Hiring interns can be an advantage for your company, but it's important to keep in mind the imperative framework in which these internships take place. This newsflash provides an update on your obligations.
What are the formalities for an internship?
Whatever the duration of the internship, it must be formalized by an internship agreement.
It governs the terms and conditions of the internship: duration and dates of the internship, organization of working hours, remuneration, reception and supervision, discipline, and termination of the internship.
Regardless of the duration of the internship, you must register the intern in a specific section of the single personnel register.
How much is the trainee paid?
All internships of 2 months or more entail the payment of an internship bonus based on the hours actually worked by the intern in your company.
For periods of less than 2 months, the payment of a gratuity remains optional.
The trainee's attendance time is calculated as follows:
- each period of at least 7 hrs of presence, whether consecutive or not, is considered equivalent to one day;
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and each period of at least 22 days' presence, whether consecutive or not, is considered equivalent to one month.
In other words, gratification is now compulsory for trainees who complete more than 308 hours of training.
This bonus is exempt from social charges up to 15% of the Social Security hourly ceiling, i.e. €3.75/hour in 2018.
If the amount of the gratuity exceeds the deductible threshold(€3.75/hr), the excess is subject to social security contributions. However, there are no supplementary pension or unemployment insurance contributions, since an intern is not an employee.
ATTENTION:
According to the administration, days of leave and permission to be absent in the event of pregnancy, paternity or adoption, as well as leave and permission to be absent provided for in the internship agreement, are included in the total duration of the internship.
In other words, they are treated as attendance time for the purposes of calculating the duration of the internship.
Maximum internship duration
A trainee may not spend more than 6 months on an internship with the same company in any one teaching year, regardless of whether he or she is doing one or more internships.
These 6 months represent a total of 924 hours or 132 days (7 hours * 22 days * 6 months).
PLEASE NOTE : The calculation method used to assess the maximum total duration of the internship is identical to the calculation method used to assess the obligation to pay a gratuity.
Quota & Restrictions on hiring trainees
Maximum number of trainees per tutor :
The same person can only be appointed as tutor in a host organization for 3 internship agreements in progress.
Maximum number of trainees per host organization :
There is a strict limit to the number of trainees a company can take on at any one time.
- For host organizations with 20 or more employees: 15% of headcount , rounded up to the nearest whole number.
- For host organizations with fewer than 20 employees: 3 trainees maximum.
PLEASE NOTE : This maximum quota must be calculated on the basis of the company's total workforce, i.e. all sites combined.
Waiting period between two internships You must respect a waiting period equal to one third of the duration of the previous internship, unless the latter was interrupted at the intern's initiative.
Trainee working conditions
Trainees benefit from the rules applicable to employees of the host company in terms of :
- maximum daily and weekly working hours ;
- daily rest, weekly rest and public holidays,
- company restaurant or meal vouchers ;
- payment of public transport season tickets.
All trainees benefit from these rights, including those with internships periods of less than 2 months.
Trainees are also entitled to the same amount of leave and time off as employees in the event of pregnancy, paternity or adoption.
However, the granting of paid leave remains optional for the company.
Trainees may not work overtime if this is not provided for in their training agreement.
What documents do I need to hand in at the end of the course?
At the end of each internship, the employer must provide each intern with a certificate stating the total duration of the internship and ,where applicable, the total amount of the bonus paid to the intern.
