Make all public and private employees work seven hours more per year, without paying them, to replenish Social Security funds and better finance the care of the elderly or disabled? This is the shocking proposal adopted by the Senate on Wednesday, November 20.
The upper house of Parliament voted for an amendment which would establish a new day of solidarity, as part of the debates around the Social Security budget for 2025. We summarize what you need to know about this proposal, including the final adoption is far from guaranteed.
1 What is the Senate actually proposing?
The amendment at the heart of the debate, available on the Senate website, was defended by centrist Élisabeth Doineau during discussions on the Social Security finance bill (PLFSS). Since 2004, there has already been one day of solidarity per year, during which employees work seven hours for free; the amendment proposes to establish a new one, by doubling the annual “free” working time from seven hours to fourteen, and to rename this time solidarity contribution through work.
The concrete implementation of this time (one day per year, “ten minutes a week”, “two minutes a day”…) could differ depending on the case, and would be defined by a company or sector agreement. Employers should then repay the salary they did not have to pay as part of a solidarity contribution for autonomy, as they already do for the first day of solidarity. The amount they must pay, which currently amounts to 0.3% of their payroll, would be increased to 0.6%, specifies the amendment.
2 What's the point?
The stated objective is to replenish the funds of the autonomy branch of Social Security, which deals in particular with the care of the elderly and people with disabilities. The second day of solidarity would generate “a lasting revenue of around 2.5 billion euros”believes Elisabeth Doineau, “in order to help it meet its increasing expenses in terms of assistance to dependent elderly people or people with disabilities, in a context of inevitable aging of the French population”.
This proposal already appeared in a Senate report on the financial situation of nursing homes, published in September, which gave several avenues to help “a sector on its last legs” and compensate “economic difficulties of an unprecedented scale”. Among them, a second day of solidarity, but also an increase in public funding and measures to promote the attractiveness of professions in the sector.
3 Who is for it? Who is against?
The amendment was approved at first reading in the Senate by 216 votes to 119. It was supported by the right and the center, the majority in the hemicycle. “We are not making this proposal lightly.”more “Today we have to find ways” pour “finance the old age wall, the residential shift and the transformation of our nursing homes”insisted centrist senator Elisabeth Doineau before the vote on Wednesday. “What is proposed is seven more hours per year, that’s forty minutes per month, ten minutes per week. It’s a noble cause for our seniors”defended Senator Daniel Chasseing (Les Indépendants).
The government, although coming from the right and the center, gave an unfavorable opinion on the amendment “at this stage”but said he was open for “rework” with social partners. “The question of working time is not a taboo and must be asked. Should this happen through an amendment to the Social Security financing bill? Today, the government's position is that No”judged the Minister of Public Accounts, Laurent Saint-Martin. “That this can be reworked with the social partners, I think that could be a good idea.”
The left-wing senators, a large part of the RDSE group (with a radical majority) and the three senators from the National Rally rejected the proposal. “While we're at it (…), I suggest that we eliminate the 35 hours, that we remove a week of paid vacation, that we return to 48 hours!”exclaimed socialist senator Monique Lubin. The communist Cathy Apourceau-Poly proposed, with a touch of sarcasm, a “dividend solidarity day” to make shareholders contribute.
4 Will this measure really see the light of day?
A definitive adoption of this amendment seems unlikely, at least as it stands, due to the opposition of the left and the RN, and the unfavorable opinion of the government. After the Senate vote on the entire PLFSS, the text will be debated during a joint committee (CMP) bringing together deputies and senators, responsible for finding a compromise, particularly regarding this amendment. Elected officials from the right and the center have a narrow majority (eight seats out of 14). But retaining the amendment creating a second day of solidarity, as they did in the Senate, would amount to overriding the opinion of the government they support. Once this stage has passed, the text has a strong chance of being put to a vote via article 49.3 during its final passage through the National Assembly, announced Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
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