Supported by LR deputies, the measure was adopted despite opposition from the left. It brings purchasing power to employees, and labor to businesses.
Converting his days of reduced working time (RTT) not taken into a ringing and stumbling salary, rather than losing them. This will now be possible. Under pressure from LR deputies, who defended several amendments to this effect, this measure was adopted in the amending finance bill (PLFR).
It should thus allow everyone to choose between time and money. It is a way to “better reward work and merit and increase the net salaries of French people“Defended MP LR Thibault Bazin. Furthermore, it willhelp companies facing difficulties in recruiting“, confirmed the deputy LR Véronique Louwagie. “It is a measure which has the advantage of being effective immediately, of costing nothing to the State and of only creating winners, companies and employees.“, Pleaded the deputy LR Pierre-Henri Dumont.
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Arguments that met with strong opposition from the deputies of the Nupes. “This amounts to attacking family life and the health of workers. A right as fundamental as that of rest should not be for sale“, opposed the deputy LFI Hadrien Clouet. “Rather than attacking the days of RTT, what is needed is to raise the minimum wage and that people be paid at least 1,500 euros“, defended the deputy LFI François Ruffin. The PS deputy Arthur Delaporte denounced him “pure and simple disappearance of all 35-hour protection“. Denouncing a “mean trick“, the deputy GDR Jean-Marc Tellier underlined that “the employer will be able to offer an employee who will work more than 35 hours and want to be paid, monetizable RTT increased to 10% rather than overtime increased to 25%“.
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In the end, the LR amendments were adopted with the support of the majority and the government: the employee will be free to proceed or not to monetize the RTT days. In addition, these amounts will be tax exempt. But the Renaissance deputies set two conditions. On the one hand, the employee will have to seek authorization from his employer. Because “this mechanism should not destabilize small and medium-sized enterprises, which are likely to face cash flow problems, in the event that many employees request such a conversion at the same time“, explained the deputy Marc Ferracci. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, has requested that the purchase of tax-exempt RTT days be capped at 7,500 euros.
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In addition, the majority chose to limit the measure in time: it only applies to RTTs acquired between 1er January 2022 and December 31, 2023. And for good reason: there is an even more ambitious project, defended by the President of the Republic, who promised during the presidential campaign the establishment of a time savings account (CET) ” portable, monetizable and universal”. The objective of the Head of State is to make the CET accessible to all employees. Consultation must begin at the start of the school year with the social partners on this subject.
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Created in 1994, the CET allows those who benefit from it to store days off or RTT not taken during the year to put them down later or monetize them later in the form of additional salary. But not all workers benefit from it. And this device is not automatic, it results from a collective agreement, a company or branch agreement. Today, barely 10% of employees in the private sector have access to it, a percentage which drops to only 4% in VSEs, according to Dares. And “many people today, when they change companies, when they change careers, are forced to give up their time savings account that they had accumulated because it is not portable“, had indicated Emmanuel Macron.
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This idea is largely inspired by the CFDT, which has been campaigning since 2018 for a “time bank”, in the form of a universal time savings account (Cetu), accessible to all workers and transferable from one job to another. But this device worries SMEs. “It would be a disaster, it’s money that comes out directly and impacts cash flow”, warns a little boss. “It shouldn’t be mandatory. Once again, these are devices designed for large companies where we want to force SMEs to enter, like Cinderella’s foot in the shoeworries Eric Chevée, vice-president of the CPME. When will SMEs be considered in this country for what they are and not for large groups in miniature? The CAC 40 is good but by definition there are only 40 companies, there are 3 million others“.
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