Training your teams is no longer merely good practice: in Belgium, it is a structured legal obligation. The Act of 3 October 2022 containing various work-related provisions — the training chapter of the Belgian « employment deal » — established an individual right to training for every worker. Here is what it requires in practice, and what changed in early 2026.
An individual right, enshrined in law
Every full-time worker holds an individual training right: four days in 2023, five days per year from 2024. The right is prorated according to working time and employment regime. Both formal and informal training (directly related to the job) count towards it, including subjects linked to well-being at work.
Who is covered?
Headcount determines the scope of the obligation: employers with at least 20 workers must guarantee the five days; those employing 10 to fewer than 20 workers fall under a derogatory regime of at least one day per year, to be set before 30 September each year; employers with fewer than 10 workers are outside the scope of the law, without prejudice to sectoral or voluntary initiatives. A sectoral collective agreement declared universally binding may adjust the number of days, but never below two days and never reducing rights already granted.
Unused days are not lost
Any balance of days not used by year-end is carried over to the following year without reducing that year's credit. From 2024 onwards, every full-time worker must receive an average of at least five training days per year over a five-year period; at the end of each period the counter resets. A useful detail: when training takes place outside normal working hours, those hours are paid at the normal rate, with no overtime premium.
The annual training plan, by 31 March
Companies with at least 20 workers must also draw up a training plan once per calendar year. The timetable is precise: the draft is communicated by early March at the latest, the works council or trade union delegation delivers its opinion by 15 March, and the content is finalised by 31 March. The plan must cover formal and informal training, help address the sector's shortage occupations, and pay particular attention to workers aged 50 and over, at-risk groups, workers of foreign origin and people with disabilities. It is kept within the company and available to workers on request; no specific sanction currently applies.
The Federal Learning Account has been abolished
The mandatory recording of training in the Federal Learning Account (FLA) was repealed by the Act of 14 January 2026, with effect from 1 January 2026. Sigedis will keep the existing data until 31 December 2026, after which it will be permanently erased. The government has announced its intention to launch, by 2027, an « Individual Learning Account » managed independently of employers. Note, however, that abolishing the FLA does not abolish the individual training right or the annual training plan.
Keeping the record without the burden
With no central register imposed, the burden of proof effectively rests with the employer: who attended what, when, with which certificate? That is precisely the role of a training management platform such as Remind-R: a named history of sessions and attendance, numbered certificates verifiable by QR code, and exports ready for social dialogue — documenting the five days without spreadsheets or double entry.