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Presentation of the bill on emergency measures relating to the functioning of the labour market. Bill of law providing emergency measures relating to the functioning of the labor market

The current unemployment insurance rules from the 2019 reform will expire on November 1, 2022. In view of the urgency, the bill (Article 1) allows the government to extend the current unemployment compensation scheme by decree until 31 December 2023 at the latest. This period will allow the government, after consultation with the social partners, to prepare a new reform of the unemployment insurance.
The aim of the reform is to modulate the conditions of access according to the situation of the labor market and thus the economic situation. The reform could result in a change in the number of months of activity required to open or recharge one’s unemployment rights or in a gradual lowering of the level of compensation.
Second, the bill (Article 3) rewrites the articles of the Labor Code relating to electorate and eligibility in order to draw the consequences of the decision of the Constitutional Council of November 19, 2021.
From November 1, 2022, employees assimilated to the employer will be voters in professional elections but will not be eligible, as before.

Current case law: an employer condemned to pay for the transport costs of employees who moved to the provinces during the health crisis
Paris Judicial Court, July 5, 2022, n°22/04735


In order to cope with the increase in the number of employees who moved their main residence to the provinces during the health crisis, a company had updated its reimbursement terms for transport costs. The reimbursement was based on the assumption that the Paris-Province trip was less than four hours per day round trip.


The Judicial Court ordered the company to pay the transport costs of employees who had moved because it considered that the addition by the employer of a criterion of geographical distance between the employees’ usual place of residence and their place of work in order to refuse to reimburse the employees’ public transport costs, which was not provided for either by law or by the agreements applicable within the company, created an unjustified inequality of treatment which deprived some of the employees of the reimbursement of transport costs.


The scope of this decision must be put into perspective because it was handed down by a court of first instance and not by the Court of Cassation.

Focus on the contributions of the Supplementary Budget Act of August 16, 2022
Supplementary Budget Law of August 16, 2022 (No. 2022-1157)

The main “social” measures of the Supplementary Budget Law of August 16, 2022, are the following:


• From January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025:
The buyback of RTT days by employees is possible, with the agreement of their employer. RTT bought back will be exempt from income tax and social security contributions (article 5).


• Since August 17, 2022:
The tax exemption ceiling for overtime hours worked since January 1, 2022 has been raised to 7,500 euros (Article 4);
It is possible to combine the sustainable mobility package with a transport pass up to a limit of 800 euros (compared to 600 today) (article 3).


• As of September 1, 2022:
The partial activity scheme for vulnerable employees linked to the health crisis has been extended regardless of the date of the start of the work stoppage. This measure must remain in force until a date to be set by decree, no later than January 31, 2023 (Article 33).


• In 2022 and 2023:
The exemption ceiling for the fuel bonus paid by employers is doubled and will increase from 200 to 400 euros (Article 2 I) ;
It is possible to combine the fuel allowance with the payment of a public transport season ticket (article 2 II) ;
A fiscal and social incentive has been set up

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