This is one of the main reforms announced by Emmanuel Macron during his presidential campaign: tightening unemployment insurance rules when everything is going well and, conversely, making them more generous when the labor market situation deteriorates. As soon as the text that allows the government to launch this new reform was voted in the National Assembly last week, measures were taken.
The evolution of the rules will depend on the unemployment rate
The unemployment insurance rules will now evolve according to the unemployment rate and its quarterly evolution. These are the criteria that were finally kept because they are considered “simple and readable”, a sine qua non condition for the rules to be well understood and this to have an effect on behaviour.
The Ministry of Labor has not specified to the social interlocutors from which unemployment rate, it will consider that the situation is green, that is, good, or red, that is, degraded. The only certainty is that the current period, with an unemployment rate of just over 7%, is considered a green period, favorable for finding work. Unless there is a major downgrade, we are moving towards a tightening of the rules for the unemployed.
A reduction in the duration of benefits.
According to what the executive said, it will not touch the amounts of compensation. On the other hand, it will reduce the duration of the subsidies. According to various union officials, this fall could reach 20 or even 25% and will affect all the unemployed, including those over 55, who benefit from a longer benefit period: up to 36 months.
If this scenario is confirmed and the duration is reduced by 25% during the green period, an unemployed person over 55 years of age, who, for example, should have been compensated for 36 months according to current regulations, will only be compensated for 27 months. An unemployed person who should have been compensated for 24 months will only be compensated for 18 months. However, a six-month minimum will be introduced. Regardless of the labor market situation, the benefit period cannot be less than this threshold. Finally, unemployed Overseas Territories and intermittent workers will not be affected.
No changes to access conditions
On the other hand, the way, at the same time mentioned, of toughening the conditions of opening of rights is rejected. It will always be necessary to have worked 6 months of the last 24 months to be compensated. Another track also mentioned and finally abandoned: it is not about modulating these rules according to the areas of employment. It would have been very complex and legally complicated. It also ran the risk of raising a constitutional issue. Therefore, the same rules will apply everywhere in France.
This new unemployment insurance reform, which consists of reinforcing the rights of the unemployed, is unanimously denounced by the unions.
Indeed, the duration of the subsidy will be reduced during the green period, but in the event of a deterioration in the economic situation and, therefore, a turning point in red, the unemployed will only recover the additional months of subsidy to which they would have been titled anyway according to current regulations, explains this same source.
Entry into force from February
The Executive is counting on this reform to encourage people to return to work and reduce recruitment difficulties. Savings. And you want to go fast. A decree will be published in the Council of State in the coming weeks. The measure will apply to all newly unemployed as of February 2023, when Pôle Emploi enters into battle order.
Source: BFM TV
