Unemployment Insurance in EU->France

Unemployment insurance in France

Type of scheme

How to join? Compulsory Unemployment Insurance. You will automatically be enrolled in unemployment insurance when you start working in France.

Contribution: Only employers pay contribution. But the unemployment insurance scheme is also financed in part by the general social contribution (contribution sociale généralisée, CSG).

Who is covered? All employees. Public sector employees are not directly covered, however they are compensated by their public employer after similar rules.
Intermittent entertainment workers, fishermen, occasional dock workers, certain expatriates and people made redundant for economic reasons who have accepted a professional security contract (CSP) are subject to specific regulations.
Self-employed persons are not covered by the scheme, but can instead apply for "allocation des travailleurs indépendants, ATI".

Benefit amount: Earnings-related. Reduction of amount depends on age. The duration depends on age and labour market conditions (see below).

Requirements for entitlement

In order to be entitled to unemployment benefit (ARE), you must meet the following requirements:

• you must have worked at least 6 months (either 130 days or 910 hours) within the last 24 months at the time of the termination of the employment contract. If you are over 55 years you must have worked 6 months within 36 months.
  If you are a seasonal worker you can receive unemployment benefit provided you have worked at least 5 months in the last 24 months.
• you must register as a jobseeker with the France Travail and sign a commitment contract with your France Travail advisor.
• you have involuntarily lost your job by dismissal (whatever the reason) or end of fixed-term contract or temporary assignment, or have lost your job as part of a termination agreement or termination by mutual agreement.
• actively seek job
• accept reasonable job offers

Resignations that give entitlement to unemployment benefit

You are not entitled to unemployment benefit if you resigned from your job or voluntarily left it for another contract that lasted less than 65 working days, or less than 455 hours (i.e. 3 months).
However, access to ARE, if the other requirements are met, is also permitted if your resignation is considered legitimate.

Its also possible to receive compensation from France Travail following a resignation, if resigning is because of real and serious career change plans, or in some cases if you were receiving compensation from France Travail at the time of your resignation.

Finally you have the option after 4 months (or 121 days) after resignation, to request a review of your situation and the right to unemployment benefit from the regional joint body (IPR).

Are there special rules for new graduates?

No

Determination of benefit

The gross daily amount is the highest amount of:

1. The sum of

• a fixed part equal to €13.11 +
• a variable part, equal to 40.4% of your daily reference wage (SJR).

OR
2.
57% of SJR.

The SJR is calculated by taking all gross earnings, bonuses included, for the last 24 months (36 months if you are 55 years or older) and divide it with the number of calendar days (days worked + days not worked) between the first day of the first contract and the last day of the last contract in that period.
This means that if a person have some periods without work it can lower the unemployment benefit. However, the non-worked days taken into account in the reference period cannot exceed 70% of the number of working days.

For each month, the remuneration taken into account may not exceed €15,700, which is equal to four times the social security ceiling ("le plafond de la sécurité sociale").

Reduction in benefit after 6 months

From the 7th compensated month onwards, the benefit is reduced by 30% for job seekers under the age of 55 on the date of the end of their employment contract, whose daily reference salary (SJR) exceeds €161.60/day (i.e. an average gross monthly salary of €4,915.33).
However the benefit amount can not be reduced to less than €92.11 gross per day. Beneficiaries over 55 years of age are not concerned by this reduction.

Maximum / minimum amounts?

In any case, the benefit cannot be higher than a ceiling of 75% of your daily salary.
The maximum amount a person can get is €8.949 per month (57% of €15,700), which is among the highest in EU/EEA.
The back-to-work allowance (ARE) cannot be less than €31.59 per day.

Try the online-calculator at France Travail to estimate your unemployment benefits.

Tax treatment

Income tax may be deducted from your unemployment benefits, depending on your situation. Read more here.

Benefit duration

Determining the benefit period is a two-step process:

Step 1

France Travail will start by looking for the reference period during which you acquired rights to unemployment benefit. To find the reference period, they look for the end date of your last work contract, and and then go back 24 months in time (36 months if you are 55 years or older).
In this reference period, they are looking for the first day you were under an employment contract and then they will calculate the total number of days elapsed between the start of the first employment contract and the end of the last employment contract.

All days are taken into account, regardless of whether they are periods of employment or not, with the exception of:

• periods of professional activity that you have not declared to France Travail
• days that correspond to certain events, outside of an employment contract (periods of sick leave of more than 15 days, periods of maternity, paternity or adoption, work accidents, certain training courses)

If you have had periods of unemployment between your contracts, the number of days not worked is capped for the calculation of the duration of compensation. This can increase the amount of your allowance. The number of non-working days taken into account cannot exceed 70% of the days worked.

Step 2

A coefficient of 0.75 is then applied to the number of days found in step 1 to obtain your duration of benefit.

Minimum and maximum duration of benefits

The duration of payment cannot be less than 182 days (6 months). However for seasonal workers the minimum duration of compensation is 152 days (5 months).
The duration can not be higher than:

• 548 days (18 months), if the job seeker is less than 55 years old on the date of the end of their employment contract.
• 685 days (22.5 months) for those aged between 55 and 56.
• 822 days (27 months), from 57 years of age.

Since 1 february 2023, the duration of unemployment benefits also depending on the labour market situation.
In case of unfavourable economic conditions, these periods may be extended by 25% beyond their initial duration, which gives:

• 730 days (24 months), if the job seeker is less than 55 years old on the date of the end of their employment contract.
• 913 days (30 months) for those aged between 55 and 56.
• 1.096 days (36 months), from 57 years of age.

An unfavourable economic context is defined as if the unemployment rate has increased with +0.8 point over 1 quarter or the unemployment rate is over or equal to 9%.

Aggregation of insurance periods from other EU/EEA countries

Periods of insurance and work from another EEA country which are confirmed in a PD U1 document or exchanged electronically by the authorities via EESSI in SED U002 can be used to meet the qualifying period, if you have worked in a job covered by compulsory insurance after arriving in France.

In case of using PD U1 / SED U002 the Unemployment benefit is calculated on the basis of income you have had while working in France.

How to apply for unemployment benefit

You must register online with France Travail. Following your registration, the unemployment benefit (ARE) request is sent to France Travail automatically.

If you do not meet the requirements

Individuals who do not meet the above mentioned requirements for unemployment benefits, may have the option to apply for Income support (Revenu de solidarité active (RSA)).
Job seekers who have exhausted their right to unemployment benefits (ARE), may have the option to apply for "Specific solidarity allowance" (Allocation de solidarité spécifique (ASS)).

French words

Unemployment Insurance = Assurance chômage

Unemployment benefit = Allocation d'aide au retour à l'emploi, ARE

This page was last updated on April 2, 2025.