Changes to co-financing of vocational training

Reform
New regulation

The Law of 29 August 2017 reformed the system under which the government co-finances employee vocational training. However, a number of matters remained unclear. As such, a Grand Ducal regulation of 5 March 2019 has provided useful clarification, particularly with regard to the content and practical details of co-financing requests.

Reform

The Law of 29 August 2017 introduced new rules on the co-financing of ongoing vocational training.(1) The new provisions aim to encourage employers to invest in developing their employees' skills while reducing the inequalities in the amount of aid provided to large and small companies.

Following the reform, private sector companies which are legally established and carry out most of their activities in Luxembourg can apply for training aid equal to 15% of their training investment for the applicable operating year. Investment in training is now capped according to a company's size.

As specified by the National Institute for the Development of Vocational Training, which oversees the processing of co-financing requests, the annual review and final report that companies had to file have been replaced with a co-financing request – a single form to be submitted no later than 31 May 2019 for the 2018 operating year.

New regulation

The Grand Ducal regulation of 5 March 2019, which took effect retroactively as of 1 January 2018, has provided helpful clarification regarding co-financing requests.

Purpose and content of co-financing requests
Under the regulation, a 'co-financing request' is specifically defined as:

[a] retroactive description of training actions by a company or group of companies over an operating period extending from 1st January to December 31st. It includes a financial component and an educational evaluation component, and describes the company's objectives in terms of continuing professional development, in relation to the company's production and management strategy. The co-financing request is the operational and budgetary translation of the resources allocated by the company during a financial year, to the development of the individual and collective competence of the employees of the company.

Supporting documents
The Grand Ducal regulation provides as follows:

• All eligible costs must be included in a co-financing application's financial statement, together with the relevant invoices and expense reports. All invoices must be accompanied by proof of payment.(2)
• Employees who benefit from special co-financing (ie, employees without a recognised diploma and with less than 10 years of service as of the start date of the training plan's implementation or employees over the age of 45 as of the start date of the training plan's implementation) must be identified on each supporting document.
• In the case of e-learning, a so-called 'logfile' signed by the participant and the training or company manager must be attached to the co-financing application as a supporting document. The logfile must include:
  • the title of the training programme;
  • the periods of access to the programme; and
  • the participants' names.
• For each type of training that a company can provide (eg, external training, structured internal training and job adaptation), a signed certificate of participation or a duly completed attendance list must be attached to the co-financing application and submitted with the standard form available online. For job adaptation training, the attendance list must specify all training topics covered per day.
• Co-financing applications must be signed and accompanied by an Excel spreadsheet provided on a USB or CD.

Eligible expenses cap
The travel expenses of participants and trainers to be considered in the calculation of a co-financing application cannot exceed the kilometric allowance multiplied by the number of kilometres travelled.(3)

Approval of co-financing
The Grand Ducal regulation determines the composition and functioning of the advisory commission in charge of opining on co-financing requests before their submission to the minister for approval.(4) In this context, information relating to the amount paid to the company is sent to the Tax Administration.

Reimbursement of employees' training in investment
The Grand Ducal regulation specifies that in the absence of an agreement between an employee and their employer regarding the terms for reimbursing an employee for training, such reimbursement can concern only external training expenses.

For further information on this topic please contact Guy Castegnaro or Ariane Claverie at Castegnaro by telephone (+352 26 86 82 1) or email (guy.castegnaro@castegnaro.lu or ariane.claverie@castegnaro.lu). The Castegnaro website can be accessed at www.castegnaro.lu.

Endnotes

(1) Law of 29 August 2017 amending the Labour Code, published in Memorial A 798 on 8 September 2017.

(2) Eligible costs are provided for in Article L 542-13 (2) of the Labour Code.

(3) The kilometric allowance is set in accordance with Article 14 of the Grand Ducal Regulation of 14 June 2015 on Travel and Subsistence Expenses and the Relocation Allowances of Civil Servants and State Employees (this regulation refers to the Government Regulation of 19 June 2015 Fixing the Kilometric Allowance for Cars Used for Service Journeys).

(4) Article L 542-11 (3) of the Labour Code.