CAE - Employment support contract (Contrat d'appui-emploi)

General information

The employment support contract (contrat d’appui-emploi - CAE) enables both qualified or unqualified young job seekers under 30 years of age to receive practical and theoretical training if they have been registered with the Employment agency (Agence pour le développement de l’emploi – ADEM) for at least three months. The CAE aims to increase the job seekers' skills and facilitate their (re-)integration into the labour market.

The CAE is only for bodies (promoters) which do not have the legal status of a commercial company, i.e. the State, municipalities, public interest establishments, or not-for-profit institutions, associations or groupings of people.

Duration and practical arrangements

The CAE is entered into by the young person and the ADEM for a 12-month period (with a maximum extension of 6 months on recommendation of the ADEM). It is based on a 40 hour working week.

The sponsor appoints a mentor to assist and supervise the young job seeker for the duration of the contract. The sponsor and mentor must draw up a training plan with the young person within one month.

The ADEM and the sponsor perform evaluations of the beneficiary during the period of the contract.

At the end of the contract, the sponsor draws up a certificate attesting the end of the measure, the components of which are set out by the ADEM.

Compensation of the young person

Compensations are calculated on the basis of the social minimum wage (salaire social minimum - SSM) for unskilled workers, and are subject to the social security and tax costs applied to salaries.

• 80% of the social minimum wage for unskilled workers under the age of 18,
• 100% of the social minimum wage for unskilled workers for young people without a degree and young people holding a Vocational Aptitude Diploma, a Technician's Diploma or a Classical or General Secondary School Leaving Diploma,
• 130% of the social minimum wage for unskilled workers for young holders of a Higher Technician Certificate, a Bachelor's degree or a Master's degree.

If the young person's full unemployment benefit is higher than the compensation set for the CAE, the young person will receive a supplement equal to the difference until the end of his or her unemployment benefit entitlement.

Amount and length of subsidies

For the first twelve months, the Employment Fund (Fonds pour l’emploi) pays the following on a monthly basis to non-State sponsors:

• 75% of the salary compensation received by the young job seeker,
• 100% of the employer's social security costs.

If the contract is extended, the Employment Fund will reimburse 50% of the compensation received by the young job seeker on a monthly basis for the duration of the extension.

At the request of a sponsor who has hired the young person in question (on a permanent contract with no trial period), the Employment Fund will reimburse the employer's social security costs for twelve months from the date of hiring.

More information about the CAE