Seven times fewer penalties for job seekers in Brussels than in Flanders

Last year, Actiris issued 3,255 penalties to job seekers. This corresponds to 3.7% of the average number of job seekers. In Flanders, the percentage was seven times higher. Brussels MP Gilles Verstraeten questioned Brussels Minister of Employment Bernard Clerfayt (DéFI party) about this in committee. “The accountability of job seekers is still a thorny issue in Brussels.”

Few effective penalties

Compared to 2022, there was a doubling in both the total number of penalties (from 1,604 to 3,255) and the number of effective penalties (145 to 295). An effective penalty means a reduction or suspension of the benefit or exclusion. “Last year, nine out of ten penalties were a warning,” says Verstraeten. “There are thus still few effective penalties being imposed.”

Not recourse to punishment but accountability

The difference with Flanders is still considerable. 29,038 or one in four job seekers receiving benefits received a penalty from the VDAB The Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding (VDAB, Flemish Public Employment and Professional Training Service) is a Flemish public service that coordinates supply and demand in the employment market, with its main task consisting of serving as an intermediary for job seekers and providing them with support in getting back to work. Since the State reform in 1989, job placement has been a competence of the Regions and job training a competence of the Communities. The VDAB’s counterpart in Wallonia is Forem, and Actiris in Brussels. VDAB (Flemish Employment and Vocational Training Service) in 2023. The percentage is seven times higher than in Brussels, with 3.7% of job seekers. According to Verstraeten, this is not recourse to punishment but accountability: “People who indicate that they are looking for a job must actually do so, regardless of the labour market situation. Of course, a penalty is never an end in itself. It must be the final step of an activation policy.”

Reform the monitoring of job seekers

Verstraeten stresses that the N-VA wants to reform the procedure for monitoring job seekers in Brussels: “The follow-up of the job seeker and the evaluation of the efforts made must take place immediately, from registration (or re-registration) with Actiris, and not after nine months, as is currently the case. It is crucial in this regard that the employment consultant physically meets with the job seeker on a regular basis. In addition, we want to simplify and speed up the monitoring procedure by eliminating the third step, the jury interview with three independent evaluators.”