Medef proposes to tighten affiliation conditions for intermittents du spectacle to the unemployment insurance scheme, according to a document sent to AFP on Wednesday by two trade unions. The text, which is due to be discussed on Friday by employers’ and unions’ organizations as part of negotiations on unemployment compensation, is presented as an appendix to the November 10, 2023 memorandum of understanding, and is intended to respond to the government’s request to to “improve the financial equilibrium of the scheme”. by proposing additional savings.

The employers’ document suggests raising the minimum number of hours worked by intermittents du spectacle to qualify for unemployment benefit from 507 hours over the last 12 months to 580 hours for artists and 610 hours for technicians. Given the nature of their activity, intermittent workers in the entertainment sector are more frequently unemployed than other salaried employees. As a result, their sector benefits more from unemployment benefits than it contributes, and is regularly criticized for its high cost to the unemployment insurance system.

Border workers in the crosshairs

The employers’ proposal also calls for the introduction of a coefficient to reduce the compensation paid to cross-border commuters, currently calculated on the basis of their last foreign salary, which is generally much higher than that paid on the French labor market. Finally, the text calls for the introduction of a “working group on the bonus-malus scheme, criticized by employers, which modulates employers’ contributions to unemployment insurance in certain branches to discourage the signing of short-term contracts.

Negotiations between the social partners on unemployment insurance and the employment of older workers, launched at the end of October, are due to conclude on November 14, with the new unemployment insurance agreement replacing the current rules on compensation for the unemployed as of January 1.