• The metropolis of Montpellier voted Tuesday morning, during the metropolitan council, a plan to try to fight against the absenteeism of its agents.

  • This measure made the unions and the ranks of the opposition jump: the reduction of the bonuses of the agents, from the 11th day of sick leave.

  • The unions demonstrated in front of the metropolis, Tuesday morning, in reaction.

Tuesday morning, while a new metropolitan council opened in Montpellier (Hérault), whistles and trumpets sounded at the foot of the building, in Antigone.

At the call of the unions, employees protested against a measure which they consider unfair: the reduction, from the 11th day of sick leave, of the bonuses of the agents of the metropolis.

A reasoned decision, within the executive, to try to curb absenteeism, in the metropolis.

A “sickness tax”, “for budgetary purposes only”, scolds the FO union.

“How many agents will have to postpone a major operation for fear of the consequences that their absence will have on their family's budget?

What about agents at high risk of heart attack, stroke and other pathologies accentuated by stress and overwork?

Through this measure, our communities invite them to choose between prevention and remuneration.

“For the FO union, for a three-month sick leave, this would represent a dead loss of 700 to 2,500 euros, depending on the position.

“Be firm with those who abuse”

Michaël Delafosse, the mayor (PS) and president of the metropolis of Montpellier, defended, Tuesday, this decision to reduce the bonuses of the agents of the community, after ten days of work stoppage.

“There are communities in which it is four, others seven”, underlines the elected official.

The objective is "to be firm with those who abuse, and benevolent with the vast majority who intend to provide the best public service possible".

In the metropolis of Montpellier, the absenteeism rate worsened by two days, between 2017 and 2019, going from 24 to 26 days.

A progression that leads the community to act, to “avoid any deterioration that would have repercussions on the internal functioning, and the quality of the service provided to users”, confides Joël Raymond (LREM), the vice-president in charge of human resources. , which carries the folder.

The reduction in premiums, from the 11th day of sick leave, which will be implemented from January 1, “may evolve and be adapted”, however explains the elected official.

An “absurd measure”

The measure made the opposition jump.

“A big flu, an unpredictable operation, and the agent will be penalized, financially”, protests Alenka Doulain (various left), for whom this decision is “a double penalty”, for the sick agent.

“This absurd measure will force some agents to work despite being sick.

It's inefficient as can be.

Even in the ranks of the majority, the sanction of the 11th day is struggling to pass.

“We believe that this threshold of ten days is too low, points out Hervé Martin (PC).

A few days of Covid-19, flu will cross this threshold.

And suddenly, the right balance is not good, between the few who eat, and who must be punished, and the vast majority of agents who do their job quite normally, but who can fall ill.

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The reduction in premiums from the 11th day of sick leave is not the only measure, voted by the metropolis, to try to fight against absenteeism.

Accompaniment of agents was also recorded, on their return from sick leave, to "avoid the trivialization of stops", notes Joël Raymond.

But also measures aimed at improving the quality of life at work, allowing employees to retrain or move within community services, or to give them clarity in terms of their careers.

OUR FILE ON SICKNESS

The Montpellier metropolis plan was passed in pain on Tuesday.

Seventeen elected members opposed it, eight abstained.

Not enough, however, to prevent it from being adopted.

A similar plan will be voted by the city of Montpellier, at the next city council.

At the town hall, tackling absenteeism seems a little more urgent still: the town has been a champion for several years in this area in France.

"It is at a very worrying level, which is not acceptable," says Michaël Delafosse.

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  • Company

  • Montpellier

  • Occitania

  • Languedoc Roussillon

  • Absenteeism

  • Sickness

  • City hall