Employment of seniors: employers and unions officially invited to reach an agreement

This negotiation stems from the social agenda established in July during a meeting in Matignon with employers and unions, aiming to lay the foundations of the new "life at work pact" wanted by President Emmanuel Macron, after the painful pension crisis.

In accordance with the Labor Code, the social partners, if they decide to negotiate, must indicate to the government the period of time they consider necessary. The Ministry of Labor spoke to the press "for information only" about the date of March 15 to achieve this.

In the “guidance document” which is to serve as a basis for discussions, the government sets itself the objective of “achieving full employment for seniors”. Concretely, this involves moving from an employment rate of "33% in France" for 60-64 year olds (compared to 46,4% on average in the European Union) to a rate of 65% "at the 'horizon 2030'.

While recognizing that the objective is "ambitious", the ministry, which is counting on a decline in unemployment, affirms that the employment rate of 60-64 year olds will mechanically increase under the effect of the pension reform around 60 %, the additional effort therefore being “of the order of 5-6 points”.

The document mentions several levers: strengthening sector and company negotiations on age management, adjusting career ends or even better fighting age-related stereotypes and discrimination.

The document mentions the agreement on unemployment insurance reached on November 10 between employers and three unions (CFDT, FO, CFTC). The agreement referred to this negotiation the modifications to the conditions of compensation for seniors following the pension reform, but the social partners specified in advance the volume of savings to be made: 440 million euros over the period 2024- 2027.

“The negotiation cannot have an adverse impact on public finances,” specifies the orientation document.

In addition to the employment of seniors, social partners are invited to work on the creation of a universal time savings account (Cetu), in accordance with the commitment of President Emmanuel Macron.

This account, which allows you to accumulate vacation days, must in particular be portable, thus allowing the employee not to lose his days by changing employers.

The negotiation will have to set the terms of "supply" and "use" of the Cetu, indicates the document, the ministry specifying that the new account is not intended to "crush" the CET (Time Savings Account) already implemented. place by certain companies.

The idea is that "in the event that a company is not covered by an existing CET, then the Cetu would apply", explained the ministry.

This account must also be managed by “a third-party operator”, which remains to be defined.

Employers and unions must also work to “encourage career progression and opportunities for professional retraining, and better fight against professional attrition”.

The Ministry of Labor specifies that in the event of a national inter-professional agreement (ANI), a bill could be tabled "as summer approaches or during the summer".