Posted Apr 14, 2023, 8:16 PMUpdated on Apr 14, 2023 at 8:27 PM
The government copy on pensions is corrected. Certainly, the Constitutional Council validated this Friday the – highly contested – postponement of the legal age from 62 to 64 years. But he censured several provisions of the reform judging that they had no place in a law on financing Social Security.
Detailed review of these “riders”, some of which had not been identified in the referrals filed with the Constitutional Council by opposition parliamentarians:
· L’index seniors
It’s not really a surprise, the Constitutional Council ruled that the obligation for companies to publish a battery of indicators on the employment of seniors had no place in a financial bill. Under pressure to encourage the maintenance of older employees in employment, the government had tried to secure the creation of this “senior index” by providing that it could give rise to sanctions.
However, the Elders judged that the provisions relating to the employment of seniors have “in 2023, no effect or a too indirect effect on the income of the basic compulsory schemes”. The executive expected this censorship after consulting the Council of State at the start of the year.
The unions widely doubt the effectiveness of the senior index and it has been the subject of debate, including within the majority. The government could however try to introduce this tool inspired by the index on professional equality between men and women in the next labor bill.
The “CDI seniors”
In favor of postponing the legal age, right-wing senators wanted to create a CDI for seniors with tax exemptions. However, the government opposed this measure, judging that it could create windfall effects for businesses.
Finally, the reform provided that the social partners could enter into negotiations to promote the employment of seniors and that, in the absence of an agreement, a new type of employment contract could be put in place from September 2023. yet, the Constitutional Council ruled that these provisions have “no effect or too indirect an effort on indirect revenue” on the Social Security accounts.
The transfer of the collection of supplementary pension contributions to Urssaf
Last fall, the government planned to transfer responsibility for collecting supplementary pension contributions to Urssaf, the key organization for financing social protection. This decision, justified by reasons of administrative simplification and optimization of recovery, was very badly received by the unions and the employers who manage the supplementary pension scheme, until today in charge of recovery.
Anxious to calm things down with the unions, uniting against the pension reform, the government had promised to cancel this transfer. Introduced in the 2023 Social Security budget and already challenged by the Constitutional Council, on the grounds that it constituted a “social horseman”, the provision had been added to the pension reform. The reform also taking the form of a budget (corrective), it is no surprise that it was again recalibrated.
The creation of specific medical monitoring for employees exposed to arduous jobs
Under pressure to better take into account the hardship of certain professions, the government had proposed to set up specific medical monitoring for certain workers. This follow-up was to be offered to people forced to carry heavy loads, to undergo painful postures or even mechanical vibrations. The fact of being exposed to these factors of arduousness does not currently make it possible to acquire rights to training, part-time work or early retirement via the arduousness account, the main tool for preventing professional wear and tear in the private sector.
To fill a gap decried by the unions, the reform provided that workers exposed to these particular hardship conditions would be offered a medical examination between the ages of 60 and 61, possibly with early retirement as a result. Again, the measure has no impact on public finances in 2023 and therefore has no place in this text, ruled the Constitutional Council.
The executive, which has proposed to the unions to put back on the table the site of hardship, can boast of having obtained the green light from the Constitutional Council on the creation of two funds for the prevention of professional wear and tear. The opposition had however argued that they had no place in the reform.
The creation of new rights for public service contract workers
The pension reform planned to improve the fate reserved for certain tenured civil service contract workers. The so-called active category civil servants, such as the police, nursing assistants, etc. who have jobs deemed particularly risky or tiring can now retire early.
Provided you have accumulated a certain number of years in the active category. The reform planned to improve the rights to early retirement of contract workers by taking into account in the calculation of these years of active categories, those spent under this status, ten years before their tenure. However, the Board ruled that the measure would have no immediate effect on the accounts.
The creation of an information system for policyholders
The Constitutional Council also censured an article which did not exist in the government’s initial draft and which had not been noted by opposition parliamentarians in their referrals. This article plans to inform policyholders about the possibilities of combining pension employment. It also planned to create a career counseling meeting for insured persons whose contribution period is less than ten years and whose career has been interrupted for a certain period, the duration of which was to be determined by decree.