Ativar.pt employment program: applications for internships started

The new public employment program Ativar.pt to reinforce support for internships and the hiring of workers includes two active employment measures - the Ativar.pt Internships and the Ativar.pt Incentive. Applications for the Ativar.pt Internships, in this case, start this Thursday, October 1st, 2020, at IEFP Online, and replace the current Professional Internships. Applications will be open until December 18th.

This new instrument includes an increase in internship grants that values ​​qualifications. In practice, the internship scholarship for a trainee with a degree, for example, will go from 719 euros to 790 euros. The increase in the scholarship will oscillate, for candidates with qualification above the secondary, between 7.1% and 30.6%, as explained by the Government statement.

On the other hand, and on a transitional basis (until June 30th, 2021), candidates up to 35 years old will be covered (currently they can only be up to 30 years old) and people over 35 will be eligible if they have been unemployed for longer six months (instead of the current 12). The IEFP's share of the internship scholarship rises from 65% to 75% under the general scheme and the employment bonus, awarded to those who convert internship contracts into open-ended contracts, will go from a maximum value of 2,194 euros to 3,072 euros under the general scheme.

The ordinance that regulates this measure includes a standard that allows the exceptional extension of IEFP internship projects currently underway for an additional three months. There are 6,245 interns able to see the internship contract extended under this rule.

Ativar.pt Incentive replaces the Employment Contract: applications start on October 8th

The Incentive Ativar.pt measure, which replaces the Employment Contract, will have an allocation of 25 million euros. Applications for this measure will open within a week, on October 8th, 2020, and will be open until December 31st.

The Ativar.pt Incentive includes an increase of 33% in the support to be granted to companies that sign employment contracts with unemployed people registered with the IEFP - changing the basic support from 3,949 euros to 5,266 euros in open-ended contracts. Included are bonuses for long-term unemployed, discouraged inactive, young people up to 29 and people aged 45 and over, and also for informal caregivers or homeless people.

These two measures, with a total allocation of 100 million euros, are part of Ativar.pt - Reinforced Support Program for Employment and Vocational Training, registered by the Government in the Economic and Social Stabilization Program (PEES), with the objective of ensuring the maintenance of employment and the gradual resumption of economic activity.