Less than six months after the entry into force of the last unemployment insurance agreement, the government is already asking to modify it. “The financial situation of the unemployment insurance scheme and the need to work more numerous makes it necessary to evolve the rules of unemployment insurance,” writes Prime Minister François Bayrou, in a letter of framing to social partners this weekend.
Consulted by BFM Business, the document significantly indicates the government’s desire to harden the conditions of accessing compensation by France Work. And this, modifying two key parameters: the minimum work hours required, as well as the affiliation reference period (PRA).
Around eight months of minimum work to achieve unemployment?
Without explaining it as it is in the framework, it is implicit that the government expects social partners to agree on an extension of the minimum working time required to trigger the payment of unemployment benefits to employment applicants.
Currently, he must have worked at least six months to receive unemployment allocation. France is, therefore, one of the most generous European countries, with the Netherlands, Sweden and Luxembourg that require this same period to compensate for their employment applicants.
But most European countries require at least one year of work to open rights: this is the case of Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium or Finland. Ireland is even more severe than employment applicants must have worked at least two years to be compensated.
As a reminder, when Gabriel Attal was still prime minister, the minimum working time required from six to eight months to receive unemployment was planned. But under the effect of the dissolution of the National Assembly on June 9, 2024, the project fell into the water and the last agreement signed by social partners last November did not modify this parameter.
The new framing letter written by François Bayrou, therefore, reopens this project without running the risk of specifically mentioning the desired duration. It could well be seven months, eight or more, knowing that the European average revolves around 10 months of minimum work.
Fly the reference period of the affiliate
But to “encourage” even more beneficiaries to resume work, the prime minister also intends to advance in the affiliation reference period (PRA), which is decisive in calculating their unemployment rights.
In fact, currently, in France, not only should I have worked at least six months … but during the 24 months prior to the loss of employment if you are less than 55 years, 36 months if you are older.
Without announcing it clearly in the letter either, the government plans to reduce the duration of this affiliation reference period. In this way, I should have worked longer (perhaps eight months, for example), during a period prior to the loss of the shortest previous work.
When Gabriel Attal was at Murignon’s head, it was about reducing the duration of the refiliation period of 20 months during those under 57 years and 30 months for the major. Therefore, it is not excluded that the government is growing again social partners to agree on this scenario, which also implies a change in age terminals.
In other words, without directly affecting the duration of the compensation of employment applicants, extending the minimum working time and, above all, by reducing the affiliation reference period, many beneficiaries will suffer a fall in their duration of compensation for France’s work.
Take the example of a beneficiary who lost his job after 22 months of work. With the current rules, these 22 months of work are taken into account in the calculation of their compensation, since they appear in the 24 -month affiliation reference period. However, if this affiliation reference period is reduced to 20 months, then only 20 months during the 22 months worked would take into account in the calculation of unemployment benefits. After the application of the coefficient of 0.75 in the number of calendar days, the work search engine would only be compensated for 450 days (15 months) instead of 495 days (16.5 months). Or a loss of a month and a half of unemployment allocation.
Source: BFM TV
