Attacks and incivility committed by users towards members of staff at France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) increased by 12% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to an internal document from the operator, consulted on Friday 26 April by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Last year, France Travail recorded nearly 16,000 reports of attacks in its 900 agencies, compared to 14,200 in 2022, according to this document. first revealed by the weekly Politis. In detail, declared incivility increased by 17% between 2022 and 2023 (+ 82% since 2019), while verbal attacks increased by 8% (+ 37% since 2019).
The number of physical attacks remains stable and represents less than 1% of all reports. According to the document, “of the 143 physical attacks declared in 2023, 45 were proven physical attacks on an agent and occurred in an agency or nearby”. Concerning the expressions of suicidal intentions of a user observed by agents, the figure rises to 3,040 cases, an increase of 8.7% compared to 2022. This is three times more than in 2019.
Reporting policy after 2021 murder
France Travail affirmed, in a message sent to AFP, that it had “incited all of his agents, after the assassination of one of his advisors in an agency in Valencia [en 2021]to systematically make reporting declarations for each incident”a policy that “partly explains the increase in reporting figures since 2021 and in particular compared to 2019”.
“France Travail does not note any specificity specific to its services but notes a societal context marked by more and more incivility and aggression, particularly in public services”also advances the operator, who assures to strive “to allow each of its agents to be able to carry out their mission in complete peace and security and for our users to be welcomed in complete safety”.
Christophe Moreau, member of the national office of the SNU union (FSU), speaks “rising attacks for several years”. “This increase in reports of assault has especially appeared since 2019, an increase that we can link to changes in unemployment insurance compensation”he told the AFP, specifying that his union “has long called for a systematization of work accident reporting for each attack”.
Last year, France Travail assured that it was putting in place measures “as part of a global strategy”. The operator then cited “the protection of sites with the strengthening of security equipment, the generalization of video protection in agencies and the development of alert tools”for agents to report “urgent situations”or the “training employees in de-escalation and tension management”.
On the generalization of the implementation of video protection, Christophe Moreau estimated that this measure did not lead to a particular reduction in the number of attacks “in the agencies where this has been implemented”.