Internships: obligations of the employer
Verified 01 January 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Labor
An employer in the private, public or non-profit sector can host an intern. The conditions for using a trainee are subject to conditions (number of trainees authorized, duration of the traineeship, traineeship agreement to be defined, rights of the trainee). We present the regulations in this area.
A training period allows the employer towelcome temporarily in his company a student trainee.
Internships outside the pedagogical curriculum, i.e. not enrolled in a school or university curriculum, are forbidden.
Warning
this arrangement does not apply to vocational trainees or minors under 16 years of age observation course in company.
An employer in the private, public or non-profit sector may use a trainee as part of a training period.
However, reception conditions must be respected.
Some conditions are allowed, others are prohibited.
Training course
The internship is part of a training course whose teaching volume is 200 hours minimum per year of education. The internship does not enter into the counting of this educational volume.
A minimum of 50 hours must be given in the presence of the student.
Since a trainee is not considered an employee, the employer does not have to carry out any pre-employment declaration (PED).
The employer must, however, mention in a specific part of the single register of staff, in their order of arrival, the surname and first name of the trainees welcomed in the establishment.
Reminder
this arrangement does not apply to vocational trainees or minors under 16 years of age observation course in company.
Authorized conditions of the training course
The internship is a temporary situation in the professional environment of the student.
It allows the trainee to acquire professional skills related to his training.
The assignments entrusted within the framework of the internship must be in accordance with the educational project of the educational institution.
Prohibited conditions of the training course
A student internship cannot be offered for the following missions:
- Replace an employee in the event of absence, suspension of his employment contract or dismissal
- Perform a regular task corresponding to a permanent workstation (the trainee has no production obligation as an employee)
- Coping with a temporary increase in activity
- Hold a seasonal job
Please note
It is forbidden to entrust the trainee with tasks dangerous to his health or safety.
Yes, the trainee must sign an internship agreement.
The agreement specifies the skills to be acquired or developed during the internship.
The agreement also indicates the planned internship time in the training course.
The internship must take place within the framework of an agreement signed between the different parties:
- Trainee (or, if a minor, his or her legal representative)
- Host organization (company, public administration, local authority, health institution, association or any other organization)
- Educational or training institution
- Teacher referent within the educational institution
- Traineeship tutor at the host organization
The agreement must the following particulars must appear :
- Full title of the trainee's course or training and its hourly volume per year or semester of teaching
- Competent to acquire or develop during the internship
- Activities entrusted to the trainee according to the skills to be acquired
- Names of the teacher and tutor
- Start and end dates of the internship and maximum weekly duration of the intern's presence
- Weekly actual presence of the trainee in the host organization
- Conditions for authorization of absence
- Hourly rate of pay (called gratification), calculated on the basis of the actual presence of the trainee, and the conditions for its payment
- Conditions under which the trainee is supervised and monitored
- Potential benefits to the trainee (e.g. catering, accommodation or reimbursement of expenses)
- Social protection scheme for the trainee, in particular in the event of an accident at work, and, where appropriate, the trainee’s obligation to prove that he has insurance covering his civil liability
- Terms of suspension and termination of the internship agreement
- Methods of validation of the internship in case of interruption
- Clauses of the receiving agency which are applicable to the trainee
- Conditions for issuing the probationary certificate.
The employer must keep up to date the list of internship agreements concluded and enter the full names of the interns admitted in a specific part of the single register of staff.
The labor inspector may request a copy of the internship agreements from the educational institution or the host organization.
If the internship takes place abroad, an information sheet setting out the host country's rules on the rights and duties of the trainee must be annexed to the traineeship agreement.
Please note
The internship agreement may be subject to'addenda .
It depends on the number of employees in the company:
Company with less than 20 employees
Companies with less than 20 employees can accommodate 3 interns at most at the same time.
Each tutor follows a maximum of 3 trainees during the same period.
Company of at least 20 employees
In a host organization with at least 20 employees, the number of trainees whose internship agreement is in progress during the same period calendar week cannot exceed 15% of the workforce.
Example :
a company of 45 employees can accommodate at the same time 7 trainees maximum (45 x 15% = 6.75). The headcount is rounded up to the next integer.
Each tutor follows a maximum of 3 trainees during the same period.
The duration of training carried out in a professional environment is 6 months maximum per host organization and per year of education.
This period shall be determined taking into account the actual presence of the trainee in the host organization as follows:
- 7 hours of presence, consecutive or not, represent 1 day of presence
- 22 days of presence represent 1 month
The maximum duration of 6 months of traineeship is reached once the trainee has completed, during the teaching year, 924 hours actual presence in the host organization.
Please note
if the trainee is hired, within 3 months after the end of the internship, the duration of the internship is deducted from the trial period and shall be taken into account for the calculation of entitlements related to seniority.
The employer must comply with a waiting period between 2 internships in the same position: it is 1/3 of the duration of the previous internship.
Example :
After a 6-month internship, the employer must wait 2 months before welcoming a new intern to the same position.
This obligation shall not apply if the trainee interrupts the traineeship himself.
Conditions for payment of the gratuity
The trainee is not paid because he is not considered an employee of the company.
However, the trainee may receive a minimum gratification under the following conditions:
Continuous internship
One minimum gratification is paid to the trainee if the duration of the traineeship is greater than 2 consecutive months (equivalent to 44 days to 7 hours per day) in the same academic year.
Below these duration thresholds, the host organization is not obliged to pay a gratuity.
If the hourly amount of the bonus is less than €4.35, the trainee shall be exempt from social security contributions.
Internship discontinuous
One minimum gratification shall be paid from 309e internship time even if it is carried out on a non-continuous basis.
Below these duration thresholds, the host organization is not obliged to pay a gratuity.
If the hourly amount of the bonus is less than €4.35, the trainee shall be exempt from social security contributions.
Amount of gratuity
The minimum amount paid for each hour of actual presence shall be €4.35.
In some professional sectors, this amount may be higher than the legal minimum amount.
The employer must verify this in the collective agreement.
A calculation simulator is available:
Payment of the gratuity
The bonus is paid at the end of each month and not at the end of the internship.
It is due from the 1ster internship day.
Example :
For a full-time internship (7 hours per day) from 1er January to March 31, 2026:
- January: 147 hours worked (21 days x 7 hours)
- February: 140 hours worked (20 days x 7 hours)
- March: 154 hours worked (22 days x 7 hours)
The amount of the total gratuity due is 441 hours, or €1,918.35.
The bonus can be paid in 2 different ways:
- Either according to the actual number of hours worked per month
- Either by smoothing by month all the hours worked during the internship
Period | Actual Hours | Smoothing (=€1,918.35/3) |
|---|---|---|
January | €639.45 | €639.45 |
February | €609.00 | €639.45 |
March | €669.90 | €639.45 |
Total | €1,918.35 | €1,918.35 |
Any internship temporarily interrupted shall be readjusted on the basis of the actual number of hours worked.
Any definitively interrupted internship is subject to an overall regularization according to the number of hours worked.
Yes, at the end of the internship, the host organization must give the intern a certificate of internship.
It shall indicate the total duration of the traineeship and, if necessary, the total amount of the gratuity paid.
You can access a template for an internship certificate.
When the internship lasts more than 2 months, the probationary agreement must provide for the possibility of taking leave and authorizations for absence.
If the internship lasts a maximum of 2 months, it is not mandatory to take leave.
Leave pay is optional.
Please note
In the case of maternity, paternity or adoption, the trainee shall be granted leave and leave of absence for a period equivalent to that provided for employees. During these absences, the maintenance of the gratuity is not mandatory
Reminder
The trainee is not considered an employee of the company.
The trainee may benefit from certain rights and benefits of employees (access to social and cultural activities offered by the Social and Economic Committee - CSE, for example).
Reimbursement of expenses should not be included in the monthly bonus: these allowances must be paid in addition.
Meal expenses
The intern must have access to the company restaurant or restaurant vouchers under the same conditions as employees.
These benefits in kind are exempt from social contributions for the employer provided that the employer's contribution is between 50% and 60% the nominal value of the security and does not exceed €7.26 in 2023.
Transport costs
The employer must reimburse part of the transport costs engaged by the trainee under the same conditions as reimbursement to employees.
In the event of non-compliance with the rules governing traineeships, the employer shall incur an administrative fine of up to €2,000 per trainee concerned.
The fine can go up to €4,000 in the event of a new infringement within one year of 1re fine.
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General framework of internships in company
For the obligation of the internship agreement and remuneration of the internship
Maximum number of trainees
Control of labor inspection
Penalties
For the contribution accidents at work
Residence card mention trainee
Conditions for the trainee residence permit
For AT/MP contribution rates under the employer's jurisdiction
Document template
Ministry of Higher Education and Research
Youth Information and Documentation Center (CIDJ)