Paris (AFP)

As a sign of the cessation of the French economy, one in five private sector employees is now on short-time working, a weapon on which the government is betting to avoid massive layoffs at the cost of a huge cost for the State.

Tuesday evening, the use of partial activity, official name of the device, had been requested by 337,000 companies for 3.6 million employees, according to the latest figures released Wednesday by the Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud.

The device "is in full rise," said the minister recalling that its goal was "to preserve jobs and skills" to "leave as soon as possible after the crisis".

This executive policy is inspired by the lessons of the 2008-2009 crisis.

Partial unemployment then concerned a maximum of 300,000 people, five times less than in Germany according to the Ministry of Labor. As a result, the recession was instantly stronger across the Rhine, but the economy then started off faster with much lower unemployment.

To copy "this German scenario", the executive has adopted what it considers to be the "most protective regime in Europe".

If the employee is still compensated up to 70% of the gross salary and 84% of the net salary, this indemnity is now fully covered by the State up to a gross remuneration of 4.5 Smic against a fixed reimbursement lower than Smic before.

This concerns 95% of wages paid in France. Beyond this, the differential is the responsibility of the employer.

In one form or another, partial unemployment has been extended to the maximum possible number of employees (daytime executives, seasonal workers in the mountains, home work, etc.). The company can use it for a maximum of one year instead of six months.

The downside is that the budgetary cost will be colossal.

According to the Ministry of Labor, this represents, over a period of three months, a potential expenditure of 11 billion euros, well beyond the 8.5 billion budgeted by the amending finance bill.

Defending the "whatever it costs" of Emmanuel Macron, Muriel Pénicaud stressed that, without it, "the cost would be even higher" due to "massive unemployment".

"In the United States, where there is no partial unemployment, there were only three million layoffs in a week," she said.

In fact, two-thirds of OECD countries, including the liberal United Kingdom of Boris Johnson, have introduced or extended short-time working.

- Windfall effects and abuse -

If it was generally welcomed, the device has also suffered some criticism.

For the past two weeks, many SMEs have complained of not being able to file their applications by computer with their regional labor directorate.

The fault of an undersized system facing "thousands of requests per minute", according to the ministry according to which these problems are about to be solved, as evidenced by the growth of the figures.

In addition, without response within 48 hours, the request will be considered accepted and the money should arrive ten days later. And the request will be accepted with a retroactive effect of 30 days.

Another criticism, this time of the unions, is the windfall effects on the part of groups that could afford to pay wages without state aid or could at least supplement the compensation of their employees so that they lose no income.

The stake in purchasing power is not small since the OFCE estimated that in total, the income of partially unemployed workers could be cut by a billion euros per month if companies do not meet the 16% difference between the state allowance and their former salary.

The CGT du Printemps thus judged that the sole Qatari shareholder of the Parisian department store, "with plethoric financial means", should "take charge of all salaries".

Conversely, Total, Chanel, Danone announced that they were not going to ask for state aid.

Finally, abuses by employers asking their employees to telework during short-time working have also been reported. The Ministry of Labor recalled that it was "illegal work", punishable by two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros.

© 2020 AFP