Le Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt boasts to the unions of the Macron bonus but it does not work: a bonus is exceptional, it’s a boost that is rarely renewed each year. The unions therefore prefer wage increases which, at least, are long-term: your employer cannot go back on it. Another disadvantage, this Macron bonus is reserved for those who do not receive more than three smic, or less than 3,900 euros net, but not beyond. What about other assets? Employers have less incentive to pay them the bonus.
This premium has the particularity of being free of contributions and taxes. This is an advantage for the employer and the employee, but not for our social system. Unemployment insurance and pensions work thanks to revenues that come from contributions, precisely. This is also what unions like the CGT argue, which qualifies this bonus “smoke screen”. Even increased to 6,000 euros per year as promised by the government, they do not want it.
And this Macron bonus, they had time to experiment with it, it has existed since 2018. It was one of the president’s first responses to the “yellow vests” movement, to restore purchasing power to employees. It went up to 1,000 euros. Since then it has often been modified, increased to 2,000 euros, provided that there is a company agreement.
Four years later, the results are mixed. Last year, for example, according to the government, almost four million employees received this bonus – out of 25 million. And on average, they received 500 euros. We are far from the 1,000 or 2,000 euros possible. Finally, there are strong inequalities between sectors, those who have used it a lot are those who traditionally pay the best: banking, insurance, industry… Which suggests that they could have distribute real increases, with contributions, without going through the bonus. It is to avoid this windfall effect that the CFDT is asking the government to better target this bonus. For example, by reserving it for small businesses, or those with reduced margins.