The reform of unemployment insurance will partially come into effect on July 1, 2021. The new controversial calculation method for unemployment benefits will be implemented starting from this date.
The tightening of the eligibility criteria (from four to six months of work over the past 24 months) will take effect at the earliest on October 1. This will depend on an improvement in the job market, assessed over six months from April 1. It will be necessary to observe both a decrease in the number of category A job seekers by 130,000 over six months and 2.7 million hires for positions lasting more than one month over four months.
These measures are criticized by unions, who reject the entire text, except for the “bonus-malus” on company contributions, which is contested by employers. This “bonus-malus” on company contributions will be effective in the summer of 2022 after a year of observation.
The largest savings will come from the most controversial provision, the modification of the calculation of the reference daily wage (the basis for benefits), which the government defends “for the sake of fairness” because the compensation is currently more favorable to people alternating between short-term contracts and inactivity than to those working continuously.
