The Senate gave the green light during the night of Thursday to Friday to a government amendment which created a " specific device " of partial unemployment, allowing " a reduction in working hours " compensated " partly " by the state.
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The amendment voted during the first reading examination of a bill on " urgent provisions to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic ", provides for the possibility of a " specific partial activity regime subject to the conclusion of a collective agreement or the development of a reduced activity plan for job retention ”.
" In the absence of agreement (...), a document drawn up by the employer after consultation with the social and economic committee, when it exists, fixes the content of the plan of reduced activity for the maintenance in employment ", specifies l 'amendment.
Tuesday, the government had presented an amendment which intended to authorize it by ordinance to create an “ alternative device ” with partial unemployment with counterpart on employment. But it had not been adopted, the senators judging its wording " too vague ".
In defending the new amendment, the Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud indicated that the government had " heard " the fears of senators on the reference to an order and had therefore decided to present " a hard article, clearly specifying the device ". Recalling that 12 million workers had benefited from partial unemployment, she underlined that " the State cannot durably pay the salaries of millions of people in the private sector ".
Sectors such as the automobile or aeronautics "are going to be very impacted " and " it seems to us necessary to quickly put in place new job and skills preservation devices which will allow these companies to adjust the capacity of production down according to demand, to limit economic and social costs while preserving employment, "she continued.
" Very concretely, companies will be able to reduce working time by agreement with the trade union organizations, make wage restraint, on condition of fully maintaining employment, with State aid which will complement to make up for part of the loss of purchasing power , "she explained, deeming the system" win for everyone ".
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" The alternative is to lay off part of the staff, " she insisted. It is better " a reduction in working time partly compensated by a partial activity system partly financed by the State ". She added that through a decree the government wants to " encourage " companies to conclude agreements. For companies that have " a majority agreement, the state takeover rate will be higher ," she said.
Another government amendment adopted aims to extend the allowance rights of certain job seekers, in particular " until August 31, 2021 " for intermittent workers in the entertainment industry.
