Employment subsidy for people aged 55 or over
Employers can apply for an employment subsidy for hiring a person aged 55 or over who has been unemployed for an extended period.
This service is available from 1 January 2025.
The employment subsidy is a benefit intended to promote the employment of unemployed jobseekers aged 55 or over that an employment authority can grant to an employer to cover pay costs. The purpose of the subsidy is to promote the employment of people aged 55 or over by improving their professional skills or entrepreneurial skills. The subsidy is granted and paid to the employer, but its granting is always based on the unemployed jobseeker’s service need.
The employment subsidy requires that the unemployed jobseeker hired for the employment relationship has reached the age of 55 and has been unemployed for at least 24 months in the 28 months immediately preceding the granting of the subsidy.
An employment subsidy may be granted for a full-time employment contract valid until further notice or a fixed-term full-time employment contract. The person hired with the subsidy must work for the recipient for at least 25 hours a week. If the regular working hours in the sector are less than 37.5 hours per week, the working hours must be at least 65 per cent of the regular working hours in the sector.
The unemployed jobseeker’s employment plan or pay subsidy card includes a mention of the subsidy.
The amount of employment subsidy is 70 per cent of the wage costs. The aid may be granted for a period of 10 months but not longer than the duration of the employment relationship. The maximum amount of employment subsidy paid is €1,770 per month. The pay covered with the subsidy is the pay subject to withholding tax that is paid to the employee on the basis of working hours or the performance of a contract.
Act like this
Apply for support well in advance before the start of employment. The employment relationship can only start after a decision on the subsidy has been made.
The granted subsidy is paid retrospectively so that the pay periods ended during one calendar month are included in the pay period. You can apply for a payment of the subsidy for several payment periods. However, the subsidy is paid by each payment period.
Submit a payment application to the employment authority within three months of the end of the calendar month during which the last payment period of the subsidy period ends. The subsidy period is the period defined in the decision as the duration of the subsidy.
Apply for support and its payment in the e-service
Apply for support and its payment using an electronic form in the e-service. Log into the e-service with your personal banking IDs, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.
Complete the application in the service and attach the required documents. The service’s internal instructions will help you fill in the application. In the e-service, you can submit an application, respond to requests for supplementary information concerning the application, supplement your application and receive decisions concerning your case.
In the e-service, the application can be submitted by an authorised person. Persons without separate authorisation can act on behalf of an organisation if they have an existing mandate for transactions or a right based on register data. The e-service checks the person’s right to use e-services when logging in.
The mandate theme used for the subsidy is called Applying for pay subsidy.
To whom and under what conditions
A company, municipality, joint municipal authority or well-being services county or other entity, such as an association, foundation, registered religious community or parish can apply for employment subsidies.
The subsidy cannot be granted for an employment relationship that started before the decision to grant the subsidy was made.
As an employer, you undertake to pay the employee who has been hired with the subsidy at least the salary specified in the collective agreement applicable to the employment relationship or the normal and reasonable salary if there is no applicable collective agreement. The subsidy shall not be granted if the pay of the person to be hired with the subsidy would be determined solely on the basis of their work performance.
The subsidy cannot be granted if:
* the subsidy distorts competition vis-à-vis others offering the same products or services
* the employer has essentially neglected their obligation to pay wages or obligations to pay taxes or statutory payments
* the organisation you represent is a company in trouble as referred to in the General Block Exemption Regulation of EU State Aid or if the European Commission has issued a negative Recovery Order against it, which declares the subsidy as illegal or unsuitable for the internal market.
It is possible to receive support regardless of dismissals or lay-offs when the number of employees in an employment relationship at the time of applying for the subsidy is at least equal to the number of employees at the time of dismissal or lay-off. The subsidy may not impair the position of your other employees.