The executive is stepping up its action on the employment front. After making four orders last week concerning employees and businesses, the Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, presented five new ones on Wednesday at the Minister's Council.
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“ With these nine orders, the objective is to organize the protection of all those involved in the workplace. Namely, employees, job seekers, trainees and companies, ”says the firm of Muriel Pénicaud. Two of the orders presented are deemed to be “ offensive ” and relate to bonuses for “ second line ” employees and occupational health. The other three are considered “ defensive ” and relate to vocational training, elections in very small businesses and the organization of the CSEs. Le Figaro details these devices.
A tax-free premium of 2,000 euros
The Ministry of Labor wants companies to be able to reward, if they wish, their employees for the " second front line ", like cashiers, delivery people and other professions essential to life in the country. " This gratuity bonus reflects the government's desire not to forget the workers at the front, " explained Muriel Pénicaud. The executive therefore sets up a tax-free premium without social security charges which may amount to a maximum of 2,000 euros. Concretely, the ordinance makes it possible to legally distinguish, for companies, the employees who must go to their place of work. The device is reminiscent of the famous Macron premium, introduced after the movement of "yellow vests". But this did not allow the distinction of the working conditions of the employees, and therefore to privilege mainly those exposed to the coronavirus.
Read also: Coronavirus: the Macron premium may be increased to 2,000 euros in certain companies
In detail, companies with a profit-sharing agreement will be able, until August 31, to pay up to 2,000 euros in tax-free and de-socialized premiums. If these companies have already paid a premium of 1000 euros at the start of the year, as part of the Macron bonus, they can reallocate a second bonus of 1000 euros. Finally, companies that do not have a profit-sharing agreement cannot exceed the 1000 euros bonus.
Health services mobilized
Faced with Coronavirus, rue de Grenelle allows occupational health services to temporarily refocus their action. In this sense, occupational physicians will now be able to prescribe work stoppages in the context of the epidemic and carry out tests for the virus. In addition, in order to free up resources to combat the coronavirus, certain compulsory visits are temporarily suspended and can be postponed until August 31, 2020. Only hiring visits and those intended for vulnerable workers are to be preferred. In addition, the occupational health services will have to intensify their message to support companies on the implementation of the Covid-19 prevention measures, notably with the provision of guides.
Securing training
To prevent the training system from " collapsing ", the Ministry of Labor secures apprentices, trainees on professional training contracts and training centers. With this in mind and given the interruption of activity due to confinement, it will be possible to extend the work-study contracts until the end of the training cycle. It will therefore be allowed to add a few months in order to complete the whole process. In this sense, the government is asking apprenticeship training centers (CFA) to support apprentices and to finance the additional " contract cost ". In addition, the ordinance makes it possible to extend the period during which a young person can remain in an apprenticeship training center (CFA) under the status of trainee pending the conclusion of an apprenticeship contract. This three-month period is extended to six months, given the difficulties encountered in seeking an employer.
Postponement of VSE elections and extension of the terms of the industrial tribunal advisers
Given the unprecedented situation, the Ministry of Labor will not be able to ensure professional elections for Very Small Enterprises (VSE) in late November or early December. It was therefore decided to postpone them to the first quarter of 2021. These elections make it possible to measure the audience of union organizations (OS) and ensure employee representation. As a direct consequence of this postponement, margins are given to the mandates of the industrial tribunal advisers, because the composition of the industrial tribunal depends on the representativeness, which itself depends on the elections of very small businesses. In this sense, the mandate of the industrial tribunal advisers is extended by one year.
Giving flexibility to CSEs
To deal with this crisis, the executive wants to focus on social dialogue in business. With this in mind, the Social and Economic Committees (ESC) will now be able to meet by new means: videoconferencing (hitherto limited to three times a year), audio conferencing and even instant messaging.
