In order to give jobseekers the opportunity to concretely demonstrate their skills and capabilities to employers, and to find a new job, the National Employment Agency (Agence pour le développement de l'emploi – ADEM) may offer them a professionalisation internship, subject to certain conditions.

This internship concerns:

• jobseekers over 30 years of age;
  
• workers with reduced work capacity;
  
• disabled workers.

The internships have a duration of 6 weeks.

Who is concerned

Jobseekers:

• aged 30 or over; or
  
• who are currently in an external redeployment programme; or
  
• who have disabled worker status.

Employers who wish to offer professionalisation internships must be in a position to offer a real job prospect to the jobseeker at the end of the training.

Prerequisites

The jobseeker must be registered with the ADEM for at least one month before being entitled to participate in such an internship.

How to proceed

Internship offer

Employers willing to host an intern must:

• contact ADEM's Employer Services; and
• declare their vacant position.

Duration of the internship

Internships have a duration of 6 weeks at the most.

People who are considered to be highly qualified, i.e. those who have successfully completed at least 3 years of academic education (bac +3), may have the duration of the internship increased to 9 weeks if the position meets their qualifications.

Procedure for the internship

An internship agreement is entered between the jobseeker, the employer and the ADEM.

The jobseeker is supervised, throughout the internship, by a mentor appointed by the employer.

The internship is an opportunity for the jobseeker to:

• make use of their professional experience; and
  
• demonstrate their skills and abilities to the employer.

During the internship, the jobseeker is entitled to 2 days of leave per month.

Internship allowance

A professionalisation internship at a company is an unpaid internship.

However, the intern is entitled to an internship allowance of EUR 41.67 per month at index 100, i.e. EUR 356.53 at the currently applicable index value, paid by ADEM. For this purpose, the employer must provide ADEM's Employer Services with a weekly attendance record of the intern.

The internship is subject to insurance against occupational accidents. Related contributions are paid by the Employment Fund (Fonds pour l'emploi).

End of internship

The employer informs the ADEM of the possibilities for integrating the jobseeker into the business.

Hiring the jobseeker

If hired under a permanent employment contract (contrat à durée indéterminée – CDI) or under a fixed-term contract (contrat à durée déterminée – CDD), the internship period must be deducted from any trial period that is stipulated in the contract.

If the intern is hired at the end of the internship by means of:

• a full-time permanent contract, the employer can be reimbursed, upon request to ADEM, 50 % of the social minimum wage for unskilled workers during 12 months after hiring;
• In the case of a part-time permanent contract, the reimbursement is calculated in proportion to the work schedule.

The application for reimbursement may be made at the earliest 12 months after the intern is hired. However, reimbursement will only take place if:

• the former intern is still under contract at the time of the claim; and
• the internship period has been deducted from the probation period provided for in the employment contract.

The intern can also, at the end of the internship, benefit from a 12-month employment reintegration contract. In this case, the duration of the professionalisation internship is taken into account in the calculation of the 12 months.

Jobseekers who are not hired

If the intern is not hired, the employer provides ADEM with a document that must indicate:

• the skills acquired by the jobseeker during the internship; and
• any shortcomings noted.

In that case, the jobseeker can contact his or her guidance counsellor at ADEM to determine further action.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact