Unemployment Insurance: CFDT and CFTC Ready to Sign Agreement

The CFDT and the CFTC announced Friday evening their intention to sign a draft agreement outlining the terms of unemployment compensation effective January 1, 2024, after painstaking negotiations.

The CFDT delegation “has a positive opinion on the draft agreement,” said Olivier Guivarc, negotiator for the first French union, adding that the opinion still needs to be approved by the organization’s national office on November 16. “We are ready to sign it, now it still needs to be approved,” said Eric Kurpotin, his colleague at the CFTC.

The FO said it expected a decision from its confederal office on Monday, while noting that, according to negotiator Michel Bogas, “the red lines have fallen.” Representatives of CGT and CFE-CGC, for their part, indicated that they do not plan to sign.

Applicants received compensation after five months

The government will “study” the compatibility of the agreement drawn up by the social partners with the goals it set for them in the framework letter, the Ministry of Labor indicated for its part.

Under the agreement, first-time job seekers will be able to receive compensation after completing five months of service in the last 24 months, instead of the current six months. “A concrete and fair measure,” welcomed the CFDT.

Changes to the terms of compensation for older people after pension reform, which the government wanted to include in the agreement, were ultimately referred to negotiations on the employment of older people, despite the initial desire of employers’ organizations to include them.

Bosses, who wanted to cut their unemployment insurance premiums from 4.05% to 3.95%, eventually agreed to a cut of half that, at 0.05%.