Purpose
The Employment Initiation Contract (Contrat d'initiation à l'emploi – CIE) aims to provide young jobseekers with the opportunity to gain practical experience in the workplace during working hours, thereby enhancing their chances of integrating into professional life successfully.
Private sector employers hiring a jobseeker under 30 years of age through a fixed-term Employment Initiation Contract may receive a partial reimbursement of salary costs and a full reimbursement of the employer's share of social contributions.
ADEM can offer employers the option to conclude an Employment Initiation Contract, provided that the company can offer the jobseeker a realistic employment perspective following the contract.
Beneficiaries
Private sector employers wishing to provide practical work experience to a young jobseeker in their company can enter into an Employment Initiation Contract with a young jobseeker and benefit from financial assistance.
The jobseeker must be:
- under 30 years old
- unemployed
- registered as a jobseeker with ADEM for at least three months (or waiting for an apprenticeship).
The employer must be able to offer the young jobseeker a realistic employment perspective following the Employment Initiation Contract.
Duration
The Employment Initiation Contract is concluded for a duration of 12 months. The contract can be extended for a maximum of six months. The extension must be requested and justified by the employer at least one month before the contract ends. Part-time work is not possible within the framework of an Employment Initiation Contract.
Remuneration of the jobseeker
The jobseeker hired under an Employment Initiation Contract receives remuneration as follows:
- 80% of the social minimum wage (unskilled worker) for jobseekers under 18 years old
- 100% of the social minimum wage (unskilled worker) for jobseekers without a high school diploma or individuals holding a vocational qualification certificate or a technical or general secondary diploma
- 130% of the social minimum wage (unskilled worker) for jobseekers with an advanced technician’s certificate or a university degree (Bachelor or Master), subject to the recognition of diplomas obtained outside the Benelux area
The employer may optionally pay a performance bonus to the jobseeker hired under an Employment Initiation Contract.
Application and Implementation
Employers wishing to conclude an Employment Initiation Contract with a jobseeker must declare the vacant position to ADEM and submit a plan for supervising the jobseeker during the contract period to ADEM’s Employer Service.
Tutor
The employer appoints a tutor who supports and supervises the jobseeker throughout the entire contract period. The tutor must inform ADEM, in coordination with the jobseeker, of the professional skills and deficiencies identified in the company, as well as the learning progress (after 6 months of the contract and 8 weeks before the contract's end). The employer must establish a learning plan in collaboration with the jobseeker and the tutor within one month of the start of the Employment Initiation Contract.
Leave
During the duration of the Employment Initiation Contract, the jobseeker is entitled to the leave applicable in the company, proportionally to the contract duration.
Working Hours
If the jobseeker works at night, on Sundays or public holidays, or performs overtime, they are subject to the applicable legal provisions like any other employee in the company.
Contract End
At the end of the Employment Initiation Contract, the employer must inform ADEM in writing about the jobseeker's employment opportunities within the company.
Non-Employment of the Jobseeker
If the company plans to hire someone for the same type of position within three months after the end of the Employment Initiation Contract, it is obliged to give priority to the person who was previously hired under the Employment Initiation Contract and is now unemployed again.
Financial Support for the Employer
The Employment Fund reimburses the employer monthly during the first 12 months of the Employment Initiation Contract:
- 50% of the basic salary of the jobseeker (65% in the case of employing a person of the underrepresented gender in the relevant industry/occupation)
- the complete employer's share of social contributions
In case of an extension of the Employment Initiation Contract, the Employment Fund reimburses the employer for the duration of the contract extension:
- 30% of the basic salary of the jobseeker
- the complete employer's share of social contributions.
Employment of the jobseeker
Upon request from the employer who hires the young jobseeker after completion of the Employment Initiation Contract, the Employment Fund reimburses the employer's share of social charges for the first 12 months from the date of hiring, provided that the indefinite contract does not include a probationary period.
Reimbursement is only due and paid 12 months after the engagement of the young jobseeker under an indefinite contract without a probationary period, provided that the employment contract is still in force at the time of the request.
The reimbursement cannot be cumulated with other employment measures.