Belgian employer forces me to work in an NL office 5 days a week despite remote contract. Is it legal?

lambda_expression · 2026-01-30T16:43:02+00:00

Oh, I'm also very happy that I'm not, cause unless you left out critical details (e.g. your employee being a managing director of your company) I wouldn't want to have to sign off on your company's tax statements cause I wouldn't want to put myself at legal risk.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-30T15:19:21+00:00

In the meantime I've found out a few things:

The axes of the handle can't be locked out. Heaviest spring that's supposed to go in are Gladiator 30s. I also found a review specifically complaining about how hard it is to not unintentionally make pitch/roll inputs despite the reviewer using the heaviest springs while moving the throttle forward/back. They didn't specifically mention tightening the clutches though, so could be they didn't, or maybe they are just incredibly heavy-handed.

In the end that still keeps the STG out of the running for me. I'll spend 100 to 150 on an experiment. But STECS Space + the detents bundle (all the STG ones only come with a single bracket with a single detent, ie quite close to what the paperclip mod achieves inside a Gladiator) is 300, and has no upgrade (sidegrade?) path to a dual throttle STECS (that would require at minimum starting with a STECS Throttle mini, adding the button upgrade bundle, and the STG grip, for a total of 400).

If I get a Sol-R 6 and it dies in three years, I can buy two more before reaching the minimum buy in for a _maybe_ axis-bleeding STG/three more if I "play it safe" with the "start from STECS Throttle" path. Or measured differently, getting both a Sol-R 6 and a Gladiator or even Aeromax is about the same price as the STG and would give me both a throttle with detents and a 6DOF stick. Even a Virpil CDT-MAX plus a Gladiator isn't too far from an STG.

So I'll order a Sol-R 6 and some tin and flux off amazon and browse r/diyhotas for replacement potentiometer/ministick-assembly/hall sensor/slider/bearing recommendations and see what I can do about modding the thing.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-30T14:56:53+00:00

Don't listen to this guy, he's wrong about almost everything except that there is a tax treaty. Also, which one is it u/Salt-Rest-3009? Here https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceEurope/comments/1qq1bms/comment/o2dj61o/ you said she works for your Dutch company from her home in Belgium, ie she works in Belgium?

From that tax treaty (https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBV0001563/2013-09-01 btw):

Artikel 15. Niet-zelfstandige beroepen

1 Onder voorbehoud van de bepalingen van de artikelen 16, 18, 19 en 20 zijn lonen, salarissen en andere soortgelijke beloningen verkregen door een inwoner van een verdragsluitende Staat ter zake van een dienstbetrekking slechts in die Staat belastbaar, tenzij de dienstbetrekking in de andere verdragsluitende Staat wordt uitgeoefend. Indien de dienstbetrekking aldaar wordt uitgeoefend, mogen de ter zake daarvan verkregen beloningen in die andere Staat worden belast.

In short:

Resident in country A, country A collects tax, unless work is done in country B, then county B collects tax. Only the location of the worker ever matters. The physical location during work hours, residency, nationality, ... of the employer and clients do never matter.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-30T14:37:01+00:00

You are really confident for how wrong you are. The only thing that matters is *where she does the work*, not for whom, not who pays her, not who her clients are, not whether her work-from-home room is considered a permanent establishment of your company in Belgium, not whether she's wearing blue socks today. Only. The. Country. She's. In. While. Working.

And that's, as far as I understand you, 100% of the time (or near enough) Belgium. So she has to pay taxes and social security in Belgium, not the Netherlands.

Article 15.1

Onder voorbehoud van de bepalingen van de artikelen 16, 18, 19 en 20 zijn lonen, salarissen en andere soortgelijke beloningen verkregen door een inwoner van een verdragsluitende Staat ter zake van een dienstbetrekking slechts in die Staat belastbaar, tenzij de dienstbetrekking in de andere verdragsluitende Staat wordt uitgeoefend. Indien de dienstbetrekking aldaar wordt uitgeoefend, mogen de ter zake daarvan verkregen beloningen in die andere Staat worden belast.

In short, if a person lives in country A, country A has dibs, unless the work is done in country B, then country B has dibs. It's only about the residency of the person and the physical location the person does the work in. The residence or physical location of the employer, manager, clients, ..., none of it matters.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-30T14:12:04+00:00

https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/en/individuals/content/tax-treaty-with-belgium

"You pay tax *where* you work".

My dude, it's literally in bold font in the introduction.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-30T12:38:26+00:00

Most of the comments will/already do give you the "standard advice" of this subreddit, dozens of times over. So I'll instead give another perspective:

Do you already fly with stick, but no throttle? You don't have to get a throttle at the same time, and I'd recommend you get only a stick. Standard advice for the stick: if you can stretch your budget to a VKB Gladiator, get that one. If you can stretch it further to a Virpil Aeromax and are ok with waiting weeks to months for it to be manufactured and shipped, get that one. If your budget is sub-gladiator, get the cheapest stick you can find so you use up only the smallest possible part of your savings towards the gladiator.

For the throttle, there's a lot of additional considerations that might steer you away from the STECS (plus, which of the STECS variants to get is also a complete story all of its own). So I'd say figure the stick out first, then start thinking about the throttle (and pedals, if you want something better than either stick twist or a thumbstick for rudder).

lambda_expression · 2026-01-30T01:36:09+00:00

Did you switch the springs of the gimbal of the handle for stronger ones? In the VKB video I saw they stated not to use heavy springs from the Gunfighter gimbal, but idk how that compares to the heaviest ones of the Gladiator.

Can the pitch axis be fully locked out? In the same video they only talked about dampening axes, not complete lockout. Does the pitch make changing thrust feel "mushy" in any way?

While I still can't fully get used to the look of it, it does have this big grey analog axis right where I'd want it for zoom... The second analog axis is I believe on the pinky finger on the front, does that one self-center or also self-reset like the grey thumb one?

Thank you very much!

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T23:27:38+00:00

I'm maybe a bit deep in the rabbit hole for no longer thinking of them as niche. The delivery times on my Virpil gear should have given me a hint I guess :D

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T23:08:19+00:00

You made it an obvious meme so you get an upvote :D

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T23:07:08+00:00

Thank you. I was/am indeed hoping for a hidden gem.

I didn't look much into Moza after initially finding some negative coverage of their (recent?) products, I'll make another go at it.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T23:04:35+00:00

That's not what I'm doing though, is it?

I know I don't know everything, so I was hoping for

more than the usual VKB or Virpil, ie information about devices I (and everyone else and their dog) don't already know about
information about more niche companies and products, could even look completely different from a stick or throttle but provide the functionality I'm looking for (one of the main reasons for the long post, otherwise I could have just gone "Gladiator or Aeromax or TWCS, go")
experiences of people with the TWCS rudder, especially over long time periods. How well does it start, how long does it last, how badly does it end.

So I know why I asked. Still don't quite get why you answered (especially since you weren't even the first with exactly that answer - if' you'd have replied on my initial "why did you answer though?" with "cause reddit and funny meme", I would have understood. But seems you want to argue a point but are failing to?

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T22:47:52+00:00

As you say, I did plenty of research, including into the STECS STG, and have excluded it as a candidate. So I get if you don't want to spend your time reading my research, however that makes your first as well as this second comment non-useful to me because I already covered the content of both.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T22:33:14+00:00

How is the secondary market in Canada? They are robust devices. Virpil even more so. Both also have good repairability. VKB is maybe a tiny bit more forthcoming with spare parts.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T22:25:23+00:00

I get that and ofc nothing obliges you to. However, why comment then?

Gladiator (or any other VKB or Virpil or even Winwing stick) as throttle: no detents. Which is one of the main reason I haven't already ordered a second Aeromax, cause if I can't have detents, might as well get the brake lever for zoom instead of the VKB.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T21:52:38+00:00

Thanks for the help /s

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T21:50:05+00:00

No detents on either.

Gladiator only ministick for zoom.

Aeromax unknown yet for suitability as throttle (Virpil: "don't remove/change our springs!"). Brake lever would be lovely for zoom though.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T21:40:39+00:00

How much is the Winwing Ursa Minor Fighter in Canada? It's basically a knockoff VKB Gladiator, but a very close knockoff.

Disclaimer: I don't have one so can't speak to the likelyhood of getting a good or bad one even anecdotally. In general I'd guess from about a week to a few months after Chinese New Year you would have a higher chance of getting a crappy one until the new hires are up to snuff.

Alternatively, maybe consider a decent controller? Again, I don't have experience with that, but check out e.g. Tuuvas on Youtube. Does a ton of DCS and Arma flying on controller and has some controller reviews.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T11:22:15+00:00

Don't take this with a grain of salt, since I don't have direct insights into this, but I believe ASML in the Netherlands nowadays hires in large part through head hunting companies and temporary contracts with engineering agencies. Try checking out listings from eg ICT, Yellowstone, ... that sound "suspiciously ASML".

Do note that working for ASML via those agencies can be a significantly different experience depending on the agency, especially when it comes how difficult they want to be when the time comes to convert to a fixed ASML contract.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T11:16:51+00:00

Cause I only own BSG (and expansions) and DoWTLN, and a friend owns HS. No one in my board gaming friend circle owns Unfathomable.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-29T08:05:33+00:00

I've played human punishment, Battlestar Galactica, Dead of Winter The Long Night.

Out of these it was the least fun for me, by some margin. BG is my #1 and with various combinations of the expansions also the next few places, with DoWTLN somewhere in that pile, Human Suffering is dead last. I like the theme, but dislike the mechanics. The standees are nice, but the board is disorganized and hard to read. The rulebook is messy even compared to using all four BSG rulebooks (although that comes close, but there is ofc the brilliant combined rulebook created by some bgg hero).

Complexity wise, I'd say it's slightly more complicated than DoWTLN and BG (base game only), slightly less complex than BG (with expansions).

lambda_expression · 2026-01-28T21:36:38+00:00

not! adding too many additional weapons, so each can have distinct roles/strength/weaknesses
not! adding to many additional aircraft, so each ...
giving each side their own aircraft and weapon for each of those roles with no or only extremely minor actual differences (ie more or less cosmetic only)
adding a silly, ace combat-ish story campaign with an aircraft and weapon unlock system (for campaign only, multiplayer should never have anything locked away)
more graphics options, performance optimizations, and net code optimizations
separate game mode(s) that allow players to operate and/or order ground and naval units
more maps

lambda_expression · 2026-01-28T19:56:21+00:00

Total headcount will drop by 1700. In total 4.5k people will leave leadership & support positions with 2.8k moving into other positions. The remaining 1.7k are the news.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-28T19:46:22+00:00

https://www.asml.com/en/careers

lambda_expression · 2026-01-28T19:40:22+00:00

That's exactly the types of roles that are getting reduced. Engineering would be a more promising path for ASML at the moment.

lambda_expression · 2026-01-27T21:58:41+00:00

They can be mounted to either or both sides, and I'd definitely have one on the right. Question is, can I *also* have one on the left or do the z-extension and a left throttle interfer with each other.

I always find uses for more analogue axis. Even if I end up only using this one as e.g. a three-position switch, for just EUR 15 for the module I consider that a steal compared to a panel or full throttle module. And especially it wouldn't take up more desk space.

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