The new turn of the screw for job seekers is becoming clearer. Wednesday March 27, during an interview on TF1’s “20 Heures”, Gabriel Attal declared that“a real global reform of unemployment insurance” will be developed by “in the summer”, “so that it can come into force in the fall”. The Prime Minister’s comments are more of a confirmation than an announcement, the executive having expressed, on numerous occasions since the end of 2023, its wish to introduce stricter rules on compensation for people looking for an activity .
For the tenant of Matignon, it is necessary that“there are more French people working because they generate additional income”, likely to bring a breath of fresh air to very degraded public finances. A project all the more urgent as the unemployment rate has risen slightly over the past year, to 7.5% of the active population, far from Emmanuel Macron’s full employment objective – around 5% in 2027.
Wednesday evening, Mr. Attal indicated that the Minister of Labor, Catherine Vautrin, will be responsible for ” prepare “ the framework document which will guide the negotiation between social partners. On paper, it is the unions and employers who set the parameters of unemployment insurance in a “convention” after having discussed it among themselves. But they must follow a roadmap developed by the government.
Mr. Attal’s intervention on Wednesday evening made it possible to see a little more clearly on the avenues favored by the executive. Firstly, the duration of compensation could be reduced “several months”. It had already been reduced, with the previous reform implemented in February 2023, from twenty-four months to eighteen – for individuals under 53, seniors being taken care of for longer. “I don’t think it should go less than twelve months”added the Prime Minister.
“Scary speech”
Second slider that could be activated: the duration of affiliation, that is to say the working time necessary to qualify for an allowance. Since the 2019 reform, a jobseeker must have been in work for at least six months over the last two years to receive a benefit. ” We can imagine (…) that we need to work more”explained Mr. Attal (for example eight months instead of six) or combine the required six months over a shorter period (one and a half years compared to two, today).
Last option: the level of compensation. It could be revised downwards, by modifying its method of calculation, or follow new degression mechanisms. This hypothesis has “less my preference”insisted on emphasizing Mr. Attal: “But we will let the social partners work. » Employer and employee organizations will therefore – once again – discuss unemployment insurance, even though they had already concluded an agreement on this subject on November 10, 2023. This compromise led to a “convention” which must be approved by the executive to apply. The government will decide whether it gives the green light when the unions and employers have concluded – on April 8, in principle – another negotiation, that on “a new pact for life at work” (employment of seniors, prevention of professional wear and tear, etc.).
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