Maria Nuijten, 25, worked for several years as a nursing assistant in a care home in Stabroek, in the province of Antwerp. But her dream had always been to be a pharmacist. As explained by Gazette of Antwerp, which relays the story of the young woman, Maria therefore found an arrangement with her employer and asked for a time credit to follow a training course. “A 15-month training course,” says the resident of Kalmthout.
During the time of this training, Maria received from the ONEM (RVA in the north of the country) a monthly bonus of 418 euros. In addition to this, the Flemish Region granted him aid of 582 euros per month. About 1,000 euros, therefore, to survive. Not much, but with the help of those close to her, Maria managed to pull through.
A week with heavy consequences
Concretely, Maria began her training as a pharmacist in February 2021. Since her training was divided into quarters, the young woman had to redo the procedures with the ONEM every three months to benefit from her bonuses. And at the end of her training, Maria did an internship in a pharmacy. And the least we can say is that this internship was conclusive since she was offered a permanent contract.
“As I had continued my internship during the Easter holidays, I had, on April 23, a week before the end of the last term, finished my training,” says Maria. A precision that is important. Because suddenly, Maria warned the ONEM that she wanted to stop her time credit a week earlier than planned (because she had worked the week of Easter, therefore). And so as not to stay idle, Maria went back to work for a week at the rest home, where her (ex) colleagues were understaffed.
Maria thought she was within her rights…but she wasn’t. Indeed, the consequences of this premature termination were serious. “ONEM told me that I had to reimburse my payments for the last two months. I had no pay in April and I had to reimburse 1,288 euros to ONEM (its bonuses for the months of February and March)”. And as if that weren’t enough, she also had to reimburse the money to the Flemish region. As a result, for having asked to stop her time credit a week earlier than planned and having worked a week, Maria had to reimburse… 3,000 euros.
Canceled holidays
Maria obviously had to cancel her vacation. “I should have informed myself better,” she regrets. The minimum duration of a time credit is three months. And since she quit a week earlier than expected, the term was not considered complete. “I don’t understand, I’m being punished because I wanted to do well by helping out for a week in the nursing home. This week of help therefore costs me 3,000 euros”.
The ONEM did not wish to react to this file, for reasons of confidentiality. “If the minimum duration of a time credit is not provided, the premiums must be reimbursed”, it is explained.
Maria plans to appeal to the labor court.