New employment incentives

To mitigate the huge impact of the economic crisis on employment, the government has just introduced various financial incentives to encourage employers recruit young people.

Hiring a young person under the age of 26

Employers who hire a young person under the age of 26, between August 1st, 2020 and January 31, 2021, will receive up to € 4,000 over one year (i.e., € 1,000 per quarter). This financial assistance is subject to the following conditions:

- the young person must be hired on a permanent contract or on a fixed-term contract of at least 3 months.

- the remuneration provided for in the contract must not exceed twice the gross hourly amount of the minimum wage, i.e. € 20.30.

- the employee was not part of the company’s workforce, as of August 1st, 2020, under a contract not eligible for Government financial assistance.

- the employer must be up to date with his reporting and payment obligations with the tax authorities and the URSSAF1 or follows a plan to clear his debts.

Recruiting a young person on work-study contact

Employers who hire, between July 1st, 2020 and February 28, 2021,

- a person under the age of 30 on a professional training contract leading to a qualification or a degree ranging from the CAP2 to the Master’s degree (baccalaureate, BTS3, Bachelor Degree...) or leading to a professional qualification certificate in one field or several fields or leading to the acquisition of specific skills defined by the employer and the skills’ operator, in agreement with the employee,

- an employee on an apprenticeship contract to earn a title or a qualification ranging from CAP to Master’s degree, may ask for a financial assistance.

The aid is paid only in the first year of the contract. Its maximum amount is:

- €5,000 when a young person under the age of 18 is hired.

- €8,000 when an adult is hired.

And what about the one-time apprenticeship grant?

In principle, employers who hire an apprentice are entitled to a one-time apprenticeship grant of € 4,125 for the first year of a contract designed to obtain a qualification equivalent to the baccalaureate. The new aid replaces this one-time aid for the first year of the apprenticeship contract.

How to ask for these aids?

The aid for the hiring of a young person under the age of 26 must be requested by the employer at the Service and Payment Agency (via its teleservice), as of October 1st, 2020 and within four months after the worker took his position. And to obtain the aid related to the work-study contracts, the employer must pass on the contract (vocational and/or apprenticeship contracts) to his skills’ operator within 5 working days once the person began working.