Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-05-11
Source: The Conversation – in French– By Caroline Diard, Associate Professor – Department of Business Law and Human Resources, TBS Education
For ten years, employee training has become increasingly individualized. The idea is to make employees responsible for and in control of their career paths. The uncontrolled multiplication of training offers and the creation of a remaining charge for the employee are changing the conditions under which these new opportunities are exercised. To the point of emptying them of all substance?
With a specific individual budget and simplified access to training, the professional training account (CPF) was presented as a promise of autonomy and adaptability sinceits creation in 2014.
Twelve years later, the assessment is mixed. In 2026, the mandatory flat-rate contribution increases, making the scheme less attractive. A stepping stone toward new skills or career changes, it can indeed become a headache in the face of a vast and opaque offer!
Progressive individualization of training
Since the law of July 16, 1971,continuing vocational training constitutes a national obligation. Since then, numerous systems allowing training throughout a career have been developed. The skills assessment, the validation of prior experience (VAE), the individual training leave (CIF), the individual right to training (DIF), and more recently the personal training account (CPF) have been created with the aim of individualizing life-long learning paths. This is intended to try to reduce inequalities in access to training. Over time, employees have been legally granted more autonomy in their training processes, thus becoming active participants in their professional development.
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The individual right to training (DIF), created in 2004, marked a first step towards employee autonomy. Reserved for permanent contracts with one year of seniority or fixed-term contracts longer than 4 months, it offered twenty hours of training per year, accumulable over six years. But its use was very regulated, requiring the prior agreement of the employer, except for training outside working hours (with payment of an allowance equal to 50% of the net remuneration). The originality of the system lay in the possibility of transferring rights in case of dismissal (except for gross misconduct). The DIF could finance a skills assessment or a VAE, but it was lost in case of retirement and usable under conditions in case of resignation.
The law of March 5, 2014, relating to professional training, employment, and social democracy replaced the DIF with the personal training account (CPF). The hours accumulated under the DIF have beentransferred to the CPF. Unlike the DIF, which was linked to the employment contract, the CPF is linked to the individual and is managed outside the company by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations.
Employees now have an account that follows them throughout their career independently of their employer.
The CPF, towards a radical individualization
Subsequently, the law of September 5, 2018 strengthened the individual rights of employees bystrengthening the role of the Personal Training Account(CPF). This law “for the freedom to choose one’s professional future” then transforms the landscape of continuing professional training.
Since 2019, CPF hours have been monetized, that is to say, converted into euros.
The CPF embodies the promise of a revolution. From the age of 16, every active worker has an individual budget to train, retrain, or acquire new skills, without relying on their employer. With 500 euros per full year worked (800 euros for the less qualified) and simplified access thanks to an online platform and a smartphone-accessible platformWith the help of a downloadable application. The total cumulative limit is 5,000 euros (equivalent to ten full years of activity).
Funding is provided by companies through deductions from the payroll, notably by the Union for the Collection of Social Security and Family Allowance Contributions (Urssaf) or the Agricultural Social Mutual Fund (MSA) since 2022.Skills operators(Opco) can also contribute,especially for small businesses.
Preparing the digital revolution
The stated objective is to reduce inequalities in access to training and to adapt skills to the changes in the labor market, notably in the face of the digital revolution and the rise of artificial intelligences.
The CPF develops adaptability and employability (especially for the less qualified) in an ever-changing environment. However, behind the advantages of the system lies an overwhelming, sometimes opaque training offer, and a path riddled with pitfalls for the beneficiaries.
Administrative headache
The CPF has become widely democratized with1.4 million people trained in 2024. The motivations for using the CPF are varied: career changes, skills upgrades, recognition of prior learning… The CPF allows for personalized pathways. Nearly72% of employees expect the CPF to make them more efficient in their work and 40% aim to obtain a certification to have their skills recognized.
Pitfalls
The trainings eligible for the CPF arelisted in Article L.6323-6 of the Labour Code
These are training actions preparing for a certification or a skill block registered in the National Directory of Professional Certifications (RNCP) or the Specific Directory (RS).
Training activities referred to as “statutory,” including skills assessments, activities for recognizing prior learning (VAE), and preparation for the theoretical and practical driving license tests.
Unfortunately, the choice is sometimes difficult to make in a jungle of training courses, and scams and abuses have been recorded: some organizations take advantage of the system to offertraining courses that are of little use or overrated and above all not eligible for the CPF.
To counter its abuses, the scope of the CPF has been reduced. After creating a mandatory flat-rate contribution, the State has changed the remaining amount to be paid: the employee must now fund part of their training, even if they have the necessary credits on their CPF to pay for it in full. Thedecree No. 2026-234 of March 30, 2026fixes this contribution at 150 euros as of April 2, 2026). Since February 20, 2026, the 2026 finance law has changed the eligibility conditions for certain trainings. The amounts that can be used for certain schemes are now capped(1,600 euros for a skills assessment, for example).
The paradox of autonomy
The CPF places the individual at the heart of the employability system but assumes that they know how to navigate a complex system. However, the employer should strive to remain a key player in support for continuing vocational training by informing employees in particular.
It is also necessary to continue clarifying and regulating the offer, to provide for stricter referencing, and to exclude training programs without proven job prospects or whose cost is manifestly excessive by prioritizing certified organizations and pathways validated by professional sectors.
It is important to encourage employers to co-finance training aligned with their needs, while ensuring the portability of rights.
Save the CPF?
The CPF has undeniably marked a major advance by making training accessible to all, but for it to become a real lever for empowerment and adaptability, there needs to be a shift from quantity to quality. This requires simplifying the choice to avoid the “training supermarket” effect and supporting the most vulnerable audiences, so as not to let inequalities widen. While the CPF is still an imperfect tool, it remains too often misused or underexploited in its current state.
Caroline Diard does not work for, advise, own shares in, or receive funds from any organization that could benefit from this article, and has declared no other affiliation than her research institute.
–ref. From DIF to CPF: the employee, actor of his professional journey, between promise of autonomy and opacity –https://theconversation.com/du-dif-au-cpf-le-salarie-acteur-de-son-parcours-professionnel-entre-promesse-dautonomie-et-opacite-280321