The reform of supplementary social protection (PSC) was integrated into the civil service transformation law passed in 2019. In order to specify the terms of application of this reform, a national collective agreement was signed on July 11, 2023. The text guarantees agents on sick leave or disability the maintenance of 90% of their net remuneration. This guarantee is acquired via collective contracts with compulsory membership, the contribution to which is the responsibility of the agent and the community which employs him. The latter covers at least 50% of the contribution.
According to the law, from 1is January 2025, 1.94 million territorial agents, employed by regions, departments, municipalities and public establishments, will have access to compulsory group insurance coverage half financed by their employer. This will cover incapacity, incapacity, disability and death, thus compensating for loss of income in the event of work interruption.
However, an obstacle remains: no implementing decree has yet been published. However, to be fully effective, the agreement must be transposed into legislation. “We finally benefit from a text which opens the way to contracts with compulsory membership in welfare for territorial agents. We must seize this opportunity to offer them a stable framework in terms of complementary social protection,” underlines Robert Chiche, president of Territoria mutual which has more than 150,000 members in protection (and 15,000 in health) in 2024.
A need for acculturation to compulsory collective insurance
As part of the discussions between insurers and Guillaume Kasbarian, new Minister of the Civil Service, Simplification and Transformation of Public Action, the rejection or postponement of this PSC reform was not mentioned and no timetable No specific details have been announced by the government concerning the obligation to put in place collective contracts with compulsory membership for territorial agents. “We are in uncertainty but the will is there and we will support the communities”, announces Nicolas Piotrowski, general director of Territoria mutual. Furthermore, the restrictive budgetary context (€5 billion in savings expected by the government in 2025) forces communities to measure their financial room for maneuver. “We must return to social dialogue and the acculturation of compulsory insurance in communities. This will allow a win-win agreement between local authorities and agents,” he adds.
At the request of trade union organizations, a meeting was organized with Guillaume Kasbariaan, Minister of the Civil Service, Simplification and Transformation of Public Action on Thursday, November 7. “This meeting will be an opportunity to agree on themes such as social action with the continuation of work on PSC in the territorial and hospital public functions, its adaptation in the State, as well as related subjects to disability”, indicated the ministry in its press release before receiving the union organizations.
When will it be implemented?
Note that at 1is January 2025, optional pension contracts will expire. “When will the transposition of this agreement be effective? “, calls out Hélène Guillet, president of the SNDGCT. In the field of PSC reform, the national union of general directors of local authorities is working with elected officials to help them embark immediately on the path to the collective contract with compulsory membership in providence for their territorial agents.
An uncertainty also faced by Sophie Le Port, national secretary of the Interco CFDT federation. “The place of the CFDT in territorial agreements must be recognized to report the concerns of agents on the ground, in particular on the transposition of this agreement. Indeed, we are obliged to explain to the general management of the community where we are and unfortunately, we do not know whether or not the agreement will be transposed in 2025. The government is not providing any response at the moment. she protests.
“The major advances made by the PSC in health and welfare are good news. This protection still faces legislative uncertainties, including in the private sector. The implementation of this public welfare system is important. Moreover, in the private sector, we also started by addressing the subject of welfare before that of health. It is certainly complicated to manage uncertainties but we can hold the boat. We all just need to take the time to get used to these new collective insurance contracts as best we can. Our major concern is not the price but rather the removal of old, incomplete coverage to create new ones with good guarantees. The need is therefore to prepare the file well in advance to be able to complete this process and to maintain good intelligence in the dialogue between employers. – insurer – elected. The price adjustments will be annual in advance and we can manage it,” procrastinates Philippe Chou, president of Riskeo, an independent actuarial consulting firm dedicated to complementary social protection.
Anticipate what can be
Although no decree has yet been published by the government on the application of the PSC reform, a good number of communities have already committed. “More and more communities are interested in this compulsory health and welfare system. Instead of waiting for the legal framework of the ministry, they exploit their freedom of administration to act autonomously. declares Vincent Lescaillez, deputy general director of HR and general administration of Bordeaux Métropole and president of the association of HR managers of large communities.
Since January 2024, Bordeaux Métropole has created its own local contracts which are similar to the national agreements of the PSC reform. The Bordeaux metropolis is setting up collective contracts with compulsory membership on welfare and health. “We succeeded because historically, we already had this practice of self-insurance with more than 80% of our agents adhering to optional insurance contracts,” explains Vincent Lescaillez. “Agents have always been well covered for salary maintenance in the event of sick leave (health) but not for the risks of incapacity for work, disability, incapacity or death (foresight). We have therefore worked on this issue from 2021 in order to add reliable guarantees to our agents’ pension contracts,” he adds.
“The creation of our contracts is a great success”, supports Vincent Lescaillez. Communities have therefore become involved in this process as have trade union organizations. As for the human resources department, at the heart of the system, it sees the opportunity to significantly strengthen its employer brand. “Three strong points stand out: the good tripartite management of the employer/union organizations/AMO (project management assistant) file, the quality of social coverage with a requirement on the guarantee/price ratio, and the strengthening of social dialogue to encourage the creation of these collective contracts”, concludes the deputy general director of Bordeaux Métropole.
