This is the Monday roundup for the week starting 8 June 2026. Three material items landed in the past week: a significant circular tightening grant application timelines, a new international certification partnership, and updated AI training claim rates that are relevant for any employer planning a Q3 cohort.
What's new
- HRD Corp Employer Circular No. 2/2026 — effective 15 June 2026 (HRD Corp official portal). All levy-based grant schemes (HCC, SBL, SBL-Khas, SLB, FWT) are now subject to stricter timelines. Training may only begin 14 calendar days after grant approval. Once approved, training must commence within 90 days. No amendments to an approved grant are permitted — any change requires cancellation and a fresh application. HRD Corp will also no longer accept appeals for rejected or expired applications. Confirmed training dates must be provided at point of submission; tentative dates are rejected. The 24-working-hour approval SLA remains unchanged.
- ATD partnership: 13 certificate courses now 100% claimable (PR Newswire, 3 June 2026). The Association for Talent Development (ATD) formalised a partnership with HRD Corp on 3 June 2026. Thirteen ATD certificate programmes have been recognised under HRD Corp Claimable Courses (HCC) and are available through three authorised local providers: MIS Academy, Ishayu Academy, and Aurora Training and Consultancy. The courses cover instructional design, talent management, and performance improvement.
- AI training SBL-Khas claim rates confirmed for 2026 (HRD Corp-registered providers). Claimable rates for applied AI programmes stand at up to RM10,000 per day per trainer for group delivery, and up to RM1,750 per day per participant for individual enrolments. SMEs with fewer than 200 staff qualify for 100% SBL-Khas subsidy. Courses covering Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and prompt engineering are claimable provided the provider is HRD Corp-registered, the programme includes attendance tracking, an assessment mechanism, and issues a certificate.
Why it matters for your training claims
The Circular No. 2/2026 change is the most operationally disruptive item this week. Employers who previously submitted a grant application and scheduled training to start within a day or two of approval will no longer be able to do so. If your training is scheduled for any date from 15 June onwards, you need to ensure the grant was approved at least 14 calendar days before the first day of delivery — or reschedule. There is no grace period and no appeal route once a claim is rejected under these new rules.
The prohibition on grant amendments is the second pressure point. If a trainer becomes unavailable, or a venue changes after approval, the only compliant path is to cancel the existing grant and submit a new one — which restarts the 14-day clock. For organisations running rolling cohorts or multi-session programmes, this means locking all delivery logistics before submission, not after.
On the AI training side, the confirmed claim rates give HR and L&D heads a solid basis for budget planning. A two-day applied AI cohort for a group of 20 employees at a registered provider can be structured to recover a significant portion of cost through SBL-Khas, particularly for SMEs. The ATD partnership also opens a credentialled route for talent development practitioners who want internationally recognised certifications funded through their employer's HRD Corp levy.
What to do next
- Audit any training programmes scheduled to start between 15 June and 31 August 2026. Check whether each has an approved grant and whether the approval date is at least 14 calendar days before the training start date. Reschedule or resubmit as needed.
- If you are planning an AI training cohort for Q3, confirm that your chosen provider is on the HRD Corp register before booking dates. Verify the programme has an assessment and issues a certificate — both are required for SBL-Khas claimability.
- Review the full text of Employer Circular No. 2/2026 on the HRD Corp official portal (hrdcorp.gov.my) and share the timeline table with whoever manages your e-TRiS submissions, so all future applications are built around the new 14-day gap requirement from the outset.
Based in Penang — delivering nationwide. Contact [email protected] to scope your next HRDF-claimable cohort.
Want this kind of clarity for your team?
Brief us on your team and we'll come back with a claim-ready proposal.