Paid educational leave and Flemish training leave
The school year is in full swing, so about time to list all the regional principles regarding educational leave.
What is the scope?
Paid educational leave gives the employee the right to follow an approved training course and to be absent from work while keeping his/her entitlement to salary. Not each and every training course opens the right to educational leave. However, the training does not necessarily need to be linked to the employment activities exercised by the employee for the employer.
In Flanders, ‘Flemish training leave’ has replaced paid educational leave. In order to determine the competent region for this type of leave, you need to check where the seat of business is located where the employee is employed. This is the address/location as mentioned on the DmfA declaration for the National Social Security Office. The employee’s place of residence or the place where the training is followed are therefore not decisive for entitlement to educational leave.
With this newsletter we wish to explain the general system and the regional differences of educational leave. We limit ourselves in the present overview to the three biggest regions in Belgium: Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia.
The Brussels-Capital Region has implemented some changes from the school year 2023-2024, which will also be discussed in this newsletter.
Which employees are involved?
All employees from the private sector working on a full-time basis. Certain part-time working employees are also entitled to this type of leave.
The Brussels-Capital Region has made the conditions for the entitlement to educational leave for part-time employees more flexible from school year 2023-2024: as soon as employees work at least 25% of a full-time job, they are eligible for (pro rata) educational leave.
Does this apply to all courses?
No. Only training courses approved by the authorities are eligible, but there are regional differences when it comes to these approvals. From school year 2023-2024, there will be more accredited courses in Brussels than last school year. Through the links below you can verify if a training is approved in the region where your employee is employed. Unfortunately enough, these databases are not available in English.
The training should normally last at least 3 study credits or last at least 32 hours.
In Flanders the employee is allowed, for the school year 2023-2024, to combine several courses or modules at different training providers - which by themselves do not amount to 32 hours - in order to meet this minimum requirement.
Can the employer refuse the request for leave?
No, the employee has the right to take training leave and the employer cannot refuse. The days of absence however need to be planned in mutual consent between the employer and the employee.
How many hours of leave can the employee apply for?
This depends on the specific training course the employee follows.
Maximums have been set which depend on the training followed and which differ per region.
Recent reforms have increased the maximum number of hours of educational leave in Brussels for certain courses compared to last school year. Moreover, the rules now provide for the possibility of so-called increases. For example: until now, a language course gave entitlement to a maximum of 80 hours of educational leave per school year in Brussels. From this school year, this limit can be increased to 130 hours if the employee chooses, for example, to study one of the national languages or sign language.
In the Flemish Region, the maximum number of hours of training leave is set at 125 hours per school year. The common initiative right in Flanders whereby the employee has a double personal maximum, when the employee follows a training at the employer's suggestion and also follows training at his own initiative, is extended for the school year 2023-2024.
How does the employee apply?
The employee must submit a proof of enrollment to the employer by October 31. In the event of a change of employer or in case of a registration for a training course during the year, this certificate or proof must be delivered within 15 days after the change of employer or registration.
When the employee follows a training course in the Brussels Capital or Walloon Region, (s)he needs to hand over a ‘certificate of accuracy’ to the employer on a quarterly basis, showing that the employee follows classes attentively. In the Flemish Region, the employee is no longer required to hand over this certificate of accurate presence to the employer. The institution where the employee follows the training has to register the presence of the employee online. If the employee does not follow the lessons punctually and therefore has taken more leave than (s)he is entitled to, (s)he will receive less training leave the next time (s)he wishes to register for a training course.
When does the leave need to be taken?
In Wallonia and Brussels, the days of absence need to be taken between the start and the end date of the course. In Flanders, the employee has a little more time: the days of absence need to be taken between the day before the start date of the course and two days after the end date, or after the final exam.
Who is paying?
The employee who is absent in the framework of educational leave receives his/her normal wage from the employer, but the latter can limit this to 3,364 EUR gross per month for full-time employees. A legislative proposal was introduced to index this amount annually, in September. Because of that, the salary limit would be 3,500 EUR per month as from 1 September 2023. This legislative proposal still needs to approved.
The employer can reclaim part of the salary paid during training leave from the Walloon, Brussels or Flemish government, depending on the region where the employee is employed.
In Flanders and Wallonia, employers can be reimbursed € 21.30 per hour of absence by the relevant regional government.
Brussels has indexed this amount to € 22.07 per hour. This indexed amount also applies to reimbursements for paid educational leave from the school year 2022-2023.
The deadlines for submitting the file to claim a reimbursement are very strict and vary by region:
- The Brussels-Capital Region: The files must be submitted between 1 September and 31 December of the school year following the school year for which reimbursement is requested. So in order to obtain a reimbursement for the hours of absence of the employees for school year 2023-2024, the file must be submitted no later than 31 December 2024.
- The Walloon Region: The request can be submitted until 31 March of the school year following the school year for which reimbursement is requested. This means that reimbursement requests for school year 2023-2024 can be submitted until 31 March 2025.
- The Flemish Region: You only have 3 months after the start of the course to claim compensation. If your employee has started a training in September 2023 in the framework of Flemish training leave, the file must be submitted before 31 December 2023.
What can Pro-Pay do for you?
Pro-Pay can file the applications for (partial) reimbursement of the salary with the competent authorities on your behalf.
Please contact your Payroll Business Partner for more detailed information.
