“We want companies that buy back shares (…) distribute more profit-sharing, more participation, more tax-free bonuses”, detailed the Minister of the Economy, Bruno le Maire, before the Senate. .
A response to the “anger” opponents of pension reform. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, announced on Wednesday March 22 that he had asked his government to work “to an exceptional contribution from companies” having recorded record profits since the war in Ukraine. He presented this measure as a response to the “feeling of injustice” felt, according to him, by the opponents of the pension reform, for whom the work would not pay enough.
Large companies that have made such profits that they can buy back their shares and thus remunerate shareholders must “distributed[r] more to their employees”assured Emmanuel Macron, during his interview with France 2 and TF1, pointing out the “cynicism” of some of them. What form will this contribution take? “You have to find the right technique”he replied.
Companies with more than 5,000 employees concerned
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, then detailed before the Senate the “exceptional contribution” mentioned by the president. This is a news “stage of this better distribution of value between the employee and the company”after the simplification of the profit-sharing and participation processes contained in the Pacte law, the creation of the Macron bonus and the contribution requested from energy companies to finance the tariff shield on energy prices.
“We want companies that buy back shares (…) contribute more to the best remuneration of employees. We therefore want to force them to distribute more profit-sharing, more participation, more tax-free bonuses”he detailed, specifying that this would only apply to those who have “more than 5,000 employees”. This additional payment must be “substantial”according to Bruno the Mayor, who says he is considering “a doubling of the sums paid”. On the method side, the Minister of the Economy favors “a proposal made to the social partners so that they negotiate on this better participation, this better profit sharing, this wider distribution of action”.
A project already in progress
This value-sharing project is not new. The trade unions and employers’ organizations found, at the end of February, an agreement to generalize profit-sharing arrangements (profit-sharing, participation, etc.) in companies. The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, promised, in the process, “the faithful and total transcription” in the law of this agreement.
Renaissance deputies and the executive have also been thinking for several months about an “employee dividend”, a campaign promise by Emmanuel Macron. “When there is an increase in the dividend for shareholders, there must be the same for employees”summarized the President of the Republic, at the end of October, during his participation in the program “L’Evènement” on France 2.