What is the status of the Federal learning account (FLA)?

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infoflash.full.warning.new.update.label: 30/10/2024 - 10:07 Registration obligation for the Federal learning account (FLA) postponed?
Author Arian Roelens  (Legal Expert)
Read time 3min
Last updated 15/10/2024 - 15:18

Since the launch of the Federal Learning account (hereafter: FLA) this Spring, the concrete step-by-step plan has already been adapted several times.

In this article, you will discover the current state of affairs and what this means for employers and employees.

Context of the FLA

Investing in employee training significantly contributes to business innovation and growth. 

The principle of 'lifelong and life-wide learning' is also strongly endorsed by legislation. Examples include the obligation to draw up a training plan, the introduction of an individual right to training and the partial exemption from advance payment of withholding tax for training. 

In this context, Europe recommends that member states develop individual learning accounts, and the FLA is a first step in this direction.  
This digital application, developed by Sigedis, contains information on individual and sectoral rights to training and training courses attended.

Employees will soon be able to monitor their rights to training and the training courses they attended via mycareer.be.

Scope of the FLA

Employers falling within the scope of the Law of 5 December 1968 must register the training courses attended by their employees in the FLA.

Employers who additionally fall within the scope of the Law on Feasible and Flexible Work must also manage their employees' training rights.

Short-term obligations

  1. Registering of training courses attended by employees from 1 January 2024 up to and including 30 September 2024

No later than 30 November 2024, employers must register the training courses attended by their employees, from 1 January 2024 up to and including 30 September 2024, in the FLA. 

This includes both formal and informal training.

To determine whether an employee has benefited from sufficient training rights, the following are taken into account:

  • formal and informal training;
  • training courses related to welfare policy matters cf. the Law of 4 August 1996 with regard to the well-being of workers in the performance of their work
  1. Filling in of individual training rights for the year 2024

No later than 30 November 2024, the employer must register the employees' training rights for the year 2024 in the FLA. 

Sigedis has announced that for employees for whom no individual right has been filled in, the training rights will be automatically calculated and filled in on 1 December 2024. 
Employers who do not wish this to occur because they have already filled in the rights themselves can disable the automatic (re)calculation via opting out.

Employers who have already registered rights but still want to use the automatic calculation can opt in via the web app. This can be done for the entire company or for individual employees.

Future of the FLA?

Although the legal framework for the FLA is still in place today, the Flemish Coalition Agreement includes a request to the federal government to abolish the FLA-tool. A bill supporting this has recently been submitted to the Chamber.
In any case, investing in training and the associated tools remains a must for any company that understands the added value of well-trained employees. 
In this regard, Partena Professional's ESS tool can be a very useful addition to formalise and professionalise your training policy. 

Source:

  • Law of 20 October 2023 regarding the creation and management of the Federal Learning Account, Belgian Official Gazette of 1 December 2023.
  • Bill to repeal the Law of 20 October 2023 regarding the creation and management of the Federal Learning Account (DOC 56 0297/001).
  • Flemish Coalition Agreement 'working together for a warm and prosperous Flanders' ('samen werken aan een warm en welvarend Vlaanderen').

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