RSA full employment law | “FULL EMPLOYMENT” LAW Adopted in Assembly
RSA full employment law | What Will The RSA reform Change ?
The “full employment” bill was adopted Tuesday in the National Assembly. Among the key measures: the reform of the RSA. A measure which was already controversial and which was toughened during examination.
The objective is clear: to reach 5% unemployment by 2027, the executive wants to seek out the people furthest from employment, that is to say the 2 million beneficiaries of the Active Solidarity Income (RSA). Today, 42% of them are still in the RSA seven years after their first registration.
It is with this in mind that the government integrated a reform of the RSA into the “full employment” bill, adopted on Tuesday at first reading by the National Assembly. The text, carried by the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt, was adopted with 310 votes against 251. It must now be the subject of negotiation between deputies and senators to try to reach a common version of the bill, already adopted in July by the upper house.
15 hours of weekly activities unless exceptional
To try to get them back into employment, all people with RSA will now be automatically registered as unemployed. A way to prevent some from completely falling off the radar, while today 18% of beneficiaries are no longer monitored by any organization.
Another measure: RSA recipients will have to complete 15 hours of activities per week (internship, coaching, company immersion, etc.). Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labor, did not want to include a precise number of hours in the law but he had to backtrack under pressure from the Republicans.
As a result, these 15 hours will be well engraved in the law and only certain people encountering “particular and proven difficulties” will be able to be exempted from them, such as for example disabled people, sick people or single parents with children under 12 years old and custody issues.
RSA suspended in the event of a breach
Finally, this bill provides for new sanctions. If the beneficiary does not sign this famous “commitment contract” or if he does not respect his obligations, the payment of his RSA may be suspended until the beneficiary regularizes his situation. In this case, he will be able to recover his benefits retroactively but within the limit of three months maximum, even if the suspension lasted longer.
For opponents of the reform, this tightening of access conditions and sanctions risks discouraging some from claiming the RSA and therefore further increasing the non-recourse rate. A rate which is already high: according to the latest figures from the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees), 34% of French people entitled to RSA do not request it.k
