The Flemish career credit comes into effect on January 1, 2027

Brussels. — The Flemish Government established, on October 1, 2026, the implementing arrangements for the decree of June 19, 2026, regarding the career credit system. The order was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on October 15, 2026, under reference C − 2026/007527, on pages 55318 (Dutch) and 55327 (French). It enters into force on January 1, 2027, for all Flemish workers.

Access conditioned on seven years of experience

The text translates the professional experience requirement of at least seven years into a threshold of 2,555 days of professional activity or assimilated periods. The following are taken into account:

• periods of employment subject to the social security of salaried workers (Law of June 27, 1969) and statutory employment periods, verifiable via the immediate declaration of employment;
• periods of activity as a self-employed person or caregiver (Royal Decree No. 38 of July 27, 1967), provided they appear in the general register of self-employed workers maintained by INASTI;
• periods of employment in a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area, justified by an employer’s certificate.

Excluded are periods without an available employment contract, transition internships, internships not subject to social security, parliamentary mandates, and periods following the legal retirement age. Experience does not need to be continuous. For temporary workers hired through successive contracts excluding weekends, the number of days is multiplied by a correction factor of 1.586.

Procedure, support, and amounts

The Department of Employment, Economy, Science, Innovation, and Social Economy processes the application and notifies its decision within thirty days of receiving the complete file; the applicant has seven days to provide contrary evidence in the event of a refusal. A granted module of two hours of support must be completed within six months, otherwise it is added back to the remaining credit.

The support, which is individual and based on a one-on-one dialogue, includes a diagnosis, modular personal support, and a final phase. It is reserved for registered supporters, who must apply a scientifically supported method and adhere to a 19-point code of conduct annexed to the order. The personalized certificate issued at the end of the process is valid for three years.

The amounts are set as follows:

• supporter’s remuneration: 83.9 euros per hour, VAT included, increased to 93.9 euros if the applicant is low-skilled;
• fixed contribution from the applicant: 25 euros per hour, reduced to 15 euros for low-skilled persons, meaning those without a secondary education diploma.

Scheduled end of career vouchers

The VDAB will no longer accept applications for career vouchers under the decree of May 17, 2013, after December 15, 2026. Vouchers for which the personal contribution has been paid and which were granted in 2026 must have resulted in a first recorded guidance interview by December 31, 2026 at the latest; otherwise, the contribution will be refunded. Vouchers meeting this condition remain usable until June 30, 2027, and expire automatically on that date, as do those requested before November 1, 2025.

The VDAB remains competent until June 30, 2028, for complaints relating to guidance provided under the old regime, and the mandates of companies for paths started before January 1, 2027, run until June 30, 2027. The decree of May 17, 2013, is repealed in stages: a first set of provisions on January 1, 2027, a second on July 1, 2027, and the entire text on July 1, 2028.

Appeals, evaluation and transition

An appeals commission is created within the department, independent of the registration service. The guidance counselor may refer a matter to it within thirty days of the notification of a decision; it shall rule within sixty days. The department evaluates the system based on seven indicators, including the number of modules refused, granted, and completed, the hours completed per applicant, and the duration of the paths.

Guidance counselors who can justify at least 360 hours of guidance in the five years preceding January 1, 2027, and who register in 2027, benefit from a temporary one-year registration, extendable up to four years if they follow a diploma-granting training course. The VDAB accepts requests for equivalence with a professional qualification until December 31, 2026.

The text was proposed by the Flemish Minister of Education, Justice and Employment, Z. DEMIR, and signed by the Minister-President M. DIEPENDAELE. It received the agreement of the Flemish Minister of Budget on July 2, 2026, opinion no. 2026/069 from the Flemish Data Protection Authority on July 14, 2026, the opinion of the SERV on July 27, 2026, and opinion no. 79.963/16 from the Council of State on September 23, 2026.

Scope

As of January 1, 2027, any Flemish worker who can justify 2,555 days of activity may request a career credit to finance career guidance, with a personal contribution of 25 euros per hour. Career vouchers will definitively disappear on June 30, 2027, which obliges holders of still-valid vouchers to begin their guidance before December 31, 2026.

Belgian Official Gazette of October 15, 2026, decree of the Flemish Government of October 1, 2026, implementing the decree of June 19, 2026, regarding the career credit system, ref. C − 2026/007527, p. 55318 (NL) / 55327 (FR).