Posted 20 Feb. 2023 at 07:31 PMUpdated Feb 20. 2023 at 7:50 PM
Send a signal of appeasement to the social partners who have already provided turnkey solutions or mark one’s territory even if it means pointing them? The presidential camp tries to navigate between the two on the question of the distribution of the wealth created by companies.
The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, thus promised on Monday that her government would take over the agreement recently concluded between unions and employers on the sharing of value. But the majority is also determined to go further by adding a mechanism applying to companies with more than 5,000 employees generating exceptional profits, at the risk of upsetting the employers.
Engagement de Borne
These announcements came during the Renaissance convention, Emmanuel Macron’s party, devoted to this theme. This great rout – where a crowd of ministers like Bruno Le Maire (Economy), Gérald Darmanin (Interior), Olivier Dussopt (Labour), Clément Beaune (Transport) or Olivia Grégoire (SME) thronged – was planned for a long time, imagined in the heart of autumn when the question of purchasing power was the most burning.
But the members of the majority were finally taken aback by the social partners, who reached an agreement of 36 articles ten days ago providing for a whole battery of measures to strengthen the sharing of wealth within the company. Two unions, the CFDT and the CFTC, have already announced that they will ratify this agreement. FO should follow this Tuesday.
All this was not done in vain, wanted to reassure them Elisabeth Borne. “I am making a commitment on behalf of the government, we will respect the compromise reached between the social partners and we will propose the faithful and total transcription of this agreement into law”, declared the Prime Minister, referring to a “very rich agreement and “historical” for SMEs. This should be done in the full employment bill in preparation for the spring.
The forgotten employee dividend
The social partners’ agreement which is to apply from 2025 provides in particular that companies with between 11 and 49 employees which are profitable – with a net profit representing at least 1% of turnover for three consecutive years – “put put in place at least one “profit-sharing, profit-sharing or employee savings scheme, from the 1is January 2025. Today, only companies with more than 50 employees are obliged to pay a participation. “This is a very important measure, which repairs a blind spot in the participation systems”, explains a government source. “It’s a great step forward for SMEs,” says François Asselin, president of the CPME.
The latter is also pleased that this agreement has deliberately left aside the famous “employee dividend” promised by Emmanuel Macron during his electoral campaign. This absence does not seem to bother the government unduly. “Our commitment was that when companies make profits, employees should also benefit. This is the case with this agreement, we do not stop on words and semantic questions, ”explains a government source.
The question of superprofits
However, the majority intends to push on a point left aside by the social partners, that of exceptional profits. “This is a political subject, we must be able to answer the questions posed by the exceptional profits generated by certain companies, as was the case this fall”, underlines the government source.
According to our information, the government has already discussed with employers the possibility of a mandatory mechanism for exceptional participation for one to two years for companies with more than 5,000 employees generating exceptional profits. “We would like to launch a consultation to deal with this subject this year”, underlines the government source.
This Monday, Elisabeth Borne warned that if Renaissance were to push additional proposals “on the transitional period, between today and the entry into force of the national interprofessional agreement in 2025”, they should be “faithful to the agreement and obtain the approval of all the signatory parties”. It doesn’t seem won. “The agreement, and nothing but the agreement”, warns an employer source.
