For the fourth time since his arrival at the Elysée in 2017, Emmanuel Macron wants to modify the rights and duties of the unemployed. During the press conference he gave on Tuesday January 16, the President of the Republic announced, for “next spring”, labor market reform. It will fall into two areas: on the one hand, “tougher rules when job offers are refused” ; the other, “better support” people deprived of activity. The unions fear that this initiative will result, once again, in a turn of the screw to the detriment of women and men looking for a position.
Most often, the compensation conditions applicable to job seekers are set in “conventions” resulting from agreements between the social partners, the latter being the managers of unemployment insurance. But if the employee and employer organizations cannot agree, the government takes control: this is what happened in 2019, with a series of decrees, spread over two years, aimed at effect of tightening the rules (extending the contribution period to be eligible for an allowance, etc.). A government can also, on its own initiative, reshape the standards imposed on the unemployed. This was the case, with the law of September 2018 (overhaul of the scale of sanctions imposed on job seekers failing to fulfill their obligations) and with the law of December 2022 (closure of unemployment insurance for employees on fixed-term contracts, repulsive, twice, a permanent offer).
By expressing his desire to initiate a new reform, Mr. Macron provoked reactions of various kinds among the social partners. Perplexity, first of all: “We would like to have more explanations because the words of the head of state can mean several things”, underlines Eric Chevée, vice-president of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises. Is the goal to strengthen sanctions against unemployed people who ignore their duties? Is it a question of changing the parameters of compensation?
If it is the second option which holds the rope, it is likely to create difficulties because the employers’ and employees’ organizations (with the exception of the CGT and the CFE-CGC) have recently signed an agreement which revises the criteria for awarding an allowance. Formed in November 2023, this compromise resulted in a “convention” which is now only waiting for the green light from the government to come into force. But the intention displayed on Tuesday evening by Mr. Macron risks calling everything into question, according to Michel Beaugas, FO confederal secretary: “The agreement that social actors concluded in the fall of 2023 has just been buried by the President of the Republic, since he announced almost the complete opposite of what had been decided by the unions and employers »he laments.
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