Employment

In France, an agreement has been reached on unemployment insurance, including the question of cross-border workers

November 2024

At the beginning of October, the French government relaunched negotiations on the unemployment insurance agreement, handing over the reins to the social partners and calling for ‘additional savings of 400 million euros from next year’, while suggesting that the issue of cross-border workers, who ‘receive much higher salaries in certain neighbouring countries, particularly Switzerland and Luxembourg’, should be examined.

A draft agreement was reached on 15 November, between employers and unions. It provides for the application of a new model for calculating unemployment benefits for cross-border workers, with a reduction coefficient taking into account the difference in salary levels between the country of employment and France. The agreement also provides for a revision of the notion of ‘reasonable job offer’ so that cross-border commuters cannot refuse a job with a French salary.

The agreement is due to be implemented on 1 January, 2025.

In September, Unédic published a report on unemployment insurance compensation for cross-border commuters, highlighting an additional cost of around €800m a year for the French system. Read our article.

The report prompted reactions, particularly on the Franco-Swiss border, where elected representatives from Haute-Savoie called on Paris to negotiate with Bern for ‘a fairer solution for France’s public finances’. Source: Tribune de Genève, 06/11/2024