How HeadChannel Automated Belgian Staff Declarations for MP

MP is a European event staffing company with a strong presence in the UK and mainland Europe. It provides technology-driven talent management systems that help businesses recruit and manage temporary and seasonal staff, for clients ranging from corporate events to hospitality. Belgium's strict employment laws meant thousands of employee status changes every month had to be declared to the government.

The Challenge

Belgium requires businesses to register every new employee, and to report any change to their work schedules, through the government's DIMONA system. MP's workforce changes shifts and employment status often, and staff entered every change into DIMONA by hand. The thousands of monthly updates took significant administrative time, copying data from the HR system to DIMONA risked inaccuracies, and mistakes or delays carried severe penalties, including heavy fines.

Automating it was not simple. The Belgian government provided no APIs, and DIMONA was highly complex, with no proper documentation, so the team had to dig deep into the system.

The Approach

MP was already working with HeadChannel on a large IT project, and HeadChannel had experience of complex recruitment and HR systems. It built an integration between MP's existing staff management system and DIMONA, so new hires, status changes and work schedules are uploaded automatically, in near real time.

Design and prototyping. HeadChannel analysed MP's data structure and DIMONA's requirements, then built mockups and prototypes to show how the integration would work.

Data mapping. A data-mapping system handles more than 700 fields, so every update reaches DIMONA accurately.

Secure transfer. Data travels over encrypted SFTP, and documents sent to DIMONA are digitally signed and verified using .NET cryptography tools.

Fault tolerance. If the SFTP server loses its connection, declarations are held and sent only when the system is stable.

The Outcome

Automation now handles thousands of updates a month and saves hundreds of hours of administrative time each month, cutting costs and the risk of errors and legal penalties. The automated process removes the risk of human error, so reporting is accurate and on time, and it adheres to GDPR requirements.

With the administrative burden greatly reduced, MP is exploring further automation in other parts of its operations.