A new framework agreement signed by employment and insurance organisations stands to make it easier to go back to work after a prolonged illness.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday by Brussels Employment Office Actiris, insurance organisations, and the National Institute for Health and Disability, INAMI.
It renews a 2016 framework agreement aimed at strengthening the reintegration into the labour market of persons with social insurance who are recognised as incapacitated or disabled.
Tuesday’s agreement is in line with the September 2020 government agreement, which emphasises the importance of supporting this target group, taking into account the skills they still have and what they want to do professionally, INAMI and Actiris noted.
It comes into force, retroactively, from January 1, 2023.
According to the two public operators, the aim of this collaboration is to create more opportunities for socially insured persons with sufficient capacity remaining to embark on the road back to work.
Prospective beneficiaries of this tailor-made support must have been recognised as being unable to work and be willing to begin working anew. The pathway back to work must also be compatible with their state of health.
That pathway, which includes simplified processes and administration, is open to socially insured persons with and without an employment contract and to the self-employed.
The adaptability of the support, professional orientation and need for training during the pathway to employment are determined by elements related to the medical challenges of the proposed beneficiaries, their skills, their distance from the labour market and employment prospects.
Similar agreements have been concluded for Flanders and Wallonia.
In practice, the collaboration will enable 300 Brussels residents to be supported in 2023 and up to 600 in 2024.
