Lifelong learning - monitoring the right to training through the Federal Learning Account

The labour deal - which was legislated in late 2022 - introduced a lot of new things. For instance, companies with at least 20 employees are required to draw up an annual training plan. It also provided for the individual right to training for every employee in companies with at least 10 employees: employees will be entitled to five days of training a year (as of 2024, compared to four days in 2023). Sectoral deviations can be agreed, which was done in some industries (for instance in Joint Committee 200). 

To enable employers and employees to keep track of this, the government has introduced the Federal Learning Account. 

The employer will be required to register and review certain matters. For instance, employee data must be added - and supplemented quarterly for new employees. The employer must also report quarterly how many training days or hours the employee has attended, including a description of the basic characteristics of the training they attended. Furthermore, the employer will also have to check whether the training credit per employee, as calculated by Sigedis (the government non-profit organisation that manages the Federal Learning Account) is correct. 

The responsibility for the accuracy of data in the Federal Learning Account lies with the employer. Sigedis will also submit a list every quarter to the Social Inspectorate that includes all employers who have not complied with the above obligations. It is therefore important that employers always follow this closely to avoid possible sanctions, in case of non-compliance. 

Employees will be able to keep track of the number of training days they are entitled to via www.mycareer.be. Employees can ask the employer to correct any information they notice is missing or incorrect.

We are still waiting for a royal decree to determine the effective date, but the Federal Learning Account will become active on 1 April 2024 at the latest.

If you have any questions, please contact our experts.