The legal framework for professional training in France has undergone several upheavals since 2024, with direct consequences on employees’ wallets and employers’ HR strategies. Between the increase in the out-of-pocket costs for the CPF, the refocusing on certified training, and the legal obligations weighing on companies, the landscape of corporate training no longer resembles that of three years ago.
Out-of-pocket costs for CPF: a financial barrier that changes the game
Since 2024, the CPF can no longer be mobilized without a financial counterpart for the employee in position.
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A decree dated April 29, 2024, established a mandatory flat participation fee of 100 euros for any registration in a CPF-eligible training. This amount, indexed to inflation, increased to 103.20 euros on January 1, 2026, and then to 150 euros as of April 2, 2026, according to a decree dated March 30, 2026.
For an employee earning the minimum wage who wishes to finance a short certification, these 150 euros represent a concrete barrier. The question of access to training for employees in companies now arises in terms of financial capacity as much as acquired rights.
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Unemployed employees remain exempt from this participation fee. However, for active employees, the out-of-pocket cost adds to the expense already partially covered by the CPF, which leads some to postpone or abandon their training projects.
Skills development plan: what the employer must finance
The skills development plan has replaced the old training plan since the law of September 5, 2018. However, its content remains poorly understood, even by some HR departments.
The employer is obligated to ensure the adaptation of each employee to their job and to ensure the maintenance of their ability to hold a job. This obligation covers three types of actions:
- Adaptation to the position, particularly during a change of software, tool, or internal procedure
- Maintaining employment in the face of technological changes in the sector
- Actions for skills development that go beyond the current position, such as upskilling towards a new profession
Only the first two categories are legally mandatory. The third falls under the voluntary approach of the company. An employee cannot demand retraining as part of the skills development plan.
Training included in this plan generally takes place during working hours, with salary maintenance. The employer covers the educational costs and associated expenses (travel, accommodation).
Workplace safety training: a strengthened obligation
Safety training constitutes a separate aspect. It concerns newly hired employees, those changing positions or techniques, and those returning to work after a break of at least 21 days at the request of the occupational physician. Failing to provide it exposes the employer to gross negligence in the event of an accident.
Individual training schemes: CPF, retraining, and VAE
Outside of the plan decided by the employer, the employee has several levers to manage their own professional path.
The personal training account remains the most utilized scheme. Each full-time employee accumulates annual rights credited in euros. The CPF finances certified training, skills assessments, validation of acquired experience (VAE) actions, or even driving license preparation.
The refocusing carried out in recent years has excluded many short non-certified training programs. The CPF now only finances actions leading to recognized certification, which reduces the available catalog but enhances the value of the pursued pathways.
Professional retraining period
This scheme, which replaced the CIF (individual training leave), allows the employee to undertake long training with a view to changing professions. Funding is provided by Transitions Pro associations, subject to seniority and project validation conditions.
Field feedback varies on the processing times of files by the joint commissions. Some employees report waiting several months between submission and final response.
Validation of acquired experience
The VAE allows individuals to obtain a diploma or professional title by having their experience recognized. It requires a minimum of one year of experience related to the targeted certification. The process includes writing a file and presenting it before a jury.
Funding for professional training: who pays for what
Funding relies on a system of mandatory contributions paid by companies. Two levies coexist:
- The contribution to professional training (CFP), with a rate varying according to the size of the company
- The apprenticeship tax, intended for financing initial technological and vocational training
These contributions are collected by the URSSAF and then redistributed to skills operators (OPCO) and the Caisse des dépôts to fund the CPF. The employer does not directly choose the allocation of these funds, except for the free portion of the apprenticeship tax.
For companies with fewer than 50 employees, OPCOs can cover all or part of the costs of the skills development plan. Beyond this threshold, the company finances from its own funds, creating a disparity in access between SMEs and larger structures.
Interaction between employee initiative and employer decision
The boundary between employer-initiated training and employee-initiated training determines the applicable rules: working time or off-working time, salary maintenance or not, coverage of expenses or mobilization of the CPF.
An employee can use their CPF without their employer’s agreement for training taken outside of working hours. However, if the training takes place during working hours, the employer’s agreement on the schedule is mandatory.
The possibility for the employer to co-finance a CPF training exists, but it requires a formal agreement. The proposal to give the employer oversight over their employees’ CPF training is still under discussion among social partners, with no set timeline at this stage.
The French professional training system thus offers several entry points, but each follows its own rules of funding, timing, and validation. An employee who identifies the right scheme (CPF, skills development plan, Transitions Pro, VAE) before preparing their file saves several weeks and avoids unnecessary steps.