New rules for receiving unemployment will come into force.
This is a more than flammable subject that will fuel debate for weeks on end. The issue of unemployment is coming back to the forefront and it is not to bring good news. In fact, quite the opposite should happen. The rules currently in force for receiving money from France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) during a period when one is not working will soon be tightened. It will simply be more difficult to collect unemployment.
Currently, in France, you must have worked six months over the last two years to be able to receive, every month, compensation which partly compensates for the absence of salary. It is still necessary to be able to justify that the situation is suffered and not wanted. Thus, only the end of a fixed-term contract, a conventional termination or dismissal allows you to become unemployed. In some cases, it is also possible to resign and receive it, but many special conditions must be met.
In a few weeks, the compulsory work period to be eligible for unemployment will be extended. From 1er December, you will have to have worked at least eight months over the last 20 months to be entitled to it, i.e. two months more than today… over a shorter period than currently. The objective is clearly stated with this decision: to push more and more French people to be in the world of work. A new turn of the screw. Because before the current terms, which came into force in 2019, it was enough to have worked four months in almost two and a half years (28 months) to receive unemployment.
But that’s not all. Today, a 59-year-old employee who has just been laid off can receive unemployment until he reaches full retirement, that is to say 67 years at most. This rule could also be modified to increase to 61 years and push seniors to work at least two more years.
Still on the senior side, you will now have to wait until age 57 to be eligible for more advantageous unemployment, compared to 53, 54 or 55 today. The amount of their compensation will be calculated over the last 30 months and no longer over the last three years and the duration of compensation will be 15 months, compared to 22.5 today. These new durations have not yet been definitively established but Gabriel Attal has already announced the broad outlines in an interview with La Tribune Sunday.
New job seekers who will be registered with France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) from December 1 will be affected by these changes. For current unemployed people, the rules that apply today will remain the same and the duration of compensation will not change for them.