Interprofessional funds

All companies have the possibility to train their employees – completely free of charge. Many companies have been carrying out free training with specialised teachers for several years, achieving a constant improvement in the quality, competence, and preparation of their staff. Every month, with the payment of compulsory contributions, companies pay a share – corresponding to 0.30% of the workers’ salary – to INPS as a ‘compulsory contribution for involuntary unemployment’. Since a few years, it has been possible for companies to choose to whom the ‘0.30%’ should be allocated, whether to INPS or to the Interprofessional Funds. If you make this second choice, without any additional charge and without any constraint, you can ask to receive – in exchange – training completely free of charge.

What are the advantages?

Joining an Interprofessional Fund brings numerous advantages, including:

  • increasing the competitiveness of the company
  • reducing company costs incurred for training
  • actively participating in training initiatives adapted to the company’s needs and size
  • meeting their own training needs
  • consolidate the company’s ability to find new market outlets, thanks to the increase in know-how resulting from the professional development of employees

WHAT TRAINING CAN BE FINANCED?

The training activities that can be financed, in most cases, concern continuous training. Continuing training activities are normally aimed at employed adults and have the objective of increasing the competitiveness of the enterprise and the professional and occupational enhancement of workers. The worker can participate in continuous training autonomously, or can be invited to participate by the company, which provides training activities to adapt or increase the professionalism and skills of its employees, in close connection with the technological and organisational innovation of the production process.

Training actions, in any case, can be of a corporate nature:

  • corporate: this is commonly the case of actions promoted by enterprises to accompany transformation and restructuring processes
  • multi-company: small and medium-sized enterprises can jointly present training plans for their employees to achieve the same objective, with reference to the same themes or topics, or to common methodologies and tools
  • individual: these are experimental interventions, aimed at relaunching and developing the skills possessed by employees, based on projects drawn up by individual workers, who may use the technical assistance of vocational guidance and training centres.

WHICH CATEGORIES OF WORKERS CAN BE TRAINED?

All categories of workers subject to the payment of the 0.30% contribution, according to INPS Circular no. 140 of 14/12/2012, can be trained.

Eligible worker categories:

  • private sector employees
  • executives
  • executives
  • clerks
  • workers
  • apprentices
  • members of cooperatives
  • agricultural workers
  • workers of municipalised companies and former state-owned companies
  • artistic, theatrical, and cinematographic personnel with a subordinate employment relationship.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF FINANCING FOR TRAINING?

The ways in which interprofessional funds finance free training are:

  1. Revolving fund (calls for tenders): these are calls for tenders to which one participates by drawing up a training project for an individual enterprise or a group. The project is submitted to an evaluation commission and if it obtains a sufficient score, it is approved and financed. The chances of obtaining funding are good, but not excellent. Many of the funds, if funding is obtained from the revolving fund, automatically take resources from the company training account.
  2. Company Training Account: This is a targeted provisioning method for the company. It makes payments directly available to companies. To be able to use the resources of the training account, the company must draw up a training project and submit it to the fund. The chances of obtaining funding are excellent, but it does not eliminate the task of drawing up a training project.
  3. Group or Network Training Account: this is the most streamlined method for individual enterprises. Each of them joins the aggregated account and gives a mandate to an “Implementing Body” or “Lead Partner” to take care of project development and paperwork. Excellent funding possibilities, no bureaucracy for the company, quick start-up of training courses.
  4. Vouchers: these are not very common ways in which the company sends a single worker to attend a course (generally contained in catalogues accredited by the fund). The company (with the help of an Implementing Agency) draws up a specific request, which must be previously accepted by the fund.

WHICH TRAINING METHODS ARE ALLOWED?

Classroom training, online training, tutoring, individual and group coaching are allowed.

Some funds set limits on the total number of hours that can be completed online or, more generally, through distance learning (FAD). The IT platforms through which distance learning is delivered must comply with the principles of compliance with the provisions of the State-Regions Agreement of 21 December 2011.