All individuals meeting pre-determined criteria (i.e. individuals who obtained a qualification within no longer than 3 years or employed persons who have completed a respective labour market training arranged by Unemployed Insurance Funds or for whom an employer received the training grant) can apply for a financial grant for up to EUR 500 within 3 years (the minimum amount of funding is not set). The fund is allocated under the budget of Estonian Unemployment Insurance Funds. The fund can be used for obtaining formal qualifications (ISCED 2-5). The grant is transferred (the costs are reimbursed) to an individual or employer, who covered training costs, only when the participant receives a positive exam evaluation. There is no opportunity to apply for a grant more than once.
Adults can deduct costs related to continuing vocational training for their current occupation or a future occupation from the base of their individual income tax. The state co-funding - in the form of foregone tax revenues - equals eligible costs multiplied by the tax rate of 20 %. The eligible group of applicants includes persons enrolled in formal education and their family members in descending line enrolled in formal education and younger than 26 years old. Eligible costs include tuition fees and costs for teaching material. Furthermore, tuition fees of relatives in descending line (fees for kindergarten, tuition fees for the higher education of children) can be deducted. Individuals with no taxable income (an annual gross salary below EUR 6 000) cannot profit from the tax deduction. The annual limit is EUR 1 200 per person (including housing loan interest and other deductions) but the deductions exceeding this limit can be transferred to a spouse. The tax incentive can be used once in each calendar year.
All companies can apply for a financial grant providing co-funding to the training of employees. The training grant for employers can be used for the following activities: 1) to recruit and train employees for the specified/prioritised professions; 2) to (re)train employees due to changing circumstances (e.g. restructuring of the company, adoption of new technologies, updated qualification requirements); and/or 3) to help employees develop Estonian language skills. An employer can design a training plan for each employee consisting of multiple training with a total duration of at least 80 academic hours and up to one year. In general, up to 50% of training costs are compensated but no more than EUR 1 250 per employee. For employees over 50 years old, with no vocational education and/or no sufficient Estonian language skills or significant health problems, up to 80% of costs is compensated (no more than EUR 2 000). If an employee was hired through the Unemployment Insurance Fund where s/he was previously registered as unemployed, up to 100% of training costs are compensated (no more than EUR 2 500). It is financed out of the unemployment insurance contributions (which are compulsory and shared between employees and employers in Estonia). This support measure is part of the larger Work and Study 2017-2020 programme, which supports training activities in priority sectors that were identified in sector-specific labour studies (OSKA reports) conducted by the Estonian Qualification Authority (Kutsekoda).
Persons permanently living in Finland, having a full-time employment relationship with the same employer for at least one year, or whose pension-insured entrepreneurship has lasted for at least one year may receive state-funded contributions to their costs for education and training. The maximum allowance period is 19 months if the applicant has a working history of at least 8 years. The amount of the allowance consists of a base amount and a wage-based amount. The monthly base contribution is approx. EUR 705 and the wage-based contribution amounts to 45% of the difference between the monthly wage and the base contribution. The eligible education and training activities include studies leading to a degree, but also vocational further or continued training organised by a Finnish educational institution under public supervision. The education and training take place during an unpaid study leave of at least two months.
Companies employing former unemployed to prepare for a vocational examination while working as an apprentice can apply for a subsidy to municipal employment authorities. The employer pays wages and receives reimbursement. The amount of subsidy from municipal employment authorities to companies is based on the length of unemployment and covers 30% (less than 1-year unemployment), 40% (at least 1 year of unemployment), or 50% (at least 2 years of unemployment) of the payroll costs for a period not exceeding 12 months. No preferential treatment is applied. There is no limitation to re-use the grant.
Employer funds training, the employee provides (partial) repayment eligible training costs in case of premature departure from the company. All employers are eligible for this scheme. No preferential treatment is applied.
Persons with at least five years of working history in Finland, independent of their current employment status can apply for this grant. The eligible education and training activities include all kinds of vocational examinations. If the tests of competence are passed after 1 August 2013, the amount of the scholarship will be EUR 390. If the qualification the person has got is his or her first qualification, the amount of the scholarship will be EUR 450. Scholarship for qualified employees is provided by the Education Fund, which is administered by the social partners of the Finnish Labour market.
If an individual taxpayer completes a higher education degree within the targeted time, a portion of the student loan will be compensated, either as a student loan compensation or as a student loan tax deduction, depending on when the education was started. The goal of the scheme is to encourage students to graduate within the target time. The student loan compensation is 40% of the qualifying debt exceeding EUR 2 500. The student loan tax deduction is 30% of the qualifying debt exceeding EUR 2 500.
Finnish students can apply for a study grant from Kela to cover their living costs. Finnish students can also take up a study loan in order to cover their living costs. The cost-sharing element is a government guarantee for these student loans, which also allows banks to use lower interest rates. Student financial aid is available for full-time post-comprehensive school studies lasting at least 8 weeks at an upper secondary school, folk high school, vocational school or institution of higher education. Student aid is also available for studies abroad. No preferential treatment is applied. The amount of study grant depends on age, housing circumstances, marital status and education/school. The interest and other terms connected to the study loan are agreed upon between the bank and the student. The recommended period for payback of the loan is twice the duration of studies. The maximum repayment period is 30 years.
The employer may deduct the training costs arising from training based on a specific training plan developed. It is a prerequisite for tax reduction that the employer has developed a training plan for employees. The amount of the training deduction is calculated by multiplying the average daily wage of the company's employees by the number of training days entitled to the training deduction, and dividing the income thus obtained by 2. The scheme can be re-used once in each calendar year.
Expenses related to educational activities for the maintenance of professional or vocational skills, such as course fees and study materials, are deductible in the personal income tax. Training provided by the employer is usually regarded as tax-free for the employee. Eligible costs reduce taxable income and thereby the tax due according to the applicable marginal tax rates (between 6 % and 31.25 %) for incomes above EUR 17 200. The tax incentive can be re-used once in each calendar year.
All employees, private and public, are entitled to up to 2 years of study leave over a period of 5 years. Study leave is unpaid unless agreed otherwise with the employer. Study leave may be interrupted under certain conditions. Employees on leave receive a grant (adult education allowance). In combination, paid leave is available. The study must either take the form of government-sponsored training in Finland or abroad or be a course of training organised by a trade union.
Persons belonging to the specific target groups of migrants, unemployed persons, pensioners and senior citizens, persons with special educational needs and persons with no post-compulsory education can apply for this scheme. In summer universities, the voucher subsidy is used to support persons who have dropped out of university. The eligible activities include nearly all kinds of education and training measures. The subsidies are given to the educational institutions in order to enable them to significantly lower or totally compensate tuition fees for students belonging to the specified target groups.
This scheme aims to increase the training capacity of the branch concerning temporary workers. Companies receive contributions to their training costs for the training of temporary workers with low or without qualifications in the construction, industry, and logistics sectors. The eligible education and training activities include work/study programmes with 140 to 450 hours of training. The co-funding share is 81% of training costs. Eligible groups include temporary workers without qualifications or with the first level of qualification. The enterprises have to fund 19% of the training costs. The rest is provided by the State and by FAF.TT. Eligible costs include tuition fees/costs for internal training personnel, plus other costs
All companies (with some exceptions) are obliged to participate in the financing of the expenses for the development of apprenticeships and initial technological and vocational education by paying the so-called training tax. In general they contribute 0.68% of the gross annual wages of the previous year. Self-employed do not contribute to the apprenticeship tax. The funding capital is used to give grants to training providers as well as to companies providing initial technological and vocational education and training. Expenses and payments made by companies for this purpose, through a collection institution (Organismes Collecteurs de la Taxe d'Apprentissage, OCTA), are deducted from the tax, and any remaining balance is paid to the Treasury. OCTAs are also responsible for transferring the money to beneficiary institutions. Funding is made via levy on companies, where companies are obliged to contribute to the fund, according to different tax rates of the gross annual wages of the previous year, depending on different considerations (size of the company, geographical location, percentage of apprentices in the workforce, etc). The 2018 reform has significantly changed the financial system of vocational training and apprenticeship. OCTA have disappeared. The collection of the single company contribution to vocational training and apprenticeship will be operated by URSSAF (Unions de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d'Allocations Familiales - Organisations for the payment of social security and family benefit contributions). As a transitional measure, for the year 2020, the collection is carried out by OPCO (Opérateurs de Compétences).
All employers have to contribute to training funds (managed by social partners) by paying a single annual contribution, which is later channeled to OPCOs (Opérateurs de Compétences, state-approved bodies responsible for supporting vocational training). The level of the contribution to the fund (levy on companies, calculated as a percentage of payroll) depends on the size of the company. From 2016 onwards, companies with less than 11 employees contribute 0.55% of their gross annual wages and companies with 11 or more employees contribute 1%. The collected funds are used to cover companies' and individuals' education and training costs through different grants established (e.g. individual learning account, professional training contract, professionalisation period or individual training leave). The management is in the hands of OPCOs. Currently, there are 11 OPCOs covering different sectors. At the time of data collection, the system was undergoing changes - it is planned that the contributions will be collected by URSSAF from 2022 onwards.
The employee can use the right to use the training leave and continue his or her remuneration for the duration of the training action. In order to benefit from a professional transition project, the employee must have at least twenty-four months' seniority, consecutive or not, as an employee, including twelve months in the company, whatever the nature of the successive employment contracts. Seniority is assessed on the date of departure for training. By way of derogation, special seniority conditions are provided for employees wishing to carry out their transition project at the end of their fixed-term contract (conditions similar to the former individual training leave), and for temporary employees or entertainment workers. The seniority condition is not required for people who are beneficiaries of the obligation to employ disabled workers (OETH). The scheme is managed by the CPIR (Commissions Paritaires Interprofessionnelles), which take charge of the administrative management of employees' professional transition projects and also their financing. These structures are more commonly known as Transitions Pro. The minimum duration is 30 training hours (3.75 working days) and the maximum 1 200 hours (1 year).
The individual learning account enables anyone, employees or job seekers, at one's own initiative, to undertake a training action. The account is credited with EUR 500 a year up to EUR 5 000 (EUR 800 - EUR 8 000 for low-qualified people). The CPF allows all economically active persons (i.e. in the labour force), from the moment they enter the labour market and up to the date on which they claim all their rights to a retirement scheme, to acquire rights to education and training that can be used throughout their working life. Since January 1, 2019, each employee (excluding civil servants) has a Personal Training Account (CPF) credited in euros instead of hours. The CPF is intended to fund qualifying training (mandatory), 'corresponding to the foreseeable needs of the economy in the short or medium term'. Sources of funding include individuals (by their contribution to vocational training - based on wages), companies (by their contribution to vocational training - based on gross income and the State (the state supports the implementation of the CPF). Companies of 10 employees or more may sign a CPF direct management agreement. Companies then do not have to make the CPF contribution of 0.2% to their OPCA, although this contribution has to be used to fund training requests of their employees. In that case, employees may not address their request to an OPCA.
Employers and employees can agree on a payback clause. The courts have defined several principles to be respected in the context of the implementation of the payback clause, particularly in relation to the fact that training expenditures incurred by the company should exceed legal obligations (imposed by law or collective agreement) to fund vocational training. A gradual reduction of the reimbursement depending on the commitment period may be provided, and the retention period should not be excessive, thus preventing the employee from enjoying his freedom to resign (according to the judges who have had to rule on whether or not such clauses are excessive, the period can vary from 6 months to 5 years depending on the duration and cost of the training). The duration may be variable, typically 2 to 5 years, and must be related to the duration of the training and expenditures incurred by the employer. The payback clause only applies in case of the resignation of the employee; it cannot be implemented if the employment contract has been terminated at the employer's initiative (even in cases of dismissal for serious misconduct). This payback clause applies to all employees, irrespectively of their position in the company or their seniority.
The PRO-A instrument aims at fostering career development and encouraging employees to remain in their jobs by offering an individual learning path, based on the alternate between formal learning and work. PRO-A replaces the former "période de professionnalisation ». The Pro-A scheme is intended for employees on permanent employment contracts (CDI); employees with a single integration contract (CUI) of unlimited duration; employees, sportsmen, and women or professional trainers, with a fixed-term employment contract (CDD). PRO-A is a work-based learning scheme for adults having at least a Bachelor's Degree. OPCOs are in charge of financing the PRO-A scheme. Government bodies include France Compétences and OPCOs. The type of education supported includes any formal learning leading to a formal qualification and provided by adult learning centers or by the company in case she has an adult learning department. Eligible costs include direct costs (tuition fees, daily allowance, travel/accommodation costs), that are supported by the OPCO. Each of the 11 OPCOs follow the priorities of the sectoral agreement, and financing formulas vary across OPCOs. The maximum amount of funding is EUR 3 000.
To facilitate students' access to loans, a system of bank loans guaranteed by the government was introduced for all students of higher education up to 28 years to finance their studies. The guarantee mechanism is based on a guarantee fund. This fund supports, under conditions defined by convention, part of the risk taken by banks.The loan is granted only by the banks that are partners in the operation. The loan must be repaid with interest, but repayment can be deferred until the end of the studies. The State guarantees the loan, within the limit of a special budget voted on each year. If and when this budget is exhausted before the end of the year, the partner banks stop granting loans or require guarantees.