2024-02-07 05:40:30
► “Cetu must be open to all”
Isabelle Merciernational secretary of the CFDT, responsible for negotiations on Cetu
“The world of work has changed, as has the place that work occupies in the lives of the French. Employees do not necessarily want to work less or more, according to a November 2023 survey by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation (1). But there is a real desire to be able to act on the articulation of their life times. It is from this observation that the idea of a “time bank” was born at the CFDT in 2014, which translates into the universal time savings account (Cetu).
This system aims to offer all workers access to an account funded by unpaid money from their unused leave and RTT days. When they wish, they could use these rights to pause their job and do something else: volunteer, or travel, take care of a parent, a child, train, etc. This would give them control over the organization of their working time throughout their career.
The “universal” dimension is fundamental. The Cetu must be open to everyone, regardless of status: employees on permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts, temporary workers, civil servants, self-employed people, etc. Unlike the time savings account (CET), it must not be attached to the company but directly to the employee in order to that they can take their account with them when they leave or are hired – what we call “portability”. We are calling for Cetu to be administered by a joint body, like Agirc-Arrco for supplementary pensions.
This is why the CFDT pleads for Cetu to be confidential: an employer must not have access to it to avoid any discrimination in hiring. We also recommend capping savings at one year of leave, because the aim of Cetu is to be used throughout one’s career and not to arrange retirement, as is often the case with THIS. Another point: we are against its monetization. Cetu should not be a tool to improve purchasing power, but rather the balance between professional and private life. Otherwise, we risk worsening the intensification of work and its effects on the health of workers.
In fact, the new system will have repercussions on the organization of work. Our goal during the upcoming negotiations is to convince employers’ organizations and employers that this is possible. Innovations in terms of work arrangements are already emerging in certain companies, such as the move to a four-day week, and show us that changes are possible. Cetu could also be a lever of attractiveness for sectors in tension, with a system where the employer could, if he wishes, add bonuses. The employers are currently opposed to Cetu, but we are convinced that we can move forward on this subject and lay, by mid-March, the first bricks of this new system. »
► “A trap for employees”
François Asselinpresident of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME)
“On paper, the universal time savings account (Cetu) is a very attractive idea. Who would not dream, whatever their status, of being able to take, during their career, a month, two months, or even a year of leave not taken previously, and the money for which would have been paid by their company on this Cetu ? However, this system desired by the government is complicated to implement. And we are against it.
Today, the time savings account, allowing employees to store leave, RTT and overtime, is only used by 10 to 20% of private sector companies. Because this device does not work. We never found the right way to make it work. Companies that had put the CET in place have had to go back because they were unable to organize themselves.
This account represents a cost for SMEs. Certainly, it is the employee’s right to be able to save their unused leave and take it later. But these leaves require the company to find a replacement, which can sometimes be complicated. And, let’s imagine that she succeeds, what does she then do with the replacement once the employee returns?
We must also keep in mind that all employees are not equal in the Cetu diet. Some do not benefit from RTT or overtime allowing them to save. In the event that an employee manages to accumulate a sufficient amount of time, the question of their valuation arises. Years later, the salary may have changed and the monetization of these hours is therefore no longer the same. This is a question that is still difficult to answer.
Finally, the question of “portability”, desired by the CFDT, risks being a real trap for the employee. Taking your account with you when changing companies constitutes a major obstacle to employability. Imagine yourself in the place of an employer facing a candidate for a position arriving with a Cetu and more than twenty years of professional career. Will he recruit a person who can, in the medium or long term, take leave for several months?
The CFDT pleads for the anonymity of the account. But we must not have any illusions: the latter will very quickly be shattered. No SME will take the risk of hiring someone without knowing their Cetu. Employers recruit someone to be in the company. Not for him to be absent.
At this stage, the only possibility that exists – and again, it must be assessed – is to switch the Cetu at the end of their career and allow the employee to retire earlier. Companies will then be able to hire a replacement. In total, when Gabriel Attal speaks of “social backpack” that the employee can import with him from one company to another, we prefer to speak of a “social burden” unsuitable for the reality of small companies. »
(1) Survey “The ideal society of tomorrow in the eyes of the French”, Fondation Jean-Jaurès and Ipsos in partnership with the CFDT, November 2023.
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