And there’s a chance he might, too. Patrick Middleton talks to Brigitte Nègre, an expert on France’s training laws

“People complain sometimes — French and foreigners alike — about the heavy social charges we have in France, both for employers and workers, but it’s worth reflecting that we do get something back. Excellent medical services, for example. And then there’s the system of formation, of training, which is certainly one of the best in the world. I run a company known as an organisme de formation which organises training courses for working people. You want to study accounting, say, or web design. You talk to me and I find the right people to train you.”

“A good system for most people”
How does this work in practice? “Well, everyone legally working in France has a specific entitlement to training. This is funded by a levy paid by employers and directly by the non-salaried, people like independent workers and artisans. I’ll give you a couple of examples from among my own clients. Geraldine is a legal secretary. According to the current rules, she has the right to 800 euros worth of language lessons and 480 euros worth of computer training over the year. She might also qualify for additional courses judged useful for her work. She must take this training at approved institutions. The cabinet where she works has to pay something every year in respect of training for their staff but apart from that the exercise costs them nothing.

Then there’s Audrey who runs a small shop and pays herself a salary. As a commerçant in that situation she’s got the right to 1600 euros worth of training a year for which she contributes just 44 euros annually. C’est une bonne affaire, non? A rather different case is David. He’s an independent taxi-driver and so counts as an artisan. He wanted to learn automobile maintenance. As with all artisans, his request went to a special commission which decided how much he should receive. It’s a bit unpredictable. They could’ve said zero … in fact, he got 900 euros.

As you see, it’s a good system for most people. A couple of points: first, you can’t take money in lieu of the training and if you don’t apply in a particular year your benefit is lost; second, I’m glad to talk about this in the Reporter because a lot of people just don’t know about these possibilities and they miss out. Marc, though, knew what he was doing. He was an ambulance driver, got fed up with the job and decided to retrain as a chef. He had to go before a commission. They decided he was serious and he got a year’s congé de formation with a percentage of his former salary to keep him going. I was delighted to have helped him with that.”

“Training related to personal development”
Brigitte (pictured) speaks excellent English and is happy to deal with anglophone clients. “All they need to do is explain their training needs and I arrange the courses. There’s nothing to pay if they stay within the specified cost limits.” So what about those guitar lessons? “Well, the loi de formation is being modified and from next year workers can select twenty hours of training which relates to their personal development rather than directly to their job. That’s the theory, anyway, so why not guitar lessons? We’ll see … ”

From Reporter 105 - Oct/Nov 2004

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