Financial support for staff training

What is vocational counselling?

District labour offices may finance costs of training your staff. The financial resources come from the Labour Fund in the form of the National Training Fund (KFS). It may also cover the cost of your own training.

The financial support embraces the following activities:

• determining the employer’s needs concerned with training  in relation to applying for financial support from the KFS;
• courses and postgraduate studies taken up on the employer’s initiative or with his/her consent;
• examinations that enable to obtain documents confirming occupational skills, competencies or qualifications;
• medical and psychological examinations required to undertake particular training or a job after completion ofe training;
• casualty insurance related to the training.   

How to benefit from this kind of support?

If you are interested in obtaining funds for staff training, you should submit an application form to the district labour office competent for the registered seat or place of running a business. The application should include:

• the company data: name and address of the seat and place of conducting business activities, NIP, REGON, PKD,  number of employees, contact person data, telephone number and email address;
• selection of activities from those listed above, a number of employees grouped according to age (15-24, 25-34, 35-44, above 45) assigned for training, dates of implementation of those activities;
• total cost of the training plan, requested sum from the KFS and your own financial contribution;
• substantiation of the employer’s need  for staff training that takes into account present and future needs.

Why is it worth applying for?

The competent labour office may finance costs of staff training in the amount of:

• 80% of documented costs, however, not more than 300% of the average monthly remuneration (see the current rates) per participant yearly,
  and in the case of a micro-enterprise:
• 100% of documented costs, however, not more than 300% of the average monthly remuneration per participant yearly.

Useful information 

District governor considers the aplications according to the sequence in which they were taken in within 7 days from the date of submission.

If the labour office accepts your application, a contract is included between you and the office for financing activities that embrace training activities for your employees and you. The contract includes:

• names of the parties and date of conclusion;
• amount of financial support granted form the KFS;
• the employer’s bank account;
• date of payment;
• way and deadline for submitting documents to confirm that funds were spent in accordance with the contract;
• notice periods;
• terms of returning funds in the case of an employee’s failure to complete the training;
• terms of returning not exploited funds or funds that were not spent in accordance with the contract;
• way of supervising fulfilment of the contract and measures to be taken in case of detecting any irregularities;
• instruction that a notice of termination or any changes to the contract should be submitted in writing.

The employer should conclude an agreement with an employee whose costs of training will be financed. The agreement should include the parties’ rights and obligations.

An employee who fails to complete the training financed from the KFS due to termination of his/her work contract by him/her or through his/her fault (the so-called ‘disciplinary dismissal’) is obliged to return the training costs to the employer under the terms indicated in the above-mentioned contract, and then the employer returns them to the labour office.

Legal basis
Act of 20 April 2004 on employment promotion and labour market institutions (Articles 69a)

Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 14 May 2014 on granting financial support from the National Training Fund (KFS)

Development: Editorial team of Zielona Linia