Those participating in a retraining or further training scheme run by the employment office must acquaint themselves with changed conditions for financial support. The administrative council of the Federal Labour Office has issued an administrative order, which specifies a number of provisions of the laws on assistance for families and pregnant women, the law on changes to the entitlement conditions for support under the Labour Promotion Act and other laws.
The order changes the rules governing the duration, content and implementation of retraining and further training measures. The main aim of the new regulations is to improve quality. "Fly-by-night" training establishments are to be excluded from the outset. The Federal Labour Office intends to concentrate its financial support efforts in those areas offering the best chances of subsequent reintegration in the labour market. Applicants for funding from the employment office must register for an advisory interview at least four weeks in advance.
The most important changes are as follows:
- The duration of training measures which do not lead to a generally recognised qualification is limited to one year.
- The duration of retraining measures - relative to the length of initial training - is reduced further. Retraining (Umschulung), for example, may now in principle only last half as long as the corresponding initial training schemes.
- Training schemes on a full-day basis must in future normally consist of at least 35 hours per week.
- The employment office will only assume the full costs of training courses where they offer a reasonable chance of labour market integration.
- For unskilled employees, required training costs will only be met to a maximum of DM 3 per participant and hour.
- For schemes aimed at occupational promotion (e.g. further training to obtain a master craftsman certificate), training costs will only be reimbursed to a maximum of DM 2 per participant and hour.
- The allowance for the costs of child-care is limited to DM 60 per month; to DM 120 where the training scheme is "necessary", i.e. in cases of actual or threatened unemployment.
Including maintenance allowance, the Federal Labour Office plans to provide DM 14.76 billion for further training, retraining and job familiarisation in the current year. An average of more than 670,000 employees will benefit from such funding.
EU – European Commission DG EMPL/A/2 J
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