The government expects the unemployment insurance reform to generate 3.6 billion euros in savings and enable the creation of 90,000 additional jobs, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned on Wednesday May 22 from the Ministry of Labor .
The executive hopes to achieve these objectives by reforming the rules for compensating the unemployed through a decree, the outlines of which are presented by Minister Catherine Vautrin to several trade unions and employers’ organizations, before a formal announcement next week.
At the end of this meeting, the president of the CFE-CGC, François Hommeril, added that the government intends to “tighten” the conditions allowing the opening of rights to unemployment insurance. According to him, the new reform will provide that it will be necessary to have worked 8 months in the last 20 months, instead of 6 months in the last 24 months currently.
The reform unveiled at the start of next week
In addition to the affiliation conditions, François Hommeril reported that the government wants to create a “resumption of employment bonus” for seniors, but at the same time cap compensation for unemployed people close to retirement. The union representative sees it as an “anti-managerial” and “unbearable” measure.
Mr. Hommeril also noted that the government plans, following the pension reform and the raising of the retirement age to 64, a modification of the age limits giving entitlement to a longer period of compensation. These limits must be raised by two years. However, the possibility of a deficiency before the start of compensation and that of a modification of the duration of compensation was not mentioned.
The minister must still receive the social partners on Thursday. According to those around her, she hopes that “the government copy can evolve following these consultations”, while the reform must be unveiled at the beginning of next week.
