Training efforts: the implementation measures have been published!

In accordance with the Law of 5 March 2017 on feasible and manageable work, since 1 January 2017, the interprofessional objectives for training amount to an average of 5 training days per year per full-time equivalent (to be calculated within the context of a development plan).
However, several clarifications to this law still had to be made.

This has been done and published in the Royal Decree of 5 December 2017.

Review!

• The interprofessional objectives apply (primarily) to all employers in the private sector that employ at least 10 employees.
• The objectives can be concretised at the sector level by means of collective labour agreements (CLA) or, if there is no sectoral CLA, at the company level in the context of individual training accounts. If there is no sectoral CLA or individual training account, then a suppletive scheme is applicable.

Collective labour agreements in the sector

When the interprofessional objectives at the sector level are concretised through the extension of an existing CLA, the joint (sub)committee must also, based on the Royal Decree of 5 December 2017, (namely) specify the average number of training days per full-time equivalent as well as the training courses that must be considered eligible, which at least include the formal and informal training courses and the on-the-job training sessions.

For more information on the provisions applicable in your sector, please see our sectoral documentation (‘agreement’ document).

Individual training account

When the interprofessional objective in the company has been concretised through the allocation of training days in an individual training account, then this account must be concretised, as stipulated in the Royal Decree of 5 December 2017, by means of a form that contains (at least) the following information:

• the identity of the employee (surname, first name, date and place of birth, address, national registration number);
• the employment scheme in which the employee is employed;
• the authorised joint committee(s) or joint subcommittee(s);
• the training credit (number of training days the employee has within the calendar year);
• (each time the employee attends a training course) the number of training days attended and the number of remaining days or the number of days to be carried over to the next year;
• a development plan for achieving the interprofessional objective.

A hard or soft copy of the form must be archived in the employee’s personal file (managed by the HR department) as it forms an integral part of the file.

The employer must inform each relevant employee about:

• the implementation/existence of the individual training account;
• at least once a year, the balance of the training credit, the employee’s right to consult his/her account (at any time and upon a simple request), and the employee’s right to correct any mistakes (with the employer’s approval).

Employers with at least 10 and less than 20 employees

The Royal Decree of 5 December 2017 provides a different scheme for employers who employ at least 10 and less than 20 employees expressed in full-time equivalents.

Remember! The number of employed employees must be calculated in full-time equivalents based on the average employment in the year preceding the biennial period that started for the first time on 1 January 2017 (i.e. 2016).

Indeed, these employers must:

• on the one hand, before 31 December 2017 and based on the company’s labour costs, determine the average number of days that the employees have, without this being lower than the number of training days stipulated at the company level in the 2015-2016 period (with, on average, a minimum of one day per year per full-time equivalent).Important note! The number of days stipulated in this manner is applicable to the 2017-2018 period, as well as all subsequent periods of two years. The employers are also entitled to determine a new number of training days (before 30 September of the first year of each subsequent two-year period) insofar as the number is not lower than the number allocated for the previous two-year period starting on 1 January 2017.  
• and, on the other hand, determine a development plan for achieving the interprofessional objective.

If there is no set number of training days, employees have, on average, a minimum of one training day per year per full-time equivalent.

The follow-up and communication with the employee concerning the individual training account are done according to the rules above.

Part-time employment or other partial employment schemes

The Royal Decree of 5 December 2017 specifies the methods for calculating the number of training days in the context of the individual training account, or the suppletive scheme when the employee does not work full-time and/or the full calendar year is not covered by the employment contract (taking his/her employment contract into account).

The following formula must be used: A x B x C, where

A = the number of training days allocated at the company level for a full-time employee;

B = the employee’s employment scheme, compared to the full-time scheme;

C = the number of months that the employee has been employed by the company divided by 12 (each month that has started is considered to be a month that has been worked in full).

Commencement

The measures described above come into effect on 1 February 2017.

Source: Royal Decree of 5 December 2017 in implementation of section 1 of chapter 2 of the Law of 5 March 2017 on feasible and manageable work, BOG of 18 December 2017.

Author: Catherine Mairy

09/01/2018