Professional Transition Project (PTP)

Verified 01 January 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

What is the Career Transition Project (CTP)? It allows the employee to to be absent from his position to train. The aim is to change occupation or profession. The TPP is open subject to conditions and shall be granted upon request to the employer. The employee is paid for the duration of the training. The rules differ depending on whether the employee is under contract indefinite-term (CDI) or fixed-term (CDD)). We present you the rules to know.

DTA

The career transition project (PTP), or Transitional CPF, allows the employee to take time off work to follow a certifying training allowing him to change his profession or profession.

It replaces the individual training leave (Cif).

The employee shall be granted specific leave when he takes part or all of this training during his working time.

The training requested does not need to be related to the employee's activity.

Any employee can apply to benefit from it.

Warning  

Temporary agency workers are covered by specific provisions.

The employee must prove that he has been employed for at least 2 consecutive years or not, including 1 year in the same company, regardless of the nature of the successive contracts.

Please note

This seniority is calculated at departure date training of the employee.

With the employer

The employee must send a written request for leave to his employer, preferably by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, indicating the following information:

  • Date of training and date of the relevant examination
  • Title of training
  • Duration of training
  • Organization that conducts the training
  • Title and date of the examination concerned.

A certificate of registration must be attached in case of leave to take an exam.

The rules for applying to the employer for a TPP vary depending on the duration of the training:

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Training of 6 months or more

If the request is made in 1 full-time session, the request must be made no later than 120 calendar days before the start of the training.

Training of less than 6 months

If the application is made on a part-time or multi-period basis or involves a continuous break of work of less than 6 months, the application must be made no later than 60 calendar days before the start of the training.

The employer has 30 calendar days to respond to the employee.

In the absence of a reply within that period, the authorization shall be deemed to have been granted.

The employer can postpone the employee's request for up to 9 months. The reason for the postponement must be detrimental to the production and operation of the company due to the absence of the employee.

The rules vary according to the number of employees in the company:

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Company with less than 100 employees

The employer may defer the benefit of the leave in the event of overstaffing simultaneously absent in the company. The authorized absence is 1 employee at a time.

Company of 100 or more employees

The employer may also defer the benefit of the leave in the event of overstaffing simultaneously absent in the company. The authorized absence is 2% employees.

With the funder

The employee must submit his/her request to take over the TPP to the regional interprofessional joint committee responsible for his/her main residence or place of work.

The commission, also known as Transitions Pro association, assess whether the envisaged TPP is a possible training under the Personal Training Account (PTA).

The duration of the TPP corresponds to the duration of the training.

When the TPP is carried out over working time, the employee receives a remuneration equal to a percentage of his average reference salary.

It is calculated on the basis of salaries received during the 12 months preceding the training.

The rules vary according to whether the average reference salary is above or not 2 Smic:

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Average reference salary less than or equal to 2 Smic

When the average reference salary of the employee is less than or equal to €3,646.07, the remuneration received under the TPP shall be equal to 100% the average reference salary.

Average reference salary above 2 Smic

Remuneration depends on the length of the transition leave:

Leave not exceeding 1 year

If the employee's average reference salary (SR) is greater than €3,646.07, the remuneration shall be equal to 90% SR, where the duration of the work transition leave does not exceed 1 year or 1 200 hours for part-time or fragmented training.

Leave of more than 1 year

If the employee's average reference salary (SR) is greater than €3,646.07, the remuneration shall be equal to:

  • 90% SR for the 1st year of training or for the first 1,200 hours of training, where the duration of the TPP is more than 1 year or 1,200 hours for fragmented or part-time training
  • 60% SR for subsequent years or from the 1201st hour.

Beyond one year, the amount of remuneration received may not be less than an amount equal to €3,646.07.

FYI  

Extra costs (transport, accommodation, meals) can be covered.

Time spent on training leave is considered to be working time. Leave with pay and bonuses are therefore due in full. The employee continues to benefit from all social security benefits (health insurance, in particular).

Three months before At the end of the training, the employer informs the employee that at the end of the training he can:

  • Getting back to work
  • Or, if not, an equivalent position.

The remuneration must be at least equivalent.

This information from the employer is provided by letter RAR: titleContent or by hand-delivered letter against discharge.

In the letter of notification, the employer states that the employee has one month from receipt of this letter to inform the employer of his decision.

Without a response within this one-month period, the employee is considered to have agreed to return to the company upon completion of the training.

An employee who has benefited from a TPP must wait a certain time, says deductible periodbefore being able to apply to the same company for another TPP.

This deductible period may not be less than 6 months and may not exceed 6 years.

FIXED-TERM CONTRACT

The career transition project (PTP), or Transitional CPF, allows the employee to take time off work to follow a certifying training allowing him to change his profession or profession. It replaces the individual training leave (Cif).

The employee shall be granted specific leave when he takes part or all of this training during his working time.

The training requested does not need to be related to the employee's activity.

Any employee on a fixed-term contract can apply for it under certain conditions.

Warning  

Temporary agency workers are covered by specific provisions.

The employee must prove that he has been employed for at least 2 consecutive years or not, regardless of the nature of the successive contracts, during the last 5 years, including 4 months on fixed-term contracts during the last 12 months.

Some contracts cannot be taken into account for the calculation of the 4 months (examples: the apprenticeship contract, the professionalization contract, the fixed-term contract which continues with a permanent contract).

FYI  

This seniority is assessed on the employee's departure date for training.

The employee does not have to ask his employer for authorization.

It is addressed to the regional interbranch joint committee (also known as transitions pro association) of his place of residence or work.

The request for training must be submitted before the end of the CDD.

The training must take place 6 months at the latest after the end of the fixed-term contract.

With the employer

The employee must send a written request for leave to his employer, preferably by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, indicating the following information:

  • Start date of training
  • Title of training
  • Duration of training
  • Organization that conducts the training
  • Title and date of the examination concerned.

A certificate of registration must be attached in case of leave to take an exam.

The rules for applying to the employer for a TPP vary depending on the length of the training.

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Training of 6 months or more

If it is done in 1 full-time session, the request must be made no later than 120 days before the start of the training.

Training of less than 6 months

If the request is made part-time or over several periods or if the request concerns leave to take an examination, the request must be made no later than 60 days before the start of the training.

The employer has 30 days to respond to the employee. In the absence of a reply within that period, the authorization shall be deemed to have been granted.

The employer may defer the benefit of the professional transition leave for a maximum of 9 months. The reason for the postponement must be detrimental to the production and operation of the company due to the absence of the employee.

The rules vary according to the number of employees in the company:

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Company of 100 or more employees

The employer may also defer the benefit of the leave in the event of overstaffing simultaneously absent in the company. The authorized absence is 2% employees.

Company with less than 100 employees

The employer may also defer the benefit of the leave in the event of overstaffing simultaneously absent in the company. The authorized absence is 1 employee.

With the funding organization

The employee must file his request to take over the TPP from the regional interbranch joint committee competent for his place of principal residence or work.

The Commission shall assess whether the envisaged TPP is eligible for the Personal Training Account (PTA).

Please note

This application must be filed before the end of the FTC.

When the employee is on a fixed-term contract, he can send a request to take charge of a transitional CPF. This request shall be made to the competent regional interbranch joint committee during the performance of his employment contract.

The prior agreement of the employer is required when the employee wishes to take part or all of the training during his working time.

The training must begin no later than 6 months after the end of his employment contract.

The duration of the action taken by the beneficiary varies, depending on the training concerned.

When the training is carried out on working time, the employee receives a remuneration equal to a percentage of the average reference salary of the beneficiary of the project. It is determined on the basis of wages received during a reference period.

The average reference salary of the employee who meets the seniority conditions of at least 2 consecutive years or not including 4 months of fixed-term contracts is calculated on the basis of the salaries received during the last 4 months of fixed-term contracts.

FYI  

Certain contracts are not taken into account for this calculation: employment support contracts, work-study programs, contracts concluded during the school or university course or contracts continuing with a permanent contract.

The rules vary according to whether the average reference salary is above or not 2 Smic:

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Average reference salary ₩2 Smic

When the average reference salary of the employee is less than or equal to €3,646.07, the remuneration received under the career transition project shall be equal to 100% the average reference salary.

Average reference salary > 2 Smic

Remuneration depends on the length of the work transition leave.

Leave not exceeding 1 year

If the average reference salary is higher than €3,646.07, the remuneration shall be equal to 90% the average reference salary, where the duration of the leave does not exceed 1 year or 1 200 hours for part-time or intermittent training.

Leave of more than 1 year

If the average reference salary is higher than €3,646.07, the remuneration shall be equal to:

  • 90% the average reference salary for the first year of training or for the first 1 200 hours of training, where the duration of the leave is greater than 1 year or 1 200 hours for part-time or intermittent training. In addition, this remuneration may not be less than €3,646.07
  • And 60% the average reference salary for the following years or from the 1201st hour. In addition, this remuneration may not be less than €3,646.07.

Time spent in TPP is considered to be working time. Leave with pay and bonuses are due in full. The employee continues to benefit from all social security benefits (health insurance, in particular).

If the FTC continues beyond the TPP, 3 months before the end of the training, the employer informs the employee that at the end of the training he can:

  • Getting back to work
  • Or, if not, an equivalent position.

The remuneration must be at least equivalent.

This information from the employer is provided by letter RAR: titleContent or by hand-delivered letter against discharge.

In the letter of notification, the employer states that the employee has one month from receipt of this letter to inform the employer of his decision.

Without a response within this one-month period, the employee is considered to have agreed to return to the company upon completion of the training.

An employee who has benefited from a TPP must wait a certain time, says deductible periodbefore being able to apply to the same company for another TPP.

This deductible period may not be less than 6 months and may not exceed 6 years.

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