1. Entities regardless of legal status, registered in the Employers’ Register of the Social Insurance Services and operating in areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.

2. Employers may be natural or legal persons, of public or private law.

3. Enterprises carrying out economic or non-economic activity, as long as they do not violate competition rules.

4. The employer must pay the specified fee to the Human Resources Development Fund for employees participating in the program.

5. Self-employed persons may participate only for the training of their employees, not for personal training

Non-beneficiaries:

1. The Government of the Republic and Public Law Organizations.

2. Local Government Authorities.

3. Employers active in sectors exempted from Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, such as:

• Primary production of fisheries and aquaculture.

• Agriculture (primary production).

• Certain agricultural processing activities.

• Export-related activities.

• Aid contingent on the use of domestic goods/services instead of imported ones.

The plan covers part of the costs related to the four-month training and includes:

1. Unemployment salary (basic + index) for the 4 months of training and the following 2 months of employment.

2. Cost of a mentor who undertakes the training

1. Monthly subsidy amount: €1,310 for each month of training (total of 4 months).

2. Maximum total amount: €5,240 for the entire training period.

3. Minimum gross salary:

• The employer is obliged to pay at least €1,000/month to the unemployed person.

• For professions with higher minimum salaries, the one provided for by collective agreements or ministerial decrees applies

4. The HRDA pays the subsidy after completion of:

• 4 months of training.

• +2 months of continuous employment of the unemployed person by the employer without subsidy.

For the employer:

1. To have hired the unemployed person in a full-time position with a permanent contract.

2. To submit an application for participation in the scheme within 2 months of hiring.

3. To continue to employ the unemployed person for 2 additional months after training.

4. To have not made any staff reductions in the last 8 months prior to the application.

5. To pay a minimum wage ≥ €1,000 or the highest foreseen wage.

6. Maximum number of unemployed persons admitted per year (e.g. 2 for up to 4 employees, 20 for 200+ employees)

For the unemployed person:

1. Registered with the Public Employment Service (PES) for at least 6 consecutive months prior to hiring.

2. If a tertiary education graduate, he/she must be 30 years of age or older.

3. Must not have had previous relevant work experience of more than 8 months in the last 4 years.

4. Must not have successfully completed another similar HRDA training program in the last 5 years