The federal government has adopted legislation abolishing the Federal Learning Account (FLA), which entered into force on 21 January 2026. The FLA is a digital platform that was originally introduced via the FLA Act 2023 to provide information to employees in the private sector regarding their training entitlements.
I. CONTEXT
The FLA was established as a tool for employees to manage their individual right to training introduced by the Labour Deal Act 2022, as well as any other sectoral training entitlements. As a reminder, full-time employees in companies with at least 20 employees are generally entitled to 5 training days per year, but specific sectoral rules may apply.
The FLA was not well received by employers due to the comprehensive administrative obligations requiring them to provide and monitor information (such as personal employee data and training entitlements) on the FLA platform.
The mandatory registration of training information on the FLA was postponed several times since the entry into force of the FLA Act 2023. Ultimately, the federal government decided to abolish the FLA Act 2023 in response to criticism from business associations.
II. CONSEQUENCES OF THE ABOLITION OF THE FLA
The Labour Deal Act 2022, until recently, allowed employers to register individual training entitlements either through an individual learning account or on the FLA portal (on mycareer.be). Now that the FLA Act 2023 has been abolished, the main consequences are as follows:
It is no longer possible to register or manage data relating training hours and training entitlements on the FLA platform.
Existing data will, however, remain available for consultation on the FLA platform until 31 December 2026.
As of 1 January 2027, all data on the FLA platform will be permanently deleted.
III. NO CHANGES TO EMPLOYEE TRAINING OBLIGATIONS
The new legislation affects the platform itself, however it does not impact other training obligations stipulated in the Labour Deal Act 2022.
Firstly, the individual right to training can be implemented in two different ways: either through a Collective Labour Agreement at industry sector level, or via an individual training account. The latter is a form, either in paper or electronic format, that keeps track of information related to each employee’s training entitlements. Employees have the right to consult their personal account and to have any errors corrected. Employers must update the account promptly once new trainings are completed and inform the employee at least once a year of their outstanding training credit.
Secondly, companies with at least 20 employees must implement an annual employee training plan. The 2026 training plan must be adopted no later than 31 March 2026.
Format: No specific format is required (electronic or paper), unless minimal requirements are determined at the sector level.
Content: The training plan lists the proposed trainings and the employees for whom they are intended. It must include at least the formal trainings (i.e. conducted outside the workplace by professional instructors) and informal trainings (i.e. conducted at the workplace according to individual professional needs, such as attending conferences or coaching sessions).
Procedure: The draft plan must be submitted to the works council (or in the absence of one, the trade union delegation) at least 15 days before the consultation meeting, allowing them to provide feedback by 15 March 2026. In the absence of such bodies, the draft plan must be submitted to the individual employees by 15 March 2026.
The training plan must be submitted via this website https://transfert.emploi.belgique.be within one month of its entry into force.
IV. KEY TAKEAWAYS
The abolition of the FLA has not impacted the substantive training obligations, such as guaranteeing an individual training right and implementing an annual training plan at company level, subject to meeting certain employee thresholds. Therefore, the focus on training remains, while the federal government aims to balance promoting various training offers for employees with avoiding unnecessary administrative and financial burdens for employers.
In this regard, the federal government has indicated that it is developing an alternative system to replace the FLA in the future, which should allow employees to register their completed trainings and certificates independently.
