2024-09-23 10:30:00
France has 11 million caregivers, or one in five French people. Nearly 20% of them help a loved one at least 20 hours a week. In order for them to be able to temporarily suspend their professional activity, the law of December 28, 2015 relating to the adaptation of society to aging has established caregiver leave (CPA).
What is a caregiver?
A close caregiveras its name suggests, is a person who voluntarily helps a dependent relative in their circle. He or she may be a spouse, a parent, an uncle, a cousin, a neighbor or a friend. According to the law of December 28, 2015 relating to the adaptation of society to aging (ASV) ” A close caregiver is considered to be a person who provides assistance, on a regular and frequent basis, in a non-professional capacity, to carry out acts or activities of daily life for a person who is losing their autonomy, due to age, illness or disability. ».
How to obtain caregiver status?
There is no legal status for caregivers. « The associations don’t want itsays Bénédicte Kail. A legal status is restrictive. However, caregivers do not want to be confined to this role. What they want, however, is recognition in terms of social rights of what this implies. “And to add: ” Most often, we are caregivers by default, because society does not offer enough solutions to the elderly or disabled. We fill the gaps. Our first demand as an association is that we no longer need to be caregivers. Hence the fact of not requesting a legal status…»
Although the caregiver does not have a legal status as such, certain elements allow them to be legally characterized. Thus, according to article R.245-7 of the Social Action and Families Code ” is considered a family caregiver, for the application of Article L.245-12, the spouse, the cohabitant, the person with whom the beneficiary has entered into a civil solidarity pact, the ascendant, the descendant or the collateral up to the fourth degree of the beneficiary, or the ascendant, the descendant or the collateral up to the fourth degree of the other member of the couple who provides the human assistance defined in application of the provisions of Article L.245-3 of this code and who is not employed for this assistance. »
What is caregiver leave?
Carer’s leave offers the possibility of suspending one’s professional activity to support a disabled person, a person losing their independence or an elderly person.
How to request and obtain caregiver leave? What are the conditions?
To benefit from carer’s leave, you must request it from your employer at least one month before the planned leave start date.
However, leave may begin without delay in the following cases:
sudden deterioration in the health of the person receiving care (certified by a medical certificate); crisis situation requiring urgent action by the employee; sudden cessation of accommodation in an establishment from which the person receiving care benefited (certified by the head of the establishment).
« This leave is subject to conditionssays Bénédicte Kail. The person receiving assistance must be a disabled person or someone who has suffered a permanent loss of autonomy with a disability rate equal to or greater than 80% recognized by the departmental home for disabled people (MDPH) or a degree of dependency determined by the departmental council (GIR 1 to 3). »
The duration of the carer’s leave is three months, renewable up to one year over the entire professional career.
“I think we are the European country that has gone the furthest on this subject. Carers now have the possibility of benefiting from 365 days of leave over their entire career,” continues the co-host of the CIAAF.
What does the labor code say?
According to article D3142-8 of the Labor Code, the request for caregiver leave must be accompanied by the following documents:
a sworn statement of the applicant’s family relationship with the person receiving care or of the assistance provided to an elderly or disabled person with whom he or she resides or maintains close and stable ties; a sworn statement by the applicant specifying that he or she has not previously taken, throughout his or her career, carer’s leave or the length of time during which he or she benefited from this leave; when the person receiving care is a disabled child dependent on the applicant, within the meaning of Article L. 512-1 of the Social Security Code, or a disabled adult, a copy of the decision taken in application of social security or social assistance legislation subject to proof of a permanent disability rate of at least 80%; when the person receiving care suffers from a loss of autonomy, a copy of the decision awarding the personalized autonomy allowance (APA).
Can the employer refuse a request for caregiver leave?
If all the conditions for benefiting from carer’s leave are met, the employer cannot refuse your request. Otherwise, you can refer the matter to the industrial tribunal.
Can you request part-time carer’s leave?
The carer’s leave can be split into days or half-days in order to ensure part-time work at the same time. Subject to the employer’s agreement, carer’s leave may be transformed into part-time work or split up. The minimum duration of each split leave period is 1 day (article D3142-9 of the Labour Code) “, recalls article L3142-20 of the Labor Code.
What are the repercussions on salary and retirement? Is a caregiver paid?
If the carer’s leave is unpaid, it is nevertheless possible to receive the daily allowance for carers (AJPA). The carer must apply for it from the Family Allowance Fund (CAF) or the Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) for those insured under the agricultural scheme. At the end of the leave, the employee normally returns to their job or a similar job, with at least equivalent pay.
Finally, carer’s leave is automatically taken into account as part of retirement rights.
Ajpa: what is the amount and duration of the compensation? What about its renewal?
The amount of the Daily Allowance for Carers (AJPA) is €64.54 per day. « We recently obtained that this right be rechargeable when a person helps several of his relatives during his lifesays Bénédicte Kail. For example, a child with a disability and an elderly parent who is losing their independence. From January 1, 2025, caregivers will be able to benefit from 66 days of AJPA compensation for each person they care for (instead of 66 days in total) up to a limit of four people. And to add: ” Today, we are campaigning for the duration of the daily allowance not to be limited to three months but to cover the entire leave for carers. We also want this leave to be paid – like maternity leave – and for the carer to receive a percentage of their previous salary in order to encourage sharing within the couple. »
What is the day off donation and who can benefit from this assistance?
This system allows any employee to give up all or part of their unused rest days in favor of a work colleague whose the child under twenty years of agehas a disability or of a serious illness or a colleague who takes care of of an elderly relative who is losing their independence.
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