END OF FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: Withdrawal of the right to unemployment benefits in which case?

 

END OF FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: WITHDRAWAL OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN CASE OF REFUSAL OF TWO PERMANENT CONTRACTS WITHIN TWELVE MONTHS

 

Le Decree No. 2023-1307 published on December 28, 2023 brought into force one of the flagship measures of Law No. 2022-1598 known as the Labor Market Law of December 21, 2022, excluding from unemployment insurance an employee who twice refuses a proposal for a permanent employment contract at the end of a fixed-term employment contract.

A new Article R. 1243-2 of the Labor Code sets out the conditions under which an employee's repeated refusal, within the same twelve-month period, to accept a permanent contract (CDI) at the end of a fixed-term contract (CDD) may lead Pôle Emploi, renamed "France Travail", to terminate their unemployment insurance coverage:

• The employer notifies the employee of the permanent contract proposal by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, by hand-delivered letter against receipt, or by any other means giving a definite date of receipt, before the end of the fixed-term contract;
• The employer grants the employee a reasonable period to respond to the permanent contract proposal, indicating that at the end of this reflection period, a lack of response will be considered a rejection of the proposal;
• In the event of an express or tacit refusal by the employee within this period, the employer has a period of one month to inform the France Travail operator of this refusal by electronic means (according to procedures specified by order of the minister responsible for employment);
• In the event of incomplete information, France Travail sends a supplementary request to the employer, who has 15 days from this request to respond;
• Upon receipt of the complete information, France Travail informs the insured of the consequences on their coverage under unemployment insurance.

Pursuant to Article L.5422-1 of the French Labor Code, which includes a new paragraph, the insured loses his right to unemployment insurance if he has not been on a permanent contract during this twelve-month period.

The legislator has nevertheless accompanied this measure with guarantees for the employee who would be subject to such a penalty.

The permanent contract offer must first relate to the same job or a similar job to that which the employee held under a fixed-term contract or temporary work contract, without a change in place of work, with remuneration at least equivalent to that previously received, equivalent classification and working hours

Furthermore, after a first refusal, the employee will still be able to benefit from unemployment insurance. Also, after the 12-month period following the first refusal, a second refusal will not deprive them of their unemployment benefits since the law confines the two refusals within a 12-month period.

This new measure aims to combat the current trend of employees alternating between periods of employment under fixed-term contracts and receiving unemployment benefits, which has a significant cost for the community and causes difficulties for many companies that cannot recruit for vacant positions.

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