The Innovation Grant is intended to facilitate employers in innovation and development to hire people and to establish contacts between job seekers and companies. The project is a collaboration between the Directorate of Labour and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The employer must meet the following conditions:
The task to be performed by the workforce needs to be highly innovative and evolved.
The innovation grant must include an increase in the number of employees of the company. The workforce is hired as a worker.
At least one employee must be on the company payroll before applying.
Companies must be aware of the payroll tax and public levies. Examples are contributions and contributions to pension funds, union fees and insurance premiums.
Generally, it is assumed that 100% of the workforce will be employed.
An employed person must meet the following conditions:
The person who is hired must have an approved application for unemployment benefits from the Directorate of Labour.
Employers can receive up to ISK 390,084 per month in benefits, based on 100% employment rate, which corresponds to the amount of 100% basic unemployment benefits plus 11.5% contribution to the pension fund paid with new workers.
If an application for an innovation grant is accepted, the employer registers the job on My employers pages.
The evaluation team of the Directorate of Labour and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation reviews the applications and assesses whether they meet the requirements.
The Ministry sends the applicant a letter of reply on the conclusion via email and the Directorate of Labour receives a copy of the reply.
Employers apply for payment of a grant to employers in my pages portal.
Payments can be collected monthly or once at the end of a period.
Each application must be accompanied by a pay slip for the relevant month for which you applied.
Payment is conditional on having paid wages and paying the wage related charges to the Icelandic Tax.
A copy of the signed employment contract must be submitted, in accordance with the provisions of the relevant collective agreement between the employee and the employer, for the innovation grant. In general, a 100% employment rate is expected in the case of hiring for an innovation grant.
Duration of the contract
The maximum duration of the employment contract for an innovation grant is 6 months. After 5 months, an enterprise can apply for an extension to another 6 months. A mid-term report must be submitted.
Employers can send an inquiry through Employers' My Pages to see if an employer meets the criteria for an innovation grant.
At the end of the project, the employer submits a final report on the project, stating whether and how the objectives were achieved and whether the personnel concerned was hired permanently.
The contract for an innovation grant and the payments therefor expire if the person seeking employment ceases to work for the employer for any reason during the period of validity of the contract.
The period of employment grant for a jobseeker is not considered as the period of employment benefits.
A person seeking employment is deregistered from the unemployment register during the period of employment.
