Flanders is aiming for an employment rate of 80% and already announced various measures to encourage and help the unemployed to actively seek jobs. Now, it is also clamping down on those not making efforts to find employment.
According to figures from Statbel published on Wednesday, the employment rate in Flanders increased from 75% to 76.3%, bringing it far closer than the other regions to fulfilling the federal goal of reaching an employment rate of 80% by 2030. Aside from activating job seekers, the government also plays a role in sanctioning them.
"Let me be very clear about this: sanctions are not a goal; helping people find a job, filling vacancies and making companies grow is. Most job seekers also want to get back to work," Flemish Minister of Employment Jo Brouns said.
"However, when a job seeker is not cooperating on the path to a new job, it is important to send the signal as a society that we do expect them to make an effort."
Why are job seekers being sanctioned?
The increasing follow-ups of job seekers are part of a new mediation model introduced by the region's employment agency VDAB. Figures for the first half of this year show that it has led to more sanctions.
The number of so-called "effective" sanctions increased from 4,783 in the first half of 2021 to 6,225 in the first half of this year.
If an unemployed person is not cooperating with agreements made with the VDAB, the public employment agency has the power to issue a warning. This can be done, for example, if the person missed registered appointments with VDAB staff.
If the jobseeker persists in ignoring VDAB efforts to help them find employment, mediators will notify the Control Service that they are not cooperating. In the first half of 2022, mediators forwarded almost half the number of files to the Control Service as in the same period last year.
Effective sanctions
Overall, 11,813 sanctions or signals were given by VDAB, of which 6,594 were effective sanctions and 5,219 signals. An effective sanction leads to a jobseeker losing their benefit temporarily (fully or partially) or even permanently. A signal, meanwhile, is a final warning for the person to adjust their behaviour.
Related News
- Flanders cracks down on illegal employment on construction sites
- Over 200 professions suffering staff shortages in Flanders
"VDAB is strongly committed to making the match between vacancies and jobseekers. Orienting, assessing, training and mediating towards work are our core business. But if it turns out that someone is not working in a motivated way on their course, we also intervene and impose sanctions," said Wim Adriaens, managing director of VDAB.
"The increase in sanctions shows that the new mediation approach is bearing fruit."
