The text, for which the government plans a review in Parliament before the summer, aims to enshrine in law the agreement reached in February between the social partners.
This is one of Elisabeth Borne’s objectives as part of her “100 days of action”. The bill on value sharing will be presented in May to the Council of Ministers, for a review scheduled before the end of the parliamentary session this summer. The Prime Minister again pledged, Thursday, April 27 on France 2, to faithfully transpose “the agreement reached between the trade unions and the employers’ organizations” in February, for further sharing of “wealth created in companies”.
The text presented on Friday 28 April by the government is mainly aimed at “generalize value-sharing systems”including in companies with less than 50 employees. According to the statistical department of the Ministry of Labor (Dares), in 2020, 52.8% of employees in all companies had access to at least one profit-sharing, profit-sharing or employee savings scheme. But this proportion was only 18.5% in companies with fewer than 50 employees.
At least one device for companies with 11 to 49 employees
Currently, participation, which aims to redistribute profits, is only compulsory for companies with at least 50 employees. In accordance with the national inter-professional agreement (ANI) concluded between the social partners, the bill provides for the compulsory introduction of aat least one value-sharing device (participation, profit-sharing or value-sharing bonus) in companies with between 11 and 49 employees. With one condition: these companies must have made a net profit representing at least 1% of their turnover for three consecutive years. This obligation will be put in place from 2025 for an experimental period of five years.
In addition, to facilitate the introduction of profit-sharing in companies with fewer than 50 employees, branch agreements may allow the validation of optional profit-sharing schemes, which may “derogate from the legal formula”, with, for example, lower profit redistributions. This measure will also be tested for five years.
In addition, in all companies with at least 50 employees, the government text also introduces theobligation to negotiate on the sharing of value in the event of an exceptional increase in profits. In this situation, the ANI proposes either “the automatic payment of a profit-sharing or profit-sharing supplement”, either “the reference to a new discussion on the payment of a device of sharing of the value”. The Ministries of Economy and Labor specify that it will be up to the employer to define what constitutes exceptional profit.
Creation of a “recovery sharing plan”
In addition, two value-sharing bonuses (PPV), formerly called “Macron bonuses”, can now be granted in the year, compared to only one previously, but remaining within the limit of the current ceiling (of 3,000 or 6 000 euros depending on the situation), recalls the Ministry of the Economy. They may also be placed in an employee savings plan (company savings plan, retirement savings plan).
Finally, a new device, called “recovery sharing plan”, may be set up for voluntary companies, intended for employees with at least one year of seniority. Eligible employees would be “assign an indicative amount”. “At the end of a period of three years, the employee receives the amount corresponding to the percentage of valuation of the company applied to this indicative amount. details the ANI.