Government gives green light to new unemployment insurance rules

In a decree published in the Official Journal, François Bayrou, who is still working on the composition of his government, thus approves the new unemployment insurance agreement concluded in mid-November for four years.

The agreement had been signed by a large majority of organizations at the end of a lightning negotiation: the CFDT, FO and CFTC, as well as the three employers' organizations (Medef, CPME, U2P). The CGT, which pointed out a new agreement "dangerous" for workers, and the CFE-CGC had not initialed it.

Just before the censorship, the Barnier government had decided to accept this agreement as part of the management of current affairs, but the new Prime Minister François Bayrou could have decided otherwise.

The text was therefore eagerly awaited by the social partners who were keen to prevent the government from taking back control, as the Attal government had done in the spring, publishing a decree - ultimately abandoned - whose "violence" the unions had unanimously denounced.

CFDT negotiator Olivier Guivarch told AFP on Friday of his "satisfaction" at seeing the agreement ratified.

"This approval is a victory for joint management," FO stressed in a press release, noting that it "gives back control to social partners in the management and definition of unemployment insurance rules for the next four years," which had not been the case since 2019.

The employers were equally delighted, with the U2P seeing this as "the full and complete return of social partners in defining the rules of unemployment insurance".

Cross-border workers spared

The timetable for validating this new agreement was tight because the current rules expired on December 31. If the new ones apply from January 1, the majority of the measures will not come into force until April 1, 2025 "for operational reasons", specifies Unédic, which manages the unemployment insurance scheme, in a press release.

This is particularly the case for one of the flagship measures: the increase by two years of the age limits from which senior unemployed people benefit from a longer period of compensation. This is to take into account the pension reform, to which the unions are still opposed and which François Bayrou said on Thursday he was ready to "resume without suspending".

The level giving entitlement to a maximum of 22,5 months of compensation thus increases from 53 to 55 years and that giving entitlement to 27 months from 55 to 57 years.

For other job seekers, the maximum period of compensation is 18 months.

Another measure, to take into account the particular situation of seniors: the degression of unemployment benefit, which concerns high incomes, will no longer be applied from the age of 55, compared to 57 years previously.

The monthly payment of benefits will also come into effect on April 1. The benefit paid will thus be the same each month, based on 30 days. Over a full year, the unemployed will lose five days of compensation, and even six in leap years.

Starting this time from May 1, 2025, the employer contribution for unemployment insurance will decrease from 4,05% to 4% of gross salary.

Some measures initially planned by the social partners' agreement were ultimately rejected.

The government decree states in particular that the measure which provided that it would be necessary to have worked at least five months, and not six months, over the last 24 months to register for unemployment insurance for the first time, will not come into force because it requires legislation.

As announced, a measure of the agreement which planned to reduce the compensation of cross-border workers - calculated on the basis of their salaries received abroad and often much higher than in France - is also excluded from the approval, for legal reasons.

These provisions, which were to generate a significant portion of the expected savings (some 2,5 billion over four years in total), were considered "contrary to European regulations", explains Unédic.