These two articles provide for the automatic registration of RSA beneficiaries on the list of job seekers and the generalization of a “contract of engagement”.
Changes to come for RSA beneficiaries. The right-wing majority Senate voted on Monday evening July 10 two key articles of the bill “for full employment”. These provide for the automatic registration of RSA beneficiaries on the list of job seekers and the generalization of a “employment contract”.
As part of the establishment of a France Travail network to better coordinate public employment service players, Article 1 provides that the list of job seekers will automatically be included, in addition to people seeking beneficiaries of active solidarity income (RSA) as well as their spouses, and young people monitored by local missions. Today, only 40% of the beneficiaries of the active solidarity income (RSA) are registered with Pôle emploi.
The left tried unsuccessfully to delete this article, “breaking with the fundamental principles of our social protection”, according to ecologist Raymonde Poncet Monge. Similarly, it failed to delete Article 2, unifying the rights and duties of all persons registered on the list of job seekers by the generalization of an employment contract. It defines, among other things, the constituent elements of “reasonable job offer” that the job seeker is required to accept.
This text “attacks the poor but above all not poverty”
This contract of engagement is “focused solely on the applicant’s duties”, criticized Emilienne Poumirol. “Nothing is said about the means that the State will put in place” to provide support for job seekers, lambasted the socialist senator, for whom this text “attacks the poor but above all not poverty”.
The Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt on the contrary defended a device “balance”. “It seems fundamental to us to have support that is as personalized as possible, but also as effective as possible, because the goal anyway is to return to work”he said. “Dignity is built through work”supported the centrist Olivier Henno.
On the initiative of the rapporteur LR Pascale Gruny, the senators went “further on certain points”. They have thus provided that this employment contract sets a weekly duration of at least 15 hours of activity (immersions, refresher courses, CV writing, etc.).
“The government’s objective is that a maximum of beneficiaries can benefit from 15 to 20 hours of activity per week”, underlined the Minister, while indicating that he favors flexibility to take into account specific situations. The Senate will continue its first reading of the bill on Tuesday.