Financing schemes

Various ways to partially or fully finance your training

Talk to us
docaposte-institute-financement

Once you have assessed your team’s eligibility for financing schemes, you may wish to know about the optimal scheme for you, or about our selection of eligible training courses.

Here are some potential financing schemes you could consider:

  • OPCO and Actions collectives (skills operators and ‘Actions Collectives’)
  • POEs – Préparation Opérationnelle à l’emploi (back-to-work schemes)
  • CPF – Compte Personnel Formation (Personal Training Account)
  • FNE-Formation 2024 – Fonds National de l’Emploi (National Employment Fund)

 

To find out more, read the FAQ below.

OPCO : Skills operators and Actions collectives

An OPCO is a state-approved skills operator. Its aim is to aid occupational fields and companies by facilitating their access to training. This allows professionals to cope with the constant technological, environmental and economic changes within their sector.

There are currently 11 OPCO. Combined, they cover all existing occupational fields in France:

  1. Atlas: consulting, insurance, banking and finance, accounting and auditing…
  2. OpCommerce: sales, trading, retail, wholesale…
  3. OpCo Santé: hospitalization, medical and social establishments…
  4. AFDAS: press, publishing, cinema, casinos, music, tourism, telecommunication…
  5. Cohésion sociale: social and cultural centers, community centers, integration, Pôle Emploi, neighborhood management, social housing…
  6. OPCO EP: local businesses (crafts, liberal professions)…
  7. AKTO: companies and employees in labor-intensive services/businesses/sectors…
  8. OCAPIAT: agricultural businesses, territorial actors, food businesses…
  9. OPCO 2i: industry, metallurgy, textiles…
  10. Construction: building, public works…
  11. OPCO Mobilités: rail, maritime, automotive, passenger transport, tourism…

All workers from the age of 16 – which includes employees, non-salaried workers, public servants, apprentices, and company managers – are eligible to receive OPCO funding for vocational training.

An OPCO is able to finance:

  • A list of training courses called ‘Actions Collectives’
  • The skills development plan of companies with less than 50 employees
  • Apprenticeships and vocational training contracts

An Action Collective, also known as an ‘Action Co’, is a list of training courses drawn up and proposed by an OPCO to encourage member companies to train their employees on subjects that are considered to be innovative or strategic for their occupational field. The members are able to benefit from a specific type of funding (within the limit of available funds), as well as very favorable financial terms – this funding can be up to 100% of the pedagogical fees for the training course.

52 of our training courses have been selected by the OPCO Atlas to be eligible for Actions Collectives :

Cybersecurity

 

Community Management

 

Designing an application

 

JAVA, JAVA EE, .NET

 

iOS and Android mobile development

 

Web Ergonomics and Accessibility

 

Big Data, IA and IOT

  1. Choose one of the eligible training courses (see above)
  2. Contact us at hello.institute@docaposte.fr
  3. Log on to the campusAtlas website and launch a funding request
  4. Select your desired session on the campusAtlas website and submit your funding application before the start of the training course

FNE-Formation 2023 – National Employment Fund

Originally set up to help companies impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, The FNE-Formation is a funding scheme for training courses aimed at keeping employees in work and developing their skills.

In 2024, the government is supporting companies’ ecological and digital transformations through FNE financing. With this scheme, companies benefit from support to develop the skills of their employees linked to these transitions.

All economically active entities are eligible, including companies and ‘associations’, whatever their size or status.

Funding is available for all employees whether they are on permanent or fixed term contracts, working full-time or part-time, except for those on apprenticeships or professional training contracts.

NB: The employer is obliged to keep the employee in employment throughout the training period.

Eligible for FNE funding are training courses that contribute to the skills needs linked to the ecological transition or to certain strategic challenges of the digital transition:

 

This includes all types of training courses: theoretical or practical, certified or non-certified, off-the-shelf or customized, face-to-face or distance learning. Conditions are now more flexible to better meet the specific needs of companies.

The FNE-Formation 2024 provides funding per training project and per company:

  • Small company (< 50 employees – annual sales or balance sheet < €10m) : 70%
  • Medium company (< 250 employees -annual sales < €50m or balance sheet < €43m): 60%
  • Large company : 50%

 

Funding cannot exceed €3m, this allows the scheme to support ambitious training projects while guaranteeing a fair distribution of available funds.

Public co-financing is excluded. However, some OPCOs can cover the remaining costs through other mechanisms.

NB: The scheme does not grant retroactive funding for courses started before the application was submitted. It is therefore essential to submit the application before the start of the desired course.

The OPCOs remain the decision-makers when it comes to validating the eligibility of training courses. Companies must submit their funding applications to their relevant OPCO.

To be able to benefit from FNE-Formation 2024, companies must:

  1. Contact their OPCO contact to find out the funding available to them.
  2. Submit their eligibility request for the planned training courses to their OPCO by the 31st of December 2024.

 

NB: Once the request is approved, the training period may not exceed a period of 12 months from the date the request was validated.

POE : Back-to-work schemes

The Préparation Opérationnelle à l’Emploi is a back-to-work training programme that lasts up to 400 hours and aims to teach or develop specific professional skills corresponding to a previously identified recruitment need.

There are two types of POE:

  1. the Préparation Opérationnelle à l’Emploi Collective (POEC),
  2. the Préparation Opérationnelle à l’Emploi Individuelle (POEI).

POEI – Préparation Opérationnelle à l’Emploi Individuelle
When a company is having trouble finding the right person for a post, it can decide to initiate a POEI in collaboration with France Travail. The company sends its job advertisement to France Travail, who then put together a list of jobseekers. Next, the company chooses one or multiple candidates among the suggested profiles to take part in the training programme in order to acquire the necessary skills for the post. Part of the training course takes place at the company.

POEC – Préparation Opérationnelle à l’Emploi Collective
A professional branch collaborates with France Travail and an OPCO to initiate a POEC. Its purpose is to help meet recruitment needs for certain short-staffed occupations by training a group of jobseekers at the same time. Like the POEI, the aim is to help candidates acquire the skills needed to fill a vacancy in their geographical area. Unlike the POEI, however, the company is not required to submit a job advertisement to France Travail – instead, a POEC must present a recruitment project that justifies the need for training.

For companies

  • Have a customized training program based on the prerequisites and job requirements,
  • Obtain new employees who are immediately operational,
  • Benefit from funding that covers almost the entire project.

 

For jobseekers

  • Receive comprehensive training from leading experts,
    Obtain a high-level qualification
  • Learn more about a job or company through immersion (POEI)
  • Secure a CDI, or a CDD that is at least 12 months long with the company (POEI)
  • Secure a CDI, CDD, Obtenir un CDI, CDD, an apprenticeship, or professionalization contract with a company they meet during job.

Docaposte Institute runs POEI and POEC programmes for various fields and in various regions, including:

  • Administrateur systèmes et réseaux ,
  • Commercial, Business Developper IT,
  • Concepteur Développeur .NET,
  • Concepteur Développeur Full Stack Javascript,
  • Concepteur Développeur Java/JEE,
  • Concepteur Développeur PHP,
  • Concepteur Développeur PYTHON,
  • Consultant Big Data, NoSQL,
  • Consultant CRM SALESFORCE,
  • Consultant Cyberdéfense SOC,
  • Consultant Cybersécurité,
  • Intégrateur DevOps,
  • Technicien HelpDesk,
  • Testeur logiciels.

To initiate a POEI with Docaposte Institute:

  1. Get in touch with us via our contact form
  2. Send France Travail the job advertisement
  3. Talk to your OPCO to set up the funding
  4. Send us the requirements and roles relating to the position
  5. Plan the training course with us
  6. Choose candidate(s) out of the selection provided by France Travail,
  7. Sign the ‘Convention de Formation’ (training contract)
  8. Welcome your candidate(s)!

 

At the end of a POEC, candidates become available for recruitment. Companies searching for new talents can meet them by participating in ‘job dating’ sessions hosted by training organizations.
To participate in a ‘job dating’ session hosted by Docaposte Institute:

  1. Get in touch with us via our contact form, or via email: poec.institute@docaposte.fr
  2. Meet the candidates, in person or online!

POEIs are financed by France Travail, but the state can also contribute some financial support.

POECs are financed by the relevant OPCO, while France Travail is in charge of transferring a daily allowance to the participants. Jobseekers can also claim ARE (jobseekers’ allowance), as well as other benefits to help cover the costs of training, transport, food, or even accommodation, under certain conditions.

CPF : Personal Training Account

The CPF allows individuals to receive training throughout their professional lives. Through this account, the individual can check the amount they are entitled to (in euros) and sign up for courses provided by certified organizations. The training is then paid for using these funds.

The CPF is strictly personal. It is intended to be used throughout an individual’s working life. How it is used, or indeed, whether it is used at all, is ultimately the choice of the individual. Certainly, a company may suggest that employees use their CPF for training that would be useful for their development – but they cannot force them to do so. The final decision to use the CPF remains an individual and personal one, even if it might be at odds with the company’s wishes.

If a course takes place during working hours, time spent receiving training counts as actual working time. As such, the employee should be paid as usual.
The only situation where the employee is not paid is if training is undertaken outside working hours and for personal reasons.

Have any questions? we're here to listen

Contact us