The Court of Auditors fulfills, once again, its function as an itch – or Father Fouettard – by evoking explosive ideas on a general public subject: work stoppages. In a report made public Wednesday May 29the magistrates of rue Cambon in Paris judge ” essential “ to control the expenses incurred by caring for people who temporarily interrupt their activity for health reasons. Faced with a bill that has been mounting for several years, it is necessary, according to them, “save money” for Social Security.
With this in mind, the high court suggests in particular ” modify the parameters “ of the coverage offered, for example by postponing the moment from which the worker is welcomed under the wing of health insurance or by examining the hypothesis of a shortening of the “maximum duration of compensation”. So many ideas likely to be of interest to the government, at the very moment when it has begun its discussions to prepare the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) for 2025.
The general “Secu” system devotes more and more money to daily allowances linked to work stoppages: 12 billion euros in 2022 compared to 7.7 billion in 2017, an increase of 56%. The level reached is “unpublished” and results from the conjunction of several factors, according to the report released on Wednesday: increase in the active population (and therefore in the number of potential beneficiaries), aging of individuals occupying a position – which increases the probability of seeing them temporarily stop their activity due to a health problem -, dynamic salaries – which has an impact on compensation since it is calculated based on the remuneration of the people concerned -, fallout from the health crisis, etc.
Increase the waiting period
The phenomenon, which is part of an underlying trend, has been worrying the executive for many months. In June 2023, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, took it up in a polemical manner, castigating the ” people “ who benefit from the system “while they are not sick”. “It is very easy to obtain sick leave”, added, at the same time, Gabriel Attal, then Minister for Public Accounts, to denounce abuses and fraud. A few months later, a provision was adopted as part of the PLFSS 2024: it provides that work stoppage established by a doctor following a teleconsultation cannot last more than three days.
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