Training for employees: how much the Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) covers

Employers can have the Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) pay for a large part of their employees' further training. The legal basis is § 82 SGB III. How much is covered depends mainly on the size of the company.

Rates by company size

With fewer than 50 employees, the course fees are usually covered in full. In addition, there is a subsidy towards wages of up to 75 per cent.

Companies with 50 to 499 employees bear at least half of the course fees themselves and receive a wage subsidy of up to 50 per cent. From 500 employees, the employer's contribution is at least 75 per cent of the course fees and the subsidy up to 25 per cent.

In companies with fewer than 500 employees, there is no employer's contribution to the course fees if the employees are 45 or older or severely disabled. If there is a works agreement or collective agreement on further training, the employer's contribution falls by 5 percentage points and the subsidy rises by up to 5 percentage points.

The key requirements

• The training lasts more than 120 hours.
• The employee obtained their vocational qualification at least two years ago, and the last funded training was also at least two years ago.
• The provider and the course are approved under AZAV.
• It is not training that the employer is legally obliged to provide. Mandatory safety briefings and pure competence courses are therefore usually excluded.

What is set to change in 2027

The Bundestag is debating the Act to Modernise and Digitalise Employment Promotion (Gesetz zur Modernisierung und Digitalisierung der Arbeitsförderung) (printed paper 21/7870). Most of it is due to come into force on 1 January 2027. Under the draft, the funding rates remain unchanged, as does the minimum duration of 120 hours. The Bundesrat had proposed 90 hours, but the Federal Government (Bundesregierung) rejected this. As soon as the Act has been passed, we will update this article.

How to proceed

Funding must be applied for before the course starts. So speak to the Employer Service (Arbeitgeber-Service) of the Federal Employment Agency beforehand. We will put together the course documents you need for the application.