, deducted by the employer. The NISSE organises social security for the self-employed, who pay their own contributions through a fund. The rates, entitlements and pension calculation differ.

  • Only if it hires employees. As long as it pays only its director, it has no NSSO obligation: the director falls under the NISSE.

  • Yes. You are then an employee with the NSSO for your job and self-employed as a secondary occupation with the NISSE for your own activity, with an exemption threshold of €1,922.16 of annual net income.

  • Not in itself: you remain self-employed for social security purposes. What the company changes is access to an IPC funded by it, and the option of choosing between remuneration and dividends. Basic protection remains that of the self-employed scheme.

  • Because the two schemes have separate calculation rules and the self-employed scheme was long less favourable. The average for a full career is around €1,243 a month, which explains the weight of the second pillar in a self-employed person's planning.

Official source

  1. NSSO. View (new tab)(Official source, accessed on 2026-09-19)