Foreign workers will no longer be eligible for unemployment benefit under the same conditions as Belgians, under new austerity measures put in place during the Budget check. The government is also justifying it as fighting fraud, as some organisations try to play the Belgian social security system.
From now on, foreign workers will have had to have worked in Belgium for 3 months - instead of one day – before they can claim unemployment benefit.
Also, periods someone was working abroad will only be taken into account while calculating unemployment benefits for EU residents and residents of countries Belgium has an agreement with.
Other austerity measures have been put in place for unemployment. Credit-time for medical assistance and career conditions for credit-time in public and private sectors will be more strictly checked.
All the austerity measures for employment should save the State 70 million euros in 2016. “These interventions will not compromise social rights”, says Minister Kris Peeters.
(Source: Belga)
