the new reform of December 1st definitively abandoned

It’s official. The hand will return to the unions and employers’ organizations to negotiate new unemployment compensation rules. During his general policy speech, this Tuesday, October 1, Prime Minister Michel Barnier asked the social partners to reopen negotiations “in the coming weeks” on a new “unemployment compensation system”. The head of government thus implies that the reform project carried by his predecessor Gabriel Attal has been abandoned.

Supposed to be applied on December 1, this new turn of the screw was suspended between the two rounds of the legislative elections by Matignonwhile the political context becomes clearer. To finally be definitively buried, therefore. “Unless the social partners want to come back to it”Gabriel Attal’s reform project will not see the light of day, confirmed Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, the Minister of Labor, on franceinfo this Wednesday, October 2. For the record, the former Prime Minister wanted in particular to toughen the conditions required to open a new right to unemployment, to 8 months of work out of the last 20 for the rules of common law, compared to 6 months out of the last 24 today.

An agreement on the employment of seniors will also be necessary

This reform project also provided for a reduction in the maximum duration of unemployment compensation, from 18 to 15 months in the general case. Conversely, among the good news, easier access to unemployment insurance for resigning employees and a “bonus” to encourage senior job seekers to return to work were also envisaged.

It remains to be seen what the exact specifications of the new Prime Minister will be for the future negotiation. Because the social partners will have to respect a framework letter sent by Matignon, a document which will set in particular the level of savings to aim for with the new unemployment insurance reform. Good news for the social partners: this new negotiation will be carried out “rather on the basis of the November 2023 agreement» on a new unemployment insurance agreement, signed by a majority of trade union and employer organizations, said the Minister of Labor on franceinfothis Wednesday.

As the current compensation rules are valid until October 31, unions and employers will have to act quickly. Especially since another condition must be respected: reaching an agreement on the issue of employment of seniors. The negotiation of the social partners on the subject at the beginning of the year ended in failure, the creation of a «CDI senior» proposed by Medef having provoked the ire of the unions. The task is heavy for the social partners, therefore.