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Browse community’s advice on job search, remuneration, unemployment and more, especially for expats working in France.
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Browse community’s advice on job search, remuneration, unemployment and more, especially for expats working in France.
Can non-French nationals employed in France apply for jobseeker’s allowance?
Hi there! That situation’s a bummer… But don’t worry, chances are that you are eligible to unemployment benefits (it's called assurance chômage). Since I don't know your exact situation, I am assuming you are a French resident, working with a French work contract. So the first question is: who can rRead more
Hi there!
That situation’s a bummer… But don’t worry, chances are that you are eligible to unemployment benefits (it’s called assurance chômage). Since I don’t know your exact situation, I am assuming you are a French resident, working with a French work contract.
So the first question is: who can receive unemployment insurance?
In France, any resident going through unvoluntary unemployment can receive financial support from the government to compensate their temporary loss of income. The assurance chômage works much like traditional insurance: people contribute to the social system for some time and if certain conditions are met, they can receive a compensation. What are the conditions, you may ask. There are basically 4:
The critical piece of information here is the involuntary work interruption bit. It means that you will not receive an allowance if you have resigned from your last job. You must have lost your job involuntarily (either being fired, reching the end of your temporary contract or though a mutual agreement process).
The next logical question, of course, is how much will you receive?
As always, the answer is… it depends. A recent bill (February 2023) passed by the French government has changed the rules of unemployment insurance quite a bit. The maximum period of unemployment went from 24 to 18 months, and the payment’s value can be increased or decreased depending on the unemployment rate.
As a rule of thumb, you receive around 60% of your average net salary over the last 24 months. But that’s only if you had been working continuously for the whole period before losing your job. If not, you need to calculate your Average Daily Salary (salaire journalier de référence) to find out what your payment is. It’s the total salaried income during the period the last 24 months, divided by the number of days between the first contract’s start date and the last contract’s end date (within the last 24 months). Your payment would be the highest result of any of these calculations:
Although you have to make the calclulation on a daily basis, the payments are monthly.
See lessWhat do CDI and CDD stand for in job listings?
CDI stands for Contrat à durée indéterminée, which means ‘open-ended contract’ in English. CDD stands for Contrat à durée déterminée, which translates to ‘fixed-term contract’. They're the two types of work contracts you will encounter in France. Each of them has a special legal definition and rulesRead more
CDI stands for Contrat à durée indéterminée, which means ‘open-ended contract’ in English. CDD stands for Contrat à durée déterminée, which translates to ‘fixed-term contract’.
They’re the two types of work contracts you will encounter in France. Each of them has a special legal definition and rules in the french Labour Code. For instance, CDI and CDDs have different rules regarding their duration, their purpose, how to end the contract, and stuff like that.
The CDI or open-ended contract is the norm. It includes a trial period of two to four months during which the employee and the employer can end the contract. Past this point, there are only three way to end the contract:
On the other hand, the CDD or fixed-term contract is an exceptional contract. CDDs are more closely monitored a regulated than CDIs because they are more susceptible to fraud and abusive behavior from employers. For instance, companies can receive fines if they use CDDs to substitues permanent workers. The only acceptable reasons for a company to use CDD contracts are:
CDDs have a maximum duration of 18 months (with some exceptions) and they can only be renewed twice within the same company.
Good to know if you’re working with a CDD: at the end of your contract, if the employer asks you to keep working without renewing your contract, then you have ground to claim a CDI. Also, fixed-term workers receive a bonus of 10% of their gross salary at the end of the contract, it’s called an ‘uncertainty bonus’.
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