On February 11, 2021, the Ministry of Labor issued the Decree 154 of 2021 by which is regulated the operation of the Vocational Learning Units at Companies (hereinafter "UVAE").

1.    What are the UVAE and what is their purpose?

-    The UVAE are a mechanism that a company can implement to train its employees, apprentices and/or trainees in skills related to a companies' activities or processes.

-    The UVAE include goods, areas, and services implemented by employers to carry out internal training processes.

-    The UVAE can issue certificates of all trainings provided.

2.    Training processes through the UVAE

Trainings provided through the UVAE are of an employment nature and must meet the following requirements:

-    They shall be free for employees or beneficiaries. All costs shall be paid by the employer.

-    Have both theoretical and practical modules.

-    Develop and certify job skills.

-    Follow the guidelines on relevance, timeliness, coverage, and quality to be issued by the Ministry of Labor by July 2021.
-    Have a maximum duration of 159 hours.

-    Be developed by qualified and duly certified trainers. For this purpose, a company may enter into an alliance with the SENA, Family Compensation Bureaus, or accredited International Training Institutions. The agreement through which the respective alliance is established must be registered before the Ministry of Labor.

3.    Design of training programs

-    The design of the training processes must indicate at least: (i) the purpose to be achieved; (ii) duration; (iii) profile of entry and egress; (iv) expected learning outcomes; (v) evaluation criteria; and (vi) follow-up plan.

4.    Purpose of training through an UVAE

-    Promote the development of skills in employees and other to improve their work performance.

-    Meet business and productive sector needs.

5.    Certification

-    The UVAE registered before the Ministry of Labor will certify skills acquired only by those employees, apprentices and trainees who have completed and successfully approved the respective training.

6.    Registration 

-    Companies wishing to provide training through a UVAE must register it before the Ministry of Labor in a web portal to be established for this purpose.

-    For the registration of the UVAE the following documents must be attached in the web portal: (i) request of the legal representative; (ii) copy of the certificate of good standing and due incorporation; (iii) a document which describes the learning environment; (iv) the design of the training processes; (v) certificates and qualifications of each trainer; (vi) covenant/agreement in case the training is developed through alliances. 

-    The UVAE will only be able to initiate the training and issue certifications of such training once it has been registered before the Ministry of Labor.

7.    Monitoring by the Ministry of Labor.

-    The Ministry of Labor may review the information uploaded to the web portal and may carry out technical inspections to each UVAE.