abandonment of post no longer entitles you to benefits

A discreet change that can have serious consequences. According to a decree published Tuesday, April 18 in the Official Journal, an employee who abandons his workstation and has not resumed it two weeks after a formal notice will now, with some exceptions, be presumed to have resigned. And will thus be deprived of unemployment insurance. It is in fact the implementation of a provision of the unemployment insurance law voted at the end of 2022.

Until now, these employees who no longer came to work without justification, generally ended up being dismissed for misconduct by their employer. They could then receive unemployment insurance. According to a study published in February by Dares, the statistical service of the Ministry of Labor, job abandonment was the first reason (71%) for dismissal for serious (or gross) misconduct in the first half of 2022, far ahead of other disciplinary causes. (27%).

However, exceptions should be noted. This presumption of resignation does not apply in cases where the employee asserts medical reasons, the exercise of the right of withdrawal or the right to strike, the refusal to carry out an instruction contrary to a regulation or a modification of his employment contract at the initiative of the employer.