This will change on May 1: living wage earners must register with VDAB, no more waiting time for breath test alcohol check

From May 1, living wage earners must register with the VDAB. Drivers can also no longer request a 15-minute waiting period for a breath test during an alcohol test. An overview of what will change from tomorrow.

People with a living wage must register with the employment agency VDAB from Wednesday. The aim is to help them find a job more quickly. Of all people with a living wage, barely a fifth are working after a year, but if they are registered with the VDAB, this increases to 40 percent.

The intention is to work closely with the OCMWs. According to Minister of Labor Jo Brouns (CD&V), they “remain in charge of the file of the living wage recipient”. As soon as the person concerned is registered with the VDAB, the OCMW will be able to determine whether it will provide guidance to work itself or whether it will call on the employment agency for this.

Anyone of working age who already receives a living wage will have three months to register. Anyone who has applied for a living wage will be given four months after the OCMW’s decision on the grant to register. A living wage worker who is eligible for a job and deliberately does not cooperate risks a sanction.

“Waiting time unnecessary”

The rules for alcohol testing will also change from tomorrow. Drivers can no longer request a 15-minute waiting period for a breath test. This was introduced to neutralize the effect of ‘mouth alcohol’ – alcohol that is still in the mouth shortly after drinking and which can influence the result of the breath test. “But the latest devices detect and neutralize mouth alcohol automatically and 100 percent reliably,” says the Federal Public Service Mobility. “A waiting period has therefore become unnecessary.”

Finally, from May 1, more people will also be eligible for health insurance compensation when purchasing contact lenses or glasses. Until now, reimbursement from the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Riziv) is only possible for a prescription from -7 or from +7 for glasses and -7.75 or +7.75 for contact lenses. These thresholds are being lowered: lenses and glasses from -6 and +6 are now entitled to a refund.

As a result, according to the Riziv, approximately 105,000 more people who are highly nearsighted or farsighted are eligible for compensation for glasses. For contact lenses this concerns approximately 154,000 additional people.