3 Crucial HRD Corp Grant Changes Effective 15 June 2026 (Circular No. 2/2026)

If your organisation uses HRD Corp levy funds to upskill your workforce, whether through HCC, SBL, SLB, or FWT schemes, there are three significant policy changes you need to act on immediately.

HRD Corp has officially issued Employer’s Circular No. 2/2026, introducing strict new rules for how training grants are submitted, approved, and executed. These changes took effect on 15 June 2026. Non-compliance does not just mean administrative inconvenience. It means your training funds become unclaimable and your grant applications are automatically rejected.

As an approved HRD Corp Training Provider, Connext Consulting wants to make sure every employer we work with understands exactly what has changed and what to do about it before your next training submission.

What Is HRD Corp Circular No. 2/2026?

HRD Corp Circular No. 2/2026 is an official policy update published by the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) on 7 May 2026, effective 15 June 2026. It revises the terms and conditions governing levy-based training grant applications across four schemes: HRD Corp Claimable Courses (HCC), Skim Bantuan Latihan (SBL), Skim Latihan Bersama (SLB), and Future Workers Training (FWT).

The revision aims to strengthen governance, improve processing efficiency, and ensure all approved training is conducted strictly in accordance with HRD Corp’s approved terms and conditions.

Change 1: Training Can Only Start 14 Days After Grant Approval

The most operationally significant change in Circular No. 2/2026 is the mandatory 14 calendar-day waiting period between grant approval and training commencement.

Under the new rules:

  • Training may only begin 14 calendar days after the grant has been approved
  • Training must commence within 90 calendar days of approval, creating a 14-to-90-day compliance window
  • Starting training before the 14-day mark is non-compliant and the claim will be rejected

This means the previous practice of submitting a grant and starting training within days is no longer possible. Every training programme now requires careful advance planning.

Why Did HRD Corp Introduce the 14-Day Rule?

HRD Corp observed that several training sessions were being conducted without adhering to the approved terms and conditions. The 14-day buffer gives HRD Corp sufficient time to conduct verification on approved training, particularly for physically delivered and remote online training (ROT). E-learning, coaching and mentoring, and overseas programmes are excluded from verification.

What This Means for Public Training Programmes (Important Exception)

The 14-day rule applies to in-house training programmes. For public (external/open enrolment) training programmes, a transitional arrangement applies: from 15 June 2026 to 31 December 2026, public programmes can commence 3 calendar days after approval instead of 14. The 90-day window still applies. From 1 January 2027, public programmes revert to the same 14-day rule as in-house programmes. If your company attends public ISO training courses, plan accordingly for this transition deadline.

Practical Timeline Example
(Training start date: Monday, 27 July 2026)

  • Grant submitted: Friday, 3 July (before 5:00 PM) — SLA starts the same day
  • Query raised by HRD Corp: Monday, 6 July — 5-day response clock starts
  • Employer query response due: Friday, 10 July — miss this and the application expires
  • Grant approved: Monday, 13 July — 14-day wait begins
  • Earliest compliant training start: Monday, 27 July — 14 calendar days after approval

From submission to training: 24 days, well within the recommended buffer.

**Important note on calendar days: Every deadline that applies to you, including the 14-day wait, the 90-day window, and the 5-day query response, is counted in calendar days, which means weekends and public holidays are included. Only HRD Corp’s own 24-hour processing SLA is counted in working days, which pauses over weekends and public holidays.

**Important note on Friday submissions: An application submitted after 5:00 PM on a Friday will not begin processing until the following Monday. A Friday evening submission can cost several days before the processing clock even starts.

Change 2: No Modifications or Appeals After Approval

Under the previous system, employers could request modifications or raise appeals after a grant was approved. That flexibility is now completely removed.

From 15 June 2026:

  • No modifications are permitted to any approved grant
  • No appeals will be accepted by HRD Corp
  • If any change is required, the employer must cancel the existing grant and submit a completely new application
  • The only exception is a request to postpone the training date, which must be confirmed directly with HRD Corp

What Changes Trigger a Full Resubmission?

Any change to the core training details approved at the grant stage is non-compliant, including course dates, course codes, trainer profiles, and invoice details. The only post-approval amendment permitted is to trainee details (names, IC numbers, or positions), and this can only be done during the final claim submission stage, not after the claim has been submitted.

What This Means for Your HR Team

Your first submission must be treated as final. Every detail must be verified before submitting: course code, confirmed training dates, trainer credentials, invoice line items, and participant list. A single incorrect detail that previously could have been corrected with a modification request now requires a full cancellation and resubmission, which resets your entire approval timeline and pushes back your training start date.

Change 3: One Query Per Application, You Have 5 Calendar Days to Respond

Previously, HRD Corp could raise multiple queries on a single application, and employers had more flexibility in response timing. Under Circular No. 2/2026, this process is significantly tightened.

From 15 June 2026:

  • HRD Corp will raise a maximum of one query per application
  • Employers must respond within 5 calendar days of the query being raised, including weekends and public holidays
  • If the employer fails to respond within 5 calendar days, the application is automatically expired
  • An expired application requires a completely new submission, which resets the entire timeline

Why 5 Calendar Days Is Tighter Than It Sounds

A query raised on a Thursday gives you until Monday to respond, which is effectively three working days. If your HR team is not actively monitoring the HRD Corp portal, you can miss this window without realising it, losing the entire application with no recourse.

What to Do

Assign a specific team member to monitor the HRD Corp portal daily once a grant application has been submitted. Do not rely on email notifications alone. Ensure your application is as complete and accurate as possible before submission to reduce the likelihood of a query being raised.

What About Applications Submitted Before 15 June 2026?

Applications submitted before 15 June 2026 that are still pending will be processed under the previous terms and conditions. Existing approved grants also retain the terms in place at the time of their approval. However, any new application, resubmission, or action taken on or after 15 June 2026 is subject to the new rules including modification requests on grants that were approved before June 15.

Pre-Submission Checklist for Every Grant Application

Before submitting any grant application from 15 June 2026 onwards, confirm the following:

  • Training dates are confirmed (not tentative) and fall within the compliant 14-to-90-day window after expected approval
  • Application is being submitted well in advance of the training commencement date (HRD Corp recommends at least 14 days;
  • Connext recommends aiming for 3 to 4 weeks as a safe buffer to account for processing time, queries, and the mandatory waiting period)
  • Submission is made before 5:00 PM on a working day
  • Course details, trainer profile, participant list, quotation, and invoice are all verified and complete
  • A team member is assigned to monitor the portal for queries and respond within 5 calendar days

Plan Your HRD Corp Training Grant Submissions Early

These three changes share one common thread: plan earlier, submit accurately, and leave no room for last-minute adjustments. The organisations that adapt quickly will continue maximising their HRD Corp levy effectively. Those that don’t will face rejected applications, expired grants, and wasted training budgets that could have been avoided with better planning.

As an approved HRD Corp Training Provider, Connext Consulting delivers HRD Corp claimable ISO training programmes including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 37001, ISO/IEC 27001, FSSC 22000, and HACCP. Our team is familiar with the grant submission and compliance process and can guide you on training dates, documentation, and submission timing to keep your training budget fully claimable. View Our HRD Corp Claimable ISO Training Programmes.

Contact Connext for a Free Training Consultation.

FAQs

When can training start after an HRD Corp grant is approved?
For in-house programmes, training can only commence 14 calendar days after grant approval and must start within 90 calendar days of approval. Starting before day 14 is non-compliant and the claim will be rejected.

Is the 14-day rule the same for public training programmes?
No. Public programmes can commence 3 calendar days after approval from 15 June to 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, public programmes revert to the same 14-day rule. The 90-day window applies to both.

Can I modify an HRD Corp grant after it has been approved?
No. Grants cannot be modified and appeals are not accepted. To make any change, cancel the existing grant and submit a new application. Only trainee details can be amended, during final claim submission.

What happens if I miss the 5-day query response window?
Your application is automatically expired. You must submit a completely new application, which resets the full approval timeline.

Which training schemes are affected by Circular No. 2/2026?
HRD Corp Claimable Courses (HCC), Skim Bantuan Latihan (SBL), Skim Latihan Bersama (SLB), and Future Workers Training (FWT).

How many queries can HRD Corp raise per application?
One query only. You have 5 calendar days to respond, including weekends and public holidays. Miss the deadline and the application expires.

Can I start training while waiting for grant approval?
No. You must obtain grant approval and wait the full 14 calendar days before training begins. Starting earlier is non-compliant and the claim will be rejected.

Is there a deadline for submitting the claim after training?
Yes. Claims must be submitted within 6 months of the training completion date.