During the crisis of the Coronavirus, the media spoke a lot of partial activity, partial unemployment or flexibility of the working time.
Many things have been said, and sometimes blurred.
Therefore, in order to clarify the operation and the rights for companies to benefit from these devices, we share in this article.
Partial activity, what is it?
Thepartial activity it is more commonly called partial unemployment from the media.
It should not be confused with the development of working time or working time modulation.
Partial activity allows companies to reduce employees’ working time, see them completely, for a certain period.
You should know that one of the legal obligations of the employer is to provide work to the employee.
With this exceptional device, we allow the employer:
- do not give work to the employee,
- In exchange for which the salary does not weigh anymore on the company’s accounts.
The goal is above all to avoid waves of massive dismissal, as we knew in France after the 2008 crisis and above all, following the euro crisis in 2010.
This system had been implemented in Germany before the two crises of 2008 and 2010, with a clear result: companies did not need to shoot as much as in France.
The partial activity therefore allows suspend the employment contract.
Elle prevents dismissal, It allows you to adapt the workforce to the real question and to reduce it exceptionally.
Device particularly used during the Covvi-19 crisis by governments, it quickly evolved between March and June 2020 to adapt to realities on the ground.
Operation before Covvi-19 (March 2020)
Partial activity could only be implemented under certain conditions:
- Cyclical problem (great economic crisis)
- Provide problems that prevent the execution of the work
- Renovation of the company
- Storm that destroys the production system
In short, all exceptional or even unpredictable events are worried. This exceptional character was central to the functioning of partial activity.
This activity interrupts the right to compensation: the allowance of partial activity paid by the government.
It was limited to:
- 1000 hours per employee and per year
- 100 hours per employee per year if the reason is the renovation of the company, in particular buildings
It was also necessary:
- Call the social and economic committee (CSE) if more than 11 employees,
- And request an authorization within 30 days of the regional company management, competition, consumer, work and work (direct),
Finally, the employee sees his salary slip, since he benefited only to pay 70% of his gross salary.
The company receives a secondary refund from the government through compensation for partial activities. In case of serious economic problems, it is directly the state that pays the salary displayed on the payroll to the employee.
Current operation, during and after Covid-19 (from March 2020)
All this mechanism seemed to work well for companies:
- less work,
- partial unemployed employees,
- Therefore less salary to pay (70% instead of 100%),
- The partial activity is compensated by the state.
Then the Coronavirus epidemic brushed France, forcing the arrest of the economy for several weeks.
The appropriate mechanism for this was a partial activity, which was already underway. But the government has been forced to modify it.
The conditions for implementation have not changed, apart from this, the Covvi-19 was added to the list of specific reasons and that Compensation for partial activity is total for businesses. Nobody depends on!
The main modification for companies occurred on the appearance of the duration.
The partial activity allowance increased from 1000 hours a year per employee to 1607 hours (the duration of 35 hours complete during the year).
This made it possible to expand the needs to all companies.
From the deconflexion and with the modification of the law on 29 June 2020:
- This 1607 hour principle has been maintained,
- The CSE should no longer be consulted only by 50 employees,
- The time limits to contact the director are extended from one to two months,
- Specific sectors (aviation, sport, culture, tourism, events) have the right to compensation of the government up to 70% of the salary paid, compared to 60% for other sectors. This leads to a dependent rest for a number of companies.
What to remember from the functioning of the partial activity mechanism?
Given the current uncertainty, the device is likely to be changed again based on the evolution of the economic situation.
It is therefore difficult to make a final inventory on the matter.
In the meantime, the government is relatively mild to the functioning of partial unemployment for companies, in order to avoid any problem of mass unemployment and cascade failures.
If you want more information on what you can set, the ideal is:
- Contact the Directe
- Contact the UNédic
- Use this simulator created by the Government, to know your rights for compensation for partial activity
- And consult the site dedicated to the request for partial activity that you can find here
However, if you just have to remember two things, it’s:
- As a company, the government will not let go of the functioning of the partial activity so soon Even if it is necessary to modify
- In case of fraud, you expose yourself to strong penalties (€ 30,000 fine and 2 years of imprisonment) and many checks will take place
Among the most common cases of fraud, we can mention the example of paid leave. If an employee has put the paid holidays, the company is not entitled to compensation for partial activity!
Finally, do not forget that the obligation to issue a sled remains, even in the period of partial activity!
Conclusion on partial unemployment
Adopt thepartial activity It is a vital necessity for many of you.
If the law is relatively clear on the means to be implemented to benefit from this system, it evolves so quickly and the situation is so precarious, that it is difficult to draw final conclusions.
In any case, as human resources, I highly recommend:
- To do the request for partial activity if this is vital for your business,
- Establish a dialogue between your employees and yourself so that everything is clear and on the table,
- To contact the various organizations responsible for partial activity (Directe, UNICIC) as quickly as possible. Explains that you are in good faith, even if you made a mistake in the process,
- Use a good team management tool that will allow you to carefully choose, that and when sending a partial activity
The latter point is essential to allow the use of partial activity to limit as much as possible, which represents a significant cost for any company and for any employee!
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