According to information from the daily Les Echos on Thursday evening, the Prime Minister "Jean Castex will ask the professional branches concerned to define by agreement the conditions for payment of a premium without charges which could be paid to certain employees", on the occasion of the third social dialogue conference scheduled for Monday.
Asked by AFP on Friday, Matignon says nothing is "acted upon".
Another government source agrees that this is part of the lines of thought, but that "it is up to the Prime Minister to decide".
The Minister of Labor, Elisabeth Borne, launched at the beginning of November a mission, entrusted to Sophie Moreau-Follenfant, director of the manager of the high voltage network RTE, and Christine Erhel, economist (Cnam), on these workers particularly exposed during the health crisis. and whose role has proven to be crucial for economic continuity (building workers, home helpers, salespeople, guards, etc.).
The two women produced a report making it possible to define more precisely the professions concerned and to investigate the working conditions of these employees.
This report, which was presented to the social partners on Friday morning, should serve as a basis for opening up the branches of negotiations leading to an improvement in the remuneration or training of these workers.
A seminar "early May"
The authors crossed two criteria, exposure to the Covid-19 risk (direct contact with the public, colleagues, exposure to infectious risks) and the presence on site during the first confinement, which made it possible to establish a list of 17 trades.
Fifteen branches, which "include at least 50% of these trades and for which the number of second-line employees is greater than 30.000", have been identified, detailed Ms. Moreau-Follenfant.
They total a little more than three million second-line employees, the largest workforce being in construction, road transport, retail and wholesale trade, predominantly food, cleaning companies.
The representatives of these fifteen branches will be invited to a seminar a priori "at the beginning of May", to determine the subjects which could be the subject of agreements or consultations.
At the end of January, the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, was annoyed with a dragging process. "It has lasted too long, now we have to accelerate. We want concrete solutions," he thundered.
At the beginning of November, Ms. Borne had mentioned a long-term revaluation of these trades, affirming that the ambition was "not to go on premiums + one shot +", even if there was no question "of removing bonuses".
"These are jobs that cannot be changed with the snap of a finger. It is a long-term job that has progressed quite quickly in reality," said his entourage on Friday.
The exceptional purchasing power bonus, known as the Macron bonus, was decided after the "yellow vests" crisis at the end of 2018. This bonus, exempt from social security contributions and income tax, could go up to 1.000 euros.
More than four million people had benefited from it between January 1 and the end of July 2020, according to a point made by the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, at the end of September.