The suspense was thin and the agreement was quickly concluded. The seven deputies and seven senators meeting in a joint committee (CMP), Monday October 23, found a compromise in barely an hour and a half on the bill “for full employment” – i.e. a rate of 5% of the active population unemployed, compared to 7.1% currently.
The agreement was in little doubt after the concessions made by the government to the deputies of the Les Républicains (LR) party during the examination of the text which reorganizes the employment and integration service and reforms the income of active solidarity (RSA). However, certain points have been subject to adjustments.
Despite the senators’ reluctance, the CMP agreement confirms the change of name of Pôle emploi to France Travail, as desired by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron. A new name for the operator to which all job seekers will now be registered, including RSA beneficiaries, who will have to sign an “engagement contract”. The latter is undone by his character “reciprocal”as was added by the left-wing opposition in the National Assembly. “The reciprocal commitment contract was the one signed by the RSA beneficiaries”, justifies the senator (LR) of Aisne Pascale Gruny. In the eyes of the rapporteur of the text, “a contract necessarily binds both parties who signed it”.
A contract which will commit RSA beneficiaries to the flagship measure of this bill: the hours of activity conditioning the payment of the allowance. While the government had not included the principle in the initial text, after the agreement between senators and deputies, recipients will have to pay“at least fifteen hours” of weekly activity, without upper limit, to receive 607 euros monthly (for a single person). A duration which may be reduced “for reasons linked to the individual situation of the person concerned”especially if he faces serious obstacles to employment. “But it can’t be zero either”, specifies the deputy (Horizons) from the North and rapporteur of the text, Paul Christophe. Alone “people experiencing particular and proven difficulties, due to their state of health or their disability” or single parents “without childcare solution for a child under 12 years old” can be excluded from the system.
The left speaks of “free labor” or “forced labor”
Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promise, the measure has since the start provoked strong opposition from the left and employee organizations, who see it as a “free work” or ” forced labor “ for beneficiaries.
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