Federal Learning Account – implementation postponed
21 Mar 2024
The Federal Learning Account (FLA) is a new digital platform where all private sector employers will have to register their employees’ formal and informal training activities. The FLA was slated to be fully rolled out on 1 April 2024, however, the go-live date has been pushed back to 1 June 2024. This means that, once the FLA goes live, employers will have until 30 November 2024 to register the required 2024 training data.
Objective of the Federal Learning Account
As of 2023, every employee (in a company with at least ten employees) has an annual individual entitlement to training. The precise number of annual training days an employee is entitled to is contingent on factors such as the employee's work regime, the size of the company, and sectoral agreements in place (if any). Training options can encompass a variety of formats, including formal or informal sessions, externally or internally organised, tailored to specific sectors, at the company level, for a group of employees, or individually. The training options also extend to digital training, self-study, and 'training on the job'.
The FLA is set up as a platform on which all data will be centralised that’s relevant to display and manage that status of an employee’s individual entitlement to training, sectoral training entitlements, training credit, sectoral aspects of the training and the measures to enhance employability. Part of this data will be provided by the government (more specifically, by Sigedis), part will have to be provided by the employers. Employees will have the possibility to access and consult their FLA data via the website www.mycareer.be (which currently already shows individuals’ professional career as employee, self-employed or civil servant).
Employer obligations
Each quarter, employers will have to register the formal and informal training completed by their employees in the FLA, providing details on the corresponding number of training days or hours. Alternatively, a designated representative of the employer, or the training provider can register this information. This registration must be completed within one month following the end of each quarter. Additionally, employers will be required to review and, if necessary, correct the data registered or calculated by others (the training provider or Sigedis). This includes, for example, verifying employees’ personal data that Sigedis included in the FLA, but also reviewing their employees’ training entitlements, which are calculated by Sigedis each year and added to the FLA on the first working day of the calendar year.
When starting with a new employer, and once each year after that, employees must be informed on the existence of the FLA and the data processed. If the employee registered an email address on www.mycareer.be or shared one via their eBox, they will receive corresponding notifications automatically. If not, the employer is required to inform the employee in question.
Sanctions
The employer obligations are enforced via a ‘naming and shaming’ approach. Meaning that every quarter, Sigedis will compile a list of employers who didn’t comply with one or more of the obligations stemming from the FLA act. Sigedis will then notify the non-compliant employers and if they rectify their non-compliance within 30 calendar days, they’re removed from the list. The list of non-compliant employers will be published on the website of the Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue. Additionally, the list is forwarded to the National Labour Council and the respective competent joint committee.
Go-live of the FLA postponed
The FLA act provides for a six month transitional period after its entry into force at the end of which employers will have to have registered the 2024 training data for their employees. This entry into force was envisaged for 1 April 2024, however, due to technical and practical difficulties in setting up the FLA system and providing clear instructions to the employers, the FLA will only be available in a beta version at that point in time. The launch of the full, official version is pushed back to 1 June 2024, after which the six month transitional period will start. This means that employers will have to register the 2024 training data for their employees by 30 November 2024.
Dissatisfied employers' organisations
Note that several employers’ organisations call for a further postponement or even a complete revision of the FLA project. They argue that the FLA is an unworkable and costly administrative burden for the employers, and does not add any value to the existing training initiatives and instruments.
We will of course keep you posted on any developments in this respect.
If you have any questions regarding the above, don’t hesitate to reach out: we’d love to hear from you!
