In response to the new trends in the labour market, the rules on training grant financed from the Hungarian National Employment Fund are changing in 2020. Favorable amendments will make the process of applying for and using this grant more flexible and as a new option, grant may also be applied for job keeping purposes.
The new basis of the concept of the training grant is laid down in the new Vocational Training Act and in the governmental decree implementing the Vocational Act. Training grant is a non-refundable grant that can be used for external and internal training within a company. The grant may be up to 50% of the eligible costs (e.g. staff costs of trainers and trainees, administrative costs, travel expenses and accommodation), which may in some cases be increased to 70%. The maximum grant amount is EUR 4,000 per person participating in the training and EUR 2 million per beneficiary and training program.
The major change between the former and the new regulations is that the company may choose between the job creation or job keeping goals. In case of job keeping, it is important to ensure that workers get training on new technologies in their respective professional fields and that the number of employees does not fall below the average statistical number of employees before the grant application. The employer is required to maintain the number of employees (including job creation and keeping) for 18 months after the completion of the training.
Further guidance on the training grant will be available on the website of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology shortly.
By Adrienn Megyesi, Attorney at law, KCG Partners Law Firm
