The government sent the social partners on Thursday evening the new draft decree toughening on October 1 the calculation of unemployment benefit, suspended by the Council of State, justifying it by improving the employment situation, according to the text obtained by AFP.
Read alsoUnderstand the suspension of the reform of unemployment benefit by the Council of State
The controversial new rules for calculating the amount of unemployment benefit, a flagship measure of the reform, were to enter into force on July 1, but the Council of State had suspended them in June, arguing
"uncertainties about the economic situation" .
The court had been seized in summary proceedings by the unions, opposed from the start to this reform which they consider penalizing for job seekers. Their appeals must also be examined on the merits. But, without waiting for this judgment on the merits, the government responds to the criticism of the Council of State by highlighting in its explanatory memorandum
"the sharp rebound in employment since May"
, as illustrated by example. than
“At the end of June private salaried employment has already exceeded its pre-crisis level”.
Some unions, like the CGT and FO, have recently indicated that they are ready to
"attack again".
The unions believe that the new method of calculating the daily reference wage (SJR), the basis of the allowance, will penalize job seekers alternating unemployment and activity,
"the permittents".
According to an assessment by Unédic carried out in the spring, up to 1.15 million people opening rights in the year following the entry into force of the reform would receive a lower monthly allowance (by 17% on average), with in at the same time an
extended
“theoretical duration of compensation”
(14 months on average against 11 before the reform).
The executive defends an
"equity issue"
, the current system being more favorable to those who alternate short contracts and inactivity than to those who work continuously.
"The strong recovery observed in the labor market, associated with recruitment difficulties, in particular in sectors using short contracts, call for no further delay in the implementation of the new rules for calculating unemployment benefits"
, concludes the government. Emmanuel Macron again defended its implementation on Thursday.
"We must ensure that it is never more profitable not to work than to work,"
he said.