"I call them live, you will see ..." Paul *, 45, unemployed and father who lives in Noisy-le-Sec (Seine-Saint-Denis) immediately takes his son's tablet to try a new update of its data with Pôle emploi. The automated instructions are linked and the exercise looks like a walk in a gas factory, until the bug in the section "research area".
Paul then tries to contact an advisor by entering his username and personal code. An operation that fails and invariably ends with a return to reception. Like Paul, since the health crisis linked to the coronavirus, many of the job seekers have struggled to keep in touch with their counselor, or for example send an official document in order to preserve their rights.
In an exceptional situation, unique organization. In the midst of a pandemic, the unemployed must nevertheless "update their situation" with Pôle Emploi Ile-de-France and its 8,700 agents, some of whom are teleworking. Main difficulty: "Ensuring the continuity of public service".
Can we go to an agency?
No. The 136 Pôle Emploi agencies present in the eight departments of Ile-de-France no longer welcome the public "until further notice, but activity continues", indicates the Ile-de-France management. The 983,000 job seekers (categories A, B and C) must contact their advisers by email or by phone at 3949, log in via pole-emploi.fr or the “My space” mobile app.
Until when can we update our situation?
All job seekers, including those arriving at the end of their rights after March 1, must update their situation between March 28 and Wednesday, April 15, midnight. "Updating and declaring that you are always looking for a job during this confinement period is necessary in order to remain registered and continue to benefit from the services of Pôle emploi", indicates the management of Ile-de-France.
The update allows the persons compensated to continue to receive their allowance and not to be struck off. For jobseekers arriving at the end of their entitlements after March 1, the payment of back-to-work assistance (ARE) and specific solidarity (ASS) allowances will be extended until the end of the period of confinement.
How many applicants have already applied?
"After only 3 days of campaign, more than 50% of job seekers who had to update themselves (a little more than a million in Ile-de-France) have done so," says regional management. It did not consider it necessary to resort to automatic updating, which would have freed the unemployed from any steps this month. That was what some unions were asking for. Pôle Emploi “has put itself in a position to manage this operation”, guarantees the Ile-de-France management.
How to do without the Internet?
No personal connection to the Internet, poor command of French, subscription and telephone chips incompatible with a special number are some of the reasons that push some job seekers to move to an agency.
To those, Pôle emploi sent "an SMS on March 25, a letter to explain the exceptional situation to them" and asked "that a telephone call from their advisor be made to them". In Aubervilliers, for example, the agency identified 140 cases requiring personal follow-up. "In normal times, we assist a lot of people and help them in front of computers in agencies," confirms Yoan Piktoroff, CGT union representative at Pôle Emploi Ile-de-France.
Have there been many calls already?
Pôle emploi indicates that it has "strengthened its telephone platform since March 30". That day, it handled "21,000 calls", an increase of 50% compared to a classic period of updating! "The waiting time was less than two minutes," said the Ile-de-France management.
"Our work will mainly consist in trying to reach all those who have not updated, which represents a heavy burden," said Sofyen Ben Mahmoud, councilor and elected union SNU in Val-de-Marne.
How to register for unemployment if the agency is closed?
Registration is already "exclusively online for a few years now", reassures regional management. A situation interview will then be offered remotely by a counselor to start the job search journey. "We already lack the time to do it in normal times, I don't know how we're going to get there", worries another adviser.
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* The first name has been changed
In closed agencies, a "video operator" to respond to users
Until the middle of last week, it was still possible to push the door of a Pôle emploi agency. It is now excluded. But you can still press the button of the "video door phone" (videophone) to converse with an agent, locked inside, without direct contact.
From now on, the management of Pôle emploi Ile-de-France indicates that it relies mainly on telework: “As an illustration, last week, we delivered to our teams 550 additional telework stations. At the end of this week, we will add 200, ”she says.
In Ile-de-France agencies, "6 to 9% of the workforce usually present" continues to go to work, particularly for sorting mail. But over the past few weeks, faced with the coronavirus, the instructions have fluctuated.
From the start of the crisis, Pôle emploi Ile-de-France had canceled group training and workshops, but maintained a limited reception in the agency. Anger and concern in some places such as Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis), where motions demanded in mid-March the closure of the physical reception.
On March 18, five unions (SNU, FO, CFDT, CFTC and SNAP) brandished their right to alert. "We have a public service mission, but the question is also to preserve the health of staff and users," notes Christine Brouh, representative of the SNU Pôle emploi union. "We reminded the agents that they could exercise their right of withdrawal if they felt in danger," also specifies Yoan Piktoroff, CGT union representative at Pôle Emploi Ile-de-France.
The situation now seems to vary from site to site. A call for volunteers was made to return to the office, and respond to job seekers who reported to the "video operator". “I volunteered, slips a CDD employee in an agency in Val-d'Oise. At the moment, I don't have the equipment to work remotely. I wanted to find an office environment. But I was entitled to a categorical no from my boss. The management of my agency is very much on the rules to follow. "
The subject remains sensitive, however. At the national level, the FO union filed a strike notice on March 29, for "the closure of all Pôle emploi sites and structures, whether to the public or to employees". The regional management gives no estimate of the number of agents affected by the epidemic - several dozen according to the unions.