Since 1^er January 2023, companies who recruit alternates (apprentices and young people under a professionalization contract) benefit from a hiring aid of up to €6,000.

All employers of apprentices and employees under contract for the professionalization of the private sector and the public industrial and commercial sector are eligible. It is granted without conditions to companies with less than 250 employees, additional conditions for companies with more than 250 employees.

A decree of 29 December 2023 maintains this aid for 2024. However, a decree of 24 April 2024 states that the aid does not apply to professionalization contracts concluded after 30 april 2024.

This aid may be combined with specific aids for apprentices with disabilities.

Conditions for exceptional hiring assistance

To hire an alternate

The requirements for applying for assistance in hiring an alternate are as follows:

• it must be an apprenticeship contract
• it must be concluded between 1^er January 2023 and December 31, 2024;
• the alternant must prepare a diploma or a professional title equivalent to no more than level 7 of the national register of professional qualifications (Bac +5).

To hire an employee under a professional contract

The requirements for applying for hiring assistance under a professionalization contract are as follows:

• it must be a contract for professionalization;
• it must be concluded between 1^er January 2023 and April 30, 2024;
• the employee concerned by the contract must be under 30 years of age;
• certificates of professional qualification (CQP) and professionalization contracts involving actions to validate experience acquired in the context of the ‘Reverse EEV’ experiment are also eligible.

Companies with 250 or more employees

Such companies may qualify for aid if they also meet one of the following two conditions:

• Achieve at least 5% of contracts promoting professional integration (apprenticeship contract, professional contract, etc.) in the total annual number of employees by 31 December of the year following that in which the contract was concluded. This 5 % is equal to the ratio between the number of employees covered by employability contracts and the total annual number of employees of the company.
• Achieve at least 3 % of alternates (apprenticeship or professionalization contracts) and have experienced a 10 % increase in alternates in the year following the year of conclusion of the contract, compared to the annual number of employees in these categories (apprenticeship contracts and professionalization contracts) in the year of conclusion of the contract.

If these objectives are not met, the money collected will have to be repaid.

Payment of the aid

No special steps are required to qualify for the aid, the company simply has to declare the hiring of an apprentice.

The aid is paid automatically by the Service and Payment Agency (ASP) every month during the first year of the apprenticeship or professionalization contract, before the salary is paid. The company receives a notice of payment that can be viewed on the SYLAé platform.