Employee Digital Training Voucher

On September 8, the electronic application form for the Digital Training Voucher measure was made available on the official website of the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (“IEFP”), following the entry into force of Ordinance 246/2022 of September 27 on September 28, 2022.

The Digital Training Voucher measure aims to promote certified professional development courses for enhancing digital skills by granting €750 to:

·        employees; and

·        self-employed workers, independent contractors, and directors of single-member companies who are not eligible for the Digital Leader measure.

Employees who would like to benefit from the Digital Training Voucher measure should complete and submit the application form available on the IEFP website. This will grant them access to the Short-Term Training Units/Skills Units within the technological training component of the short- and medium-term qualifications and career paths available in the Portuguese National Qualifications Catalog, provided these are in the digital field and are administered by:

·        social partners with a seat on the Social Concertation Standing Committee (CPCS), as well as its sectoral and regional organization members, when certified by the   Directorate-General for Employment and Labor Relations (“DGERT”);

·        social economy entities certified by the DGERT;

·        training entities certified by the DGERT;

·        higher education institutions; or

·        direct management centers and management centers within the IEFP Centers network.

Under article 131.2 of the Labor Code, employees and employers cannot use this measure for continuous training. Therefore, any time spent on training courses administered under the Digital Training Voucher measure will not count toward the mandatory 40 hours of annual training for employees. However, companies can still promote the use of the Digital Training Voucher to encourage the development of their employees’ technical skills and qualifications.