Students in work-study programs

The apprenticeship contract is a written employment contract of limited duration or unlimited duration between an employee and an employer. It allows the apprentice to follow a sandwich course in a company under the responsibility of an apprentice master and in an apprentice training center (CFA) for 6 months to 3 years.
It is open to candidates aged 16 to 30 (29 years old) at the time the contract takes effect. This contract can be extended to 31 years old under certain conditions. Companies signing the apprenticeship contract: all private sector companies, including associations, the non-industrial and commercial public sector (including the civil service).

The public that can benefit from an apprenticeship contract are :

• Young people aged 16 to 29;
• People with disabilities, without age limit.

The professionalization contract is an agreement signed between a company and its employee, which allows the latter to obtain, within the framework of a sandwich course, a professional qualification in the form of a diploma or a certificate. Initially intended for young people aged 16 to 25, the professionalisation contract has been opened up to jobseekers aged 26 and over (or those receiving minimum social benefits). It thus covers all age groups of the working population.

Advantages for the student: employee status, financial aid for housing, transportation, etc.

The professionalization contract combines training and the acquisition of unique know-how in a company. The student benefits from the status of an employee and, consequently, from a salary.

From a tax point of view, the student on a work-study contract is generally not subject to tax (up to the ceiling of the minimum wage), whether or not he or she is still attached to the parents' tax household.

The cost of the training is a financial advantage for the work-study student. Indeed, the company pays the tuition fees.

Once the work-study student has signed an employment contract, he or she is subject to the rights and duties dictated by the labor code and the collective bargaining agreement for his or her sector of activity. In fact, they receive the same benefits as the other employees of the company: paid vacations, 13th month, luncheon vouchers, social security coverage, company health insurance...

The public that can benefit from a professionalization contract are :

• Young people aged 16 to 25;
• Jobseekers over 26 years old;
• Beneficiaries of the "revenu de solidarité active" (RSA), the "allocation de solidarité spécifique" (ASS) or the "allocation aux adultes handicapés";
• Recipients of the single parent allowance (API) in the French overseas departments and communities of Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon;
• People who have benefited from a subsidized contract.
• All companies that are subject to the financing of continuing vocational training can take on alternating work-study students under a professionalization contract (the State, local authorities and their public administrative establishments cannot sign professionalization contracts).