The Brussels government approved Labour Minister Bernard Clerfayt's paid educational leave reform on Thursday, which will allow more people to benefit from it.
The reform will include training both remotely and in the workplace, as well as training for people with disabilities and part-time workers.
The educational leave system – which includes language classes, social promotion, training focussing on a profession, going back to study – allows private sector workers to take up to 180 hours of training while being paid.
Women are underrepresented
Every year, nearly 6,500 workers take advantage of this measure. However, it has several pitfalls. For instance, training is not always adapted to people with disabilities, and part-time workers are excluded from the measure. While only 11.9% of salaried men work part-time, the figure jumps to 40.7% for women, resulting in a gender imbalance and underrepresentation of women.
Consequently, Clerfayt has decided to reform the paid educational leave system. Some of the new measures include taking training courses remotely or in the workplace, extending access to part-time workers and increasing the number of training hours.
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"Whether you are at work or looking for work, it is always good to get training. By giving part-time workers access to paid educational leave, I want to increase the percentage of those continuing education – particularly that of women," Clerfayt explained.
A ceiling of €700,000 per company will also be introduced to avoid certain unintended effects. In the past, there was no maximum amount, which resulted in two companies (Audi and Securitas) alone using more than 30% of the €14.5 million spent on paid educational leave.
