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 53 years you must have worked 6 months within 36 months.
• you must register as a jobseeker with the France Travail and comply with the individual job seeking plan (PPAE).
• 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

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 €12.95 +
• 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 53 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 75% of the number of working days.

For each month, the remuneration taken into account may not exceed €14,664, 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 57 on the date of the end of their employment contract, whose daily reference salary (SJR) exceeds €159.68/day.
However the benefit amount can not be reduced to less than €91.02 gross per day. Beneficiaries over 57 years of age are not concerned by this reduction.

Maximum / minimum amounts?

The benefit can not be higher than 75% of SJR.
The maximum amount a person can get is €8,359 per month (57% of €14,664), 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:
1) first the total number of days elapsed between the start of the first employment contract and the end of the last employment contract in the last 24 months (36 months if you are 53 years or older) are counted.
Between these two contracts, all days are taken into account, regardless of whether they are periods of employment or not. However, the number of non-working days taken into account cannot exceed 75% of the days worked.
2) A coefficient of 0.75 is then applied to the number of days found in step 1 to obtain your duration of benefit.

This duration of payment cannot be less than 182 days (6 months) nor higher than:

• 548 days (18 months), if the job seeker is less than 53 years old on the date of the end of their employment contract.
• 685 days (22.5 months) for those aged between 53 and 54.
• 822 days (27 months), from 55 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 53 years old on the date of the end of their employment contract.
• 913 days (30 months) for those aged between 53 and 54.
• 1.096 days (36 months), from 55 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 January 17, 2024.