Central

The central government is responsible for:

• The setting of strategic framework conditions for developing employment;
• Ensuring optimal conditions for access to and participation in the labour market;
• Programmes for re-employment;
• Unemployment benefits (Ministry of Employment and Labour, National Employment Office);
• The labour law and supervision of observance of the applicable standards, and
• Ensuring solidarity and equal rights and opportunities.

Regional

Regional authorities are responsible for:

• The implementation of employment policy (cooperation agreements are concluded between the federal authority and the Regions)
• Public Employment Service (Mediation of Jobs);
• Programmes for re-employment;
• The legislation concerning employment of foreigners;
• Allocating the budget to any kind of labour market policies (wage costs, professional insertion programmes, training and support for job seekers, etc.);
• The refunding of company reclassification costs and of the sanctions for employers if there is no redeployment, and
• The control (and sanctions) over the availability of the job seekers. (Unemployed availability check).
  

Communities
There are no competencies of the Communities apart from the German-speaking Community.
The nine communes of the German-speaking Community are also part of the region of Wallonia. In order to optimise the coherence between job and training policies, the region of Wallonia transferred the responsibility for employment issues in theses nine communes to the German-speaking Community in 1999.
 

Local ​

Provinces / Municipalities
Local authorities are responsible for:

• Day-to-day services ensuring better opportunities for local employment;
• Territorial employment pacts;
• Local Employment Agencies, and
• The local development of employment, job-creation.
  

Responsible ministries/bodies

Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue FPS/FOD 

Emploi Wallonie

Flemish Community Department Work and Social Economy

Sources

Constitution of Belgium (Constitution belge texte coordonné du 17 février 1994). In particular Art. 39 and 139

Centre for socio-political research and information (CRISP) (Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politique) section Public Authorities in Wallonia

Decree of the Walloon Region of 6 May 1999 relating to the exercise by the German community and the competences of the Walloon Region in employment matters (Décret de la Région Wallonne du 6 mai 1999 relatif à l'exercice, par la Communauté germanophone, des compétences de la région Wallonne en matière d'emploi et de fouilles)

Special law of Institutional Reform (Loi Spéciale de réformes institutionnelles du 8 Août 1980). In particular Art. 6, paragraph 1, indent IX

The French Speaking Community website (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles)