Higher minimum wage, new priority rules in childcare and end of the peddling card: this will change from April 1

‘Back to Work’ fund

People who have been dismissed due to medical force majeure and are incapacitated for work can apply to the ‘Back to Work’ fund from April 1. This should offer them the opportunity to find a new job through, for example, career guidance and personalized coaching.

The fund was set up by the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Riziv). Employers who terminate the contract of an incapacitated employee due to medical force majeure must pay 1,800 euros into the fund.

The people who have been fired can contact the Riziv and receive a voucher worth 1,800 euros. “They can use this to purchase specialized, tailor-made services from a recognized service provider,” according to the Riziv. “Through career guidance and personalized coaching, among other things, they gain new perspectives to return to the labor market, within their capabilities.”

From April 1, 2025, people who have been incapacitated for work for more than one year will also be able to apply to the ‘Back to Work Fund’, whether they are self-employed, employed or job seeker.

New financing model for general practitioners

More than 130 general practitioners will enter a new financing model on April 1, in which they earn proportionately less income from consultations, but more from fixed financing per patient and premiums such as for the recruitment of nurses.

According to the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Riziv), 122 general practitioners in group practices and 12 general practitioners in solo practices have signed up for the new model, which was called ‘new deal’.

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“GPs are doing a very good job today, but they sometimes have too little time to focus on prevention and proactive follow-up of their patients,” said Federal Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) earlier. “The current performance financing model (with a reimbursement per patient contact, ed.) gives them too little space to do so.”

The new model must meet this need. ‘New Deal’ GPs will receive a lower amount per consultation or home visit, but they will receive a higher fixed payment per patient for whom they are the regular GP. In this way, work outside direct patient contact is better rewarded.

On average, the total income will not change, but the fixed compensation makes the income more stable, says Minister Vandenbroucke. This should provide scope for, for example, interim follow-up of patients and making time for more complex patient problems, collaborating with other healthcare providers and providing support to employees in the practice.

The new model also provides additional premiums for affiliated general practices, including if they recruit a nurse for the practice. And there is a premium to manage the practice.

“It is expected that the increased focus on prevention and proactive follow-up of patients will reduce the number of acute problems,” Vandenbroucke added. “That is good for the health of the population, but also allows a general practitioner to monitor more patients and to focus on what he is really trained for; and this in collaboration with other healthcare providers.”

Minimum wage increases

On April 1, the minimum wage in our country will increase, exceeding 2,000 euros gross for the first time. According to the Christian trade union ACV, 80,000 employees will see their wages increase.

The increase was agreed during the interprofessional negotiations for the period 2021-2022. A first increase took place on April 1, 2022, by 76.28 euros.

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A second increase in the minimum wage is scheduled for April 1 this year. The minimum wage will then be increased by 35.7 euros gross per month. “The new minimum wage will then be 2,029.88 euros per month,” explains the Christian trade union ACV.

Employees still have a little more net left over: 50 euros. The tax work bonus will also be increased.

On April 1, 2026, the minimum wage will be increased again, again by 35.7 euros.

New priority rules in childcare

New priority rules will come into effect in subsidized childcare in Flanders from April 1. More priority is given to working parents. The controversial measure will be challenged in the Constitutional Court.

READ ALSO. Twenty organizations go to the Constitutional Court against childcare priority rules

According to the new rules, childcare operators will only be able to reserve a maximum of 10 percent of their places for children from vulnerable families. Until now, an obligation of 20 percent was in force. In this way, the Flemish government wants to give priority to parents who at least four-fifths work or are in training.

“The basic rule is that as an organizer you give priority to families for whom childcare is necessary to work or to follow training with a view to work,” states an information document from Kind en Gezin.

READ ALSO. New priority rules are particularly bad for daycare centers: “We do not intend to refuse children”

Many organizations within and outside childcare are critical of the new rules. They fear that this will further strengthen inequality and, among other things, leave out parents in poverty. About twenty organizations announced on March 20 that they would go to the Constitutional Court to file a complaint against the new priority rules.

Leurkaart will be abolished

The peddling card, which is mandatory for door-to-door salespeople and sellers at markets, will be abolished in Flanders from April 1. The abolition is part of a Flemish decree that updates the rules regarding street trading and fair activities.

The decree should, among other things, give local authorities additional levers to respond to new consumer trends and new commercial opportunities in the field of markets and fairs. According to Minister of Work Jo Brouns (CD&V), the intervention also fits in with administrative simplification.

READ ALSO. Market vendors on Theaterplein angry about high fines and secret city supervisors: “They have given power to people who cannot handle it”

The peddling card was mandatory for door-to-door salespeople, among other things. “By correctly registering in the KBO (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, ed.), however, a check from the KBO is sufficient to know whether that entrepreneur can carry out itinerant or fair activities,” is the explanation in the decree.

End of conventional fuel oil 50S

The classic heating oil 50S will disappear from the market from April 1. Its place will be replaced by a more environmentally friendly – but slightly more expensive – variant with less sulphur.

The 50S refers to the maximum permitted sulfur content: 50 ppm (parts per million) or 0.005 percent. It will be replaced by fuel oil 10S, or domestic heating oil with a maximum of 0.001 percent sulfur. The less sulphur, the better for the environment. The reduction of the sulfur content has been going on for years.

In practice, consumers will not notice anything about the new fuel standard. Many fuel dealers already offered the new type. After all, stocks of the old 50S variant became exhausted.

However, domestic heating oil with less sulfur will be slightly more expensive: around 36 euros for an order of 2,000 liters.

Individual learning account to start on April 1, despite opposition

The ‘federal learning account’, or the individual learning account, will be launched from April 1. This is an online registration tool in which all training courses offered to each employee must be registered. The aim is to manage the individual training rights that each employee has. Employer organizations are opposing the plans.

The federal training account is an offshoot of the so-called labor deal that the De Croo government agreed on. This prescribes, among other things, that companies must provide a training plan and creates an individual training right of five days per year. A federal education bill will soon be added to this. This must provide employees with information about training and give them access to their individual learning account and to useful information about training courses taken. The underlying idea is that training and lifelong learning are becoming increasingly important in the rapidly changing labor market.

After a trial period, employees will have access to the application in the autumn of 2024. The application is being rolled out at the federal level. Minister of Economy and Work Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS) is also working on a cooperation agreement with the federal states, which also have powers in the field of education and training, his spokesperson explains. “The design has already been approved at federal level and by the Walloon Region. The other states will follow soon,” it said.

However, employers are not in favor of the plans. “The balance between effort and results is completely lost,” employer organizations such as VBO, Unizo, Voka and Boerenbond previously said. They criticize, among other things, “the inadequate and incomplete preparation, the unanswered questions, unclarified ambiguities, the failure to respect the ‘only once’ principle, a not very successful pilot project and the minimal feedback to the social partners”. They also speak of an “impracticable additional administrative obligation for entrepreneurs”.