Definition: Continuing Vocational Training

Category: Education

Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) is training measures or activities, which the enterprise finances wholly or partly, for their employees who have a working contract. Continuing Vocational Training is characterised by:

 - DECISION:  The training-activity must be the result of a decision in the enterprise. The employee's line-manager or the general management of the enterprise would normally take this decision.

 - OBJECTIVES: The primary objective must be the acquisition of new competencies or the development and improvement of existing competencies. Routine work-adjustment training (i.e. basic familiarisation with the job, organisation or working environment) and routine information passing should be excluded.

 - EMPLOYEES: Included are working proprietors, partners working regularly in the enterprise and unpaid family workers, as well as persons who work outside the enterprise they belong to and are paid by (e.g. sales representatives, delivery personnel, repair and maintenance teams). It includes people absent for a short period (e.g. sick leave, paid leave or special leave), and also those on strike but not absent for an indefinite period. It also includes part-time workers, as well as seasonal workers, apprentices and other trainees and home workers on the payroll of the enterprise. 

- Apprentices, trainees etc. with a special training contract are excluded. 
- Not included are also those people working in the enterprise and are subcontracted or have a working-contract with another firm (e.g. building cleaners).

 - FINANCING: A training measure or activity has to be financed in total or partly by enterprises, whether direct or indirect. Part financing could include the use of work-time for the training activity as well as the financing of training equipment (books, computers, CD-ROMs, etc.).

 - IDENTIFIED TRAINING TIME: There must be an actual activity or event or set of activities or events, which can be identified as a specific and separate period of training, rather than an on-going activity that cannot be distinguished from work - such as learning by experience.

 - MEDIATOR: There must be a training mediator (either a person, i.e. a trainer coach or supervisor, or a piece of equipment used for training, i.e. a computer or other training medium).