Traineeships: obligations of the employer

Verified 27 October 2023 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister), Ministry of Labor

An employer in the private, public or voluntary sector may host an intern. The conditions for using a trainee are subject to conditions (number of trainees authorized, duration of the traineeship, traineeship agreement to be defined, trainee rights). We present you the regulations in this area.

A training course allows the employer toto receive temporarily in his company a student intern.

Internships outside the educational curriculum, i.e. not enrolled in a school or university course, are prohibited.

Warning  

this scheme shall not apply to trainees in vocational training or to minors under 16 years of age in company observation period.

An employer in the private, public or voluntary sector may use an intern as part of a training course.

However, reception conditions must be respected.

Some conditions are allowed, others are forbidden.

Training course 

The course is part of a training curriculum whose teaching volume is 200 hours minimum per year of instruction. The internship does not enter into the count of this educational volume.

A minimum of 50 hours must be given in the presence of the student.

Since a trainee is not considered to be an employee, the employer does not have to carry out pre-employment declaration (PED).

However, the employer must mention in a specific part of the single staff register, in their order of arrival, the first and last names of the trainees hosted in the establishment.

Reminder

this scheme shall not apply to trainees in vocational training or to minors under 16 years of age in company observation period.

Permitted conditions of the training course

The internship is a temporary situation in the student's professional environment.

It allows the trainee to acquire professional skills related to their training.

The tasks assigned to the traineeship must be in accordance with the educational project of the educational institution.

Prohibited conditions of the training course

A student internship cannot be offered for the following missions:

  • Replacing an employee in the event of absence, suspension of employment contract or dismissal
  • Perform a regular task corresponding to a permanent work position (the trainee does not have a production obligation as an employee)
  • Dealing with a temporary increase in activity
  • Seasonal employment

Please note

It is prohibited to entrust the trainee with tasks dangerous to his health or safety.

Yes, the trainee must sign a traineeship agreement.

The agreement shall specify the competences to be acquired or developed during the traineeship.

The agreement shall also indicate the expected duration of the training period in the training curriculum.

The internship must take place within the framework of an agreement signed between the different parties:

  • Trainee (or, if he is a minor, his legal representative)
  • Host organization (company, public administration, local government, health institution, association or any other organization)
  • Educational or training establishment
  • Reference teacher in the educational establishment
  • Traineeship tutor in the host organization

The Convention shall the following particulars must be included :

  • Full name of the trainee's curriculum or training and hourly volume per year or semester of instruction
  • Competent to acquire or develop during the course of the training
  • Activities assigned to the trainee based on the skills to be acquired
  • Names of the referring teacher and tutor
  • Start and end dates of the traineeship and maximum weekly duration of the trainee's presence
  • Weekly period of actual presence of the trainee in the host organization
  • Conditions for authorization of absence
  • Hourly rate of pay (called gratification), calculated on the basis of the trainee's actual presence, and the conditions for payment thereof
  • Conditions under which the trainee is supervised and monitored
  • Possible benefits to the trainee (e.g. catering, accommodation, reimbursement of expenses)
  • Social protection scheme for trainees, in particular in the event of an accident at work, and, where appropriate, an obligation on trainees to provide proof of insurance covering their civil liability
  • Arrangements for suspending and terminating the traineeship agreement
  • Procedures for validating the course in case of interruption
  • Rules and regulations Host organization's clauses of the contract applicable to the trainee
  • Conditions for issuing the probationary certificate.

The employer must keep the list of internship agreements concluded up to date and enter the names and forenames of the interns accommodated in a specific part of the single staff register.

The labor inspector may request a copy of the traineeship agreements from the educational establishment or host organization.

If the internship takes place abroad, an information sheet setting out the host country's rules on the rights and duties of the trainee must be annexed to the traineeship agreement.

Please note

The traineeship agreement may be the subject of'addenda .

This depends on the number of employees in the company:

Company of less than 20 employees

Companies with less than 20 employees can accommodate 3 maximum trainees at the same time.

Each tutor follows a maximum of 3 trainees during the same period.

Company of at least 20 employees

In a host organization of at least 20 employees, the number of trainees whose traineeship agreement is in progress during the same period calendar week may not exceed 15% of the staff.

Example :

a company of 45 employees can accommodate at the same time a maximum of 7 trainees (45 x 15% = 6,75). The headcount shall be rounded up to the next whole number.

Each tutor follows a maximum of 3 trainees during the same period.

The duration of training carried out in a professional environment is 6 months maximum per host organization and per year of instruction.

This period shall be determined taking into account the actual presence of the trainee in the host organization as follows:

  • 7 hours of presence, consecutive or not, represents 1 day of presence
  • 22 days of attendance is 1 month

The maximum duration of six months of training is reached once the trainee has completed, during the year of teaching, 924 hours actual presence in the host organization.

Please note

if the trainee is hired, within 3 months of the end of the traineeship, the duration of the traineeship shall be deducted from the trial period and shall be taken into account for the calculation of entitlements relating to seniority.

The employer must comply with a waiting period between 2 placements in the same position: it is 1/3 of the duration of the previous placement.

Example :

After a 6-month internship, the employer must wait 2 months before welcoming a new intern to the same position.

This obligation does not apply if the trainee himself interrupts the traineeship.

Conditions for payment of the gratuity

The trainee is not paid because he is not considered an employee of the company.

However, the trainee may receive a minimum bonus under the following conditions:

Continuous training

One minimum bonus shall be paid to the trainee if the duration of the training is more than 2 consecutive months (equivalent to 44 days at 7 hours per day) in the same academic year.

Below these duration thresholds, the host organization is not required to pay a bonus.

If the hourly amount of the bonus is less than €4.05, the trainee shall be exempt from social security contributions.

Internship batch

One minimum bonus shall be paid from 309e internship time even if it is performed non-continuously.

Below these duration thresholds, the host organization is not required to pay a bonus.

If the hourly amount of the bonus is less than €4.05, the trainee shall be exempt from social security contributions.

Amount of the bonus

The minimum amount paid for each hour of actual presence shall be €4.05.

In some professional branches, this amount may be higher than the minimum legal amount.

The employer must verify this in the collective agreement.

A computation simulator is available:

Calculate the minimum bonus amount for a learner

Payment of the gratuity

The bonus is paid at the end of each month and not at the end of the internship.

She's on the 1er day of training.

Example :

For a full-time internship (7 hours a day) of 1er January to March 31, 2023:

  • January: 154 hours worked (22 days x 7 hours)
  • February: 140 hours worked (20 days x 7 hours)
  • March: 161 hours worked (23 days x 7 hours)

The amount of the total bonus due is 455 hours, or €1,842.75.

The bonus can be paid in 2 different ways:

  • Or based on the actual number of hours worked per month
  • Or by smoothing by month all the hours worked during the course
Tableau - Comparison of the 2 methods of payment

Period

Actual Hours

Smoothing

(=€1,842.75/3)

January

€623.70

€614.25

February

€567.00

€614.25

March

€652.05

€614.25

Total

€1,842.75

€1,842.75

Any temporary internship is subject to readjustment on the basis of the actual number of hours worked.

Any internship permanently interrupted is subject to a global regularization according to the number of hours worked.

Yes, at the end of the internship, the host organization must provide the intern with a certificate of internship.

It shall state the total duration of the traineeship and, if necessary, the total amount of the bonus paid.

You can access an internship attestation template.

Model of certificate of probationary period

When the internship lasts more than 2 months, the probationary agreement must provide for leave and leave to be taken.

If the internship lasts for a maximum of 2 months, leave is not mandatory.

Leave pay is optional.

Please note

In the event of maternity, paternity or adoption, the trainee shall be granted leave and leave for a period equivalent to that laid down for employees. During these absences, the maintenance of the gratification is not mandatory

Reminder

The trainee is not considered an employee of the company.

The trainee may benefit from certain rights and advantages of employees (access to social and cultural activities offered by the Social and Economic and Social Committee - ESC, for example).

Reimbursement of expenses should not be included in the monthly bonus: these allowances must be paid in addition.

Meal costs

The intern must have access to the company restaurant or restaurant titles under the same conditions as employees.

Such benefits in kind shall be exempt from social contributions for the employer provided that the employer's contribution is between 50% and 60% of the nominal value of the security and does not exceed €6.50 in 2023.

Transport costs

The employer must reimburse a share of the transport costs engaged by the trainee under the same conditions as reimbursement to employees.

In the event of non-compliance with the rules governing traineeships, the employer is liable to an administrative fine of up to €2,000 per trainee concerned.

The fine may be up to €4,000 in the case of a new infringement within one year of 1re fine.

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