According to a July 31 decree published on Wednesday in the Official Gazette, the current unemployment insurance compensation rules are extended until October 31, 2024 to enable the continued payment of benefits, despite uncertainty over the fate of the reform, which is the result of the resignation of the government.
The regulations were first extended for one month on July 1, after Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the suspension of unemployment insurance reforms on the night of the first round of legislative elections. The reform, which aims to tighten entry conditions and compensation rules, will take effect in early December next year.
It will be up to the next government to decide on the exact rules from November 1, and the new Popular Front, which came in ahead in legislative elections but fell short of an outright majority in the National Assembly, has pledged to scrap reforms promised by the previous Attar government.
15 months compensation instead of 18 months
The reforms will reduce the maximum compensation period for people under 57 from 18 months to 15 months from December 1. You must also have worked eight months in the last 20 months to be eligible, compared with six months in the last 24 months currently.
The presidential camp reiterated its support for the reform in the name of full employment. In mid-June, President Emmanuel Macron called it “indispensable” and judged that the government had “The case for this action in the campaign”.
Unions have been strongly opposed to the reform, which is in addition to the 2021 and 2023 reforms, fearing worsening unemployment for the unemployed, especially the young and the elderly.
In mid-June, eight trade union federations (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, UNSA, Solidaires and FSU) urged the government in a joint press release “Abandon the most useless, unjust and violent reforms ever.”
