Following the Government's announcement of various employment support measures, on 23 September 2024 the measures Estágios INICIAR (Starter Internships) and +Emprego (More Jobs) and the programme +Talento (More Talent) were published. The main features of the measures announced by the Government are:
Target group: unemployed people registered with the IEFP (Institute for Employment and Professional Training) and employees registered with the IEFP whose employment contract has been suspended due to unpaid wages.
Host company: tax and social security situation in order, no wage arrears and no convictions for serious or very serious employment offences in the last 2 years.
Traineeship contract: 6 months non-renewable, or 12 months in the case of a person with a disability and incapacity.
Trainee supervisor: every trainee must have a supervisor, and no supervisor may supervise more than five trainees.
Rights of the trainee: training allowance (up to 1.8 times the SSI – Social Support Index), meals and insurance against accidents at work. In the case of people with disabilities, they will be entitled to transportation.
Financial support: the IEFP subsidises the trainee allowance (up to 80% in some cases), the meal or meal allowance (up to the amount of the allowance generally paid to civil servants), the transport and the work accident insurance.
Taxes and social security: trainees are treated as employees and their contributions are not covered by the IEFP.
Payment of the support: in two or, in the case of disabled persons, three instalments, the last of which is paid at the time of the 'closing of accounts'.
Applications: each year there will be a period for submitting applications, to be published by the IEFP, and one of the criteria for analysing these will be the employability rate.
Repayment of support: failure by the host company to meet its obligations will result in the immediate termination of the financial support and repayment, either in full or proportionally.
Entry into force: 24 September 2024, but application of the measure will depend on regulations to be issued by the IEFP within 30 working days.
Target group: unemployed people registered with the IEFP and employees registered with the IEFP whose employment contract has been suspended due to unpaid wages.
Host company: tax and social security situation in order, no wage arrears and no convictions for serious or very serious employment offences in the last 2 years.
Contract of employment: indefinite duration and full time.
Conditions for financial support: registration of the job offer before the person is hired; no collective redundancies or individual redundancies in the last 3 months; net job creation; maintenance of employment level and contract for 24 months; vocational training.
Financial support: 12 times the SSI, which can be increased by 35% in various situations (e.g. hiring a young person up to the age of 35). The increases can be added up to 4 times.
Payment of support: in three instalments, the last in the 25th month of the last supported employment contract.
Applications: the IEFP will set and publish application deadlines.
Repayment of support: various situations are foreseen in which the support can be terminated and the obligation to repay the financial support proportionally (e.g. revocation agreement) or in full (e.g. collective redundancy or unlawful dismissal).
Combination of support: cannot be combined with other employment support.
Entry into force: 24 September 2024, but application of the measure will depend on regulations to be issued by the IEFP within 30 working days.
The "+Talento" programme consists of two measures: “Estágios +Talento” (Traineeships +Talent) and “Emprego +Talento” (Employment +Talent).
Host company: tax and social security situation in order, no wage arrears and no convictions for serious or very serious employment offences in the last 2 years.
Entry into force: 24 September 2024, but application of the measure will depend on regulations to be issued by the IEFP within 30 working days.
Measure "Estágios +Talento"
Target group: unemployed persons aged 35 or under with a qualification equal to or higher than level 6 of the NQF (National Qualifications Framework); employees registered with the IEFP whose employment contract is suspended due to unpaid wages are considered as unemployed.
Traineeship contract: 6 months non-renewable, or 12 months in the case of a person with a disability and incapacity.
Supervision: every trainee must have a supervisor, and a supervisor cannot supervise more than 5 trainees.
Rights of the trainee: training allowance (up to 2.6 times the SSI), meals and insurance against accidents at work. In the case of people with disabilities, they will be entitled to transportation.
Financial support: the IEFP subsidises the trainee allowance (up to 80% in some cases), the meal or meal allowance (up to the amount of the allowance generally paid to civil servants), the transport and the work accident insurance.
Taxes and social security: trainees are treated as employees and their contributions are not covered by the IEFP.
Payment of the support: in two or, in the case of disabled persons, three instalments, the last of which is paid at the time of the 'closing of accounts'.
Applications: each year there will be a period for submitting applications, to be published by the IEFP, and one of the criteria for analysing these will be the employability rate.
Repayment of support: failure by the host company to meet its obligations will result in the immediate termination of the financial support and repayment, either in full or proportionally.
Measure "Emprego +Talento"
Target group: unemployed persons aged 35 or under with a qualification equal to or higher than level 6 of the NQF and whose salary is equal to or higher than the entry level of a graduate in the general career of senior technician in the civil service; employees registered with the IEFP whose employment contract is suspended due to wage arrears are considered as unemployed.
Contract of employment: indefinite duration and full time.
Conditions for financial support: registration of the job offer before the person is hired; no collective redundancies or individual redundancies in the last 3 months; net job creation; maintenance of employment level and contract for 24 months; vocational training.
Financial support: 18 times the SSI, which can be increased by 35% in various situations (e.g. hiring a young person who is disabled with incapacity). The increases can be added up to 4 times.
Payment of support: in three instalments, the last in the 25th month of the last supported employment contract.
Applications: the IEFP will set and publish application deadlines.
Repayment of support: various situations are foreseen in which the support can be terminated and the obligation to repay the financial support proportionally (e.g. revocation agreement) or in full (e.g. collective redundancy or unlawful dismissal).
Combination of support: cannot be combined with other employment support.