OFPPT Reimbursement FAQ: Training Claims, Deadlines and Appeals

When does the reimbursement arrive?

After the financial file has been filed and reviewed. The date depends first on the company, which chooses when to file, then on processing by the CSF management unit.

OFPPT, the Office de la formation professionnelle et de la promotion du travail, is Morocco’s public vocational training office. It reimburses part of what companies spend on their employees’ continuing training through special training contracts (contrats spéciaux de formation, CSF), and each company’s files are handled by a CSF management unit (Unité de gestion des CSF). In what follows, N is the financial year in which the training takes place.

What are the deadlines to know?

The May 2006 manual set the filing of the financial file at 30 April of year N+1; its Amendment No. 2 (avenant n° 2) of 2 June 2014 and OFPPT’s current CSF page set 31 December of year N+1. Unofficial sources still quote other dates: we do not use them. Confirm each deadline with OFPPT for your financial year before launching the actions.

How long does the review take?

Amendment No. 2 sets thirty calendar days between the acknowledgement of receipt of a complete file and the transfer order; beyond that, the management unit must justify the delay. It is a procedural rule: it does not guarantee a payment date, and it only runs for a complete file.

Should you wait for the end of the financial year to file?

No, and it is rarely a good idea. The company advances the expense until it is reimbursed, and documents get lost over time. We file each file as soon as the action closes, with its documents checked. The effect on cash flow is detailed in what training costs are reimbursable by OFPPT.

Who receives the reimbursement?

The company, by transfer order; or the training provider, if the company has opted for third-party payment.

Into which account?

The one shown on the bank identity certificate, which identifies the account with its twenty-four digits and is supplied with the administrative file when the company gains access to the system. Amendment No. 2 specifies that this document is supplied only once, then whenever the account changes, which the company must report.

What is third-party payment?

A procedure (tiers payant), introduced by Amendment No. 2, in which payment is made directly to the training provider that delivered the action, the contract remaining between the company and the management unit. It is open to public training operators, to institutes managed under delegation by professional branches and to consulting and training providers holding a valid qualification label from the Vocational Training department. The option is ticked on the action sheet, on the OFPPT portal. The share the company then pays the provider itself should be confirmed with OFPPT before choosing this option.

What happens when the training does not go as planned?

Everything depends on the prior notice. A change reported in time is managed; a change discovered when the file is filed costs the reimbursement of the action.

A participant is absent

Reimbursement is made in proportion to the number of participants who actually attended against the number planned (model contract annexed to the manual, art. 14). An absent participant who is not replaced reduces the funding of the action.

The date, venue, provider or timetable changes

The company reports the change to the management unit through a notice (model 3), at least 24 hours before the planned start date, under Amendment No. 2. Without a notice, the action is not reimbursed (model contract, art. 11).

The training is cancelled

Same rule: the cancellation is reported by a notice, within the same deadline. This prevents an action that was approved but not delivered from appearing as non-delivery during an inspection.

What should you do if the file is returned or the reimbursement reduced?

Complete a returned file, understand a reduced reimbursement, challenge a decision that seems unfounded: three situations, three answers.

The file was returned

An incomplete or non-compliant file is returned on the spot, with a note of the missing documents (manual, procedure P 3.0). It is completed and filed again before 31 December N+1. This is not an appeal: the manual specifies that complaints following the rejection of an incomplete file are not put to the regional committee. The required documents are detailed in CSF reimbursement file: supporting documents and checklist.

The amount is lower than the simulation

The transfer order comes with the detailed list of the actions reimbursed, and the management unit informs the company of the reason for any rejection. Gaps most often come from the retained cost, the ceiling, absences or an unreported change. The reimbursement simulator sees none of these parameters: it gives an order of magnitude before ceiling.

The decision seems unfounded

The manual provides for a reasoned appeal to the regional CSF committee, lodged through the management unit within fifteen days of notification; after that deadline, no appeal is admissible. Decisions taken following an inspection are challenged, within the same deadline, before the central CSF committee.

Do you need an “OFPPT-approved” training provider?

The manual speaks of eligibility, not approval. A private provider must be liable for the vocational training tax (taxe de formation professionnelle, TFP) and up to date with its declarations; the OFPPT portal blocks the entry of an action entrusted to an ineligible provider, identified by its number with the CNSS, Morocco’s national social security fund.

Law No. 60-17 on the organisation of continuing training also entrusts training to providers qualified under conditions set by regulation (art. 9), and qualification can be withdrawn from a provider that fails to meet its commitments (art. 30). The CSF procedures manual, still in force with its Amendment No. 2, accepts as training providers the company itself if it has the necessary skills, private consulting and training providers subject to the TFP and up to date with their declarations, and public training bodies. Third-party payment, for its part, requires a valid qualification label. ACG is CSF-eligible.

How long should documents be kept after payment?

Five years from the delivery of the actions, under the model contract annexed to the manual (art. 9). Each action’s file contains the signed attendance sheet, the programme, the evaluation sheets and copies of the proof of expenditure.

Law No. 60-17 organises checks on documents and on site of funded actions (art. 26) and requires the employer to give inspectors all useful documents (art. 28). The full path, from access to transfer, is described in our OFPPT training reimbursement guide.

Before calling the CSF management unit, gather:

• the file reference and the date of the acknowledgement of receipt;
  
• the special training contract and its approved actions;
  
• the modification notices sent, with their dates;
  
• the full copy of the financial file filed;
  
• the transfer order and the list of the actions reimbursed, if received;
  
• your written questions, action by action.